What’s in a statue?

“We may recognize in the legendary Alfred the product of many hundreds of years of English history, and indeed it is this that gives the legend its particular and abiding interest [4,356].”

The statue of Alfred the Great in Winchester, England, was commemorated in 1901 to celebrate the thousandth anniversary of his death. Seeing the statue we are pulled back one thousand years in time to this same place to witness the birth of England when this fledgling nation was fighting for its survival against the Vikings. Materialized in this monument are both a historical narrative formed over a thousand years of myth creation recast to align with Victorian norms of love of God, education, justice, courage, fairness, humility, generosity, and mercy [4]. The monument merges past and present in a symbiotic relationship where the past contributes a sense of continuity, and authenticity and the present the desirable values of the day, which combine into a narrative that guides behaviour and a way of seeing; it is the present-day values being used to frame a narrative of the past to form a heritage that justifies these same values.

The 5 ton, 15 feet high [1] statue of Alfred the Great “stands at the eastern end of The Broadway, close to the site of Winchester’s medieval East Gate. The statue was designed by Hamo Thornycroft, cast in bronze by Singer & Sons of Frome”[8] and mounted on a pedestal comprised of two blocks of granite of 54 and 48 tons [2]. In the rush to assemble, the statue’s central granite pillar was placed upside down [1]. The statue was built to celebrate the millenary of the death of King Alfred in 899.  The commemoration cerimonies took place over a period of 3 days:  Wednesday 18th,  Thursday 19th, and Friday 20th September, 1901 [2].

Quoting from the Magazine of Art, Speel notes: 

“The figure of the King is necessarily a purely ideal one, as no portraits of him exist in any form. The artist’s endeavour was, therefore, to typify as closely as possible the character and aspirations of our national hero. King Alfred’s two leading aims were to rid his country of the pagan Norsemen and to advance Christianity and civilisation among his people. The artist has therefore represented him with uplifted sword – the hilt symbolising the cross – addressing his countrymen. As the father and  protector of his people he is given a shield, and to represent the simplicity of the age in which he lived his statue is placed on a  great half-hewn monolith, which rests upon a huge horizontal unhewn rock cropping out of a barrow-like grass mound. The whole work  is encircled by a massive granite curb, which separates it from the traffic of the Broadway of the City. The statue is two and a  half times the size of nature, the total height being forty feet… [7]”

Adding to this, Rose observes:

“The sword held as a cross sends a clear message of a warrior King combined with a strong image of Christianity and heightened religiosity, furthermore the way the sword is held produces the effect of the King saluting those approaching him, as fellow Anglo-Saxons. The instruction for the statue to face west is also important: not only is Alfred facing the ancient Westgate of the city, he also faces the same way a buried Medieval priest would face on the Day of Judgement to address his congregation, again further echoing the religious tone of the statue [5, 15].”

Alfred is not shown in a “warlike posture, for he is remembered not just for his achievements in battle but also as a bringer of unity and a statesman, a bringer of reform and education [7].” 

The serious facial expression, size and elevation of the statue lend authority to the figure and thus the embodied narrative. While the statue is a celebration of Alfred, it is also a celebration for the nation and an Anglo-Saxon identity [5], and thus its qualities are extended to those identities.

The commemoration included events that presented the past to the public, yet each aspect was a construction “of the Victorian era incorporating Victorian ideals such as charity, piety, education and justice [5].” Events directed towards children instilled the ideals in them at an early age, ensuring they would be perpetuated across succeeding generations [5].

In these descriptions we see a historical narrative played out by combining both the material (a statue) and performance (the celebration and the instruction given to children). This example illustrates a traditional role of statues, and monuments in general, in the broader social and cultural practices of heritage-making that involves the construction and regulation of a range of values and understandings materialized in physical things (e.g., statues) and rituals (e.g., commemorations). The existence of these things serves to perpetuate the meaning [6]. However, as cautioned in [3], traditional monuments tend to portray a “progressive” narrative and fail to address the darker side of history. Such exclusions are the source of much of the tension expressed by marginalized groups in recent years.

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References:

[1] Guide of England. “Alfred The Great Statue, Winchester”.  Accessed August 5, 2020. https://www.guideofengland.com/winchester/alfred-the-great-statue-winchester.html 

[2] Hantsphere: Heritage in place. “King Alfred’s Statue”.Accessed August 5, 2020.  http://www.hantsphere.org.uk/king-alfreds-statue 

[3] Hasian, Marouf & Paliewicz, Nicholas S. 2020. The national memorial for peace and justice, dark tourist argumentation, and civil rights memoryscapes, Atlantic Journal of Communication

[4] Keynes, Simon. “The Cult of King Alfred the Great.” Anglo-Saxon England 28 (1999): 225-356. Accessed August 4, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/44512350.

[5] Rose, Alice. 2011 “King Alfred the Great: How is national identity manipulated through the creation and replication of material culture?” unpublished undergraduate dissertation, Cambridge University

[6] Smith, L. 2006. Uses of Heritage. Routledge.

[7] Speel, Bob. 2017. “King Alfred the Great Statue in Winchester, by Hamo Thornycroft”. Accessed August 5, 2020 http://www.speel.me.uk/sculptplaces/winchesteralfred.htm.

[8] Wikipedia. “Alfred the Great”. August 5, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_the_Great#Statues