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Location: South transept, St Paul’s Cathedral, London
Type: Statue
Material: Marble
Description: A large marble statue of Nelson in the undress uniform of a vice admiral, with four orders on his left breast and two medals round his neck. His Turkish ‘pelisse’ is draped over his right shoulder and his left hand rests on an anchor and coil of cable. The statue stands on a plinth bearing the names of his battles: COPENHAGEN, NILE, TRAFALGAR, and a bas relief of three reclining sea gods. On the left side Britannia points out Nelson to two boys dressed as midshipmen, and on the right is a mourning lion.
Sculptor: John Flaxman
Transcription
erected at the public expense
to the memory of
VICE-ADMIRAL HORATIO, VISCOUNT NELSON, K.B.
to record his splendid and unparallelled achievements,
during a life spent in the service of his country,
and terminated in the moment of victory by a glorious death,
in the memorable action off cape trafalgar on the xxi of october mdcccv.
lord nelson was born on the xxix of september mdcclviii.
the battle of the nile was fought on the 1 of august mdccxcviii,
the battle of copenhagen on the 11 of april mdccci.
Nelson has been memorialised in many ways and in many different locations. For a full list of all the monuments to him, and the story behind their design and erection, see, Flora Fraser, ‘If you seek his monument’ in C. White, The Nelson Companion (Sutton Publishing 1995, new edition 2005)