To my knowledge there are at least two public statues of Alfred the Great, one in his capital Winchester and another in his birth place Wantage. By erecting statues both places are laying a claim to him. The statues offer some similarities and differences in how they depict Alfred.
In Winchester the 15 foot high bronze statue by Sir W H Thornycroft was unveiled in 1901, 1000 years after Alfred's death. It took 11 months to cast at the Singer foundry, Frome, Somerset. It depicts Alfred as a Christian warrior and shield of the Saxons against the Danes, sword raised in the symbol of the cross.
In Wantage the statue, commissioned by Lord Wantage, and designed and carved in 1877 by Count Gleichen of Hohenlobe, (a cousin of Queen Victoria) stands in the town centre. It depicts Alfred as the warrior, hence the axe, and lawgiver, see the scroll, and in the woven design on the hem of his tunic is the Christian symbol of the cross.
So not only do we have to consider who to erect statues to but where they are placed and how the chosen individual is depicted.
Alfred the Great - a more traditional hero
To my knowledge there are at least two public statues of Alfred the Great, one in his capital Winchester and another in his birth place Wantage. By erecting statues both places are laying a claim to him. The statues offer some similarities and differences in how they depict Alfred.
In Winchester the 15 foot high bronze statue by Sir W H Thornycroft was unveiled in 1901, 1000 years after Alfred's death. It took 11 months to cast at the Singer foundry, Frome, Somerset. It depicts Alfred as a Christian warrior and shield of the Saxons against the Danes, sword raised in the symbol of the cross.
In Wantage the statue, commissioned by Lord Wantage, and designed and carved in 1877 by Count Gleichen of Hohenlobe, (a cousin of Queen Victoria) stands in the town centre. It depicts Alfred as the warrior, hence the axe, and lawgiver, see the scroll, and in the woven design on the hem of his tunic is the Christian symbol of the cross.
So not only do we have to consider who to erect statues to but where they are placed and how the chosen individual is depicted.