Sculptor of Queen Elizabeth’s memorial statue speaks out after critics uproar

The sculptor who created the memorial of Queen Elizabeth for what would be her 100th birthday had she been alive, finally comes forward with his reasons for not choosing to disdaily maplay the Queen on horseback for his creation.

What is pertinent to mention about this is that many critics began calling out the statue for lacking something. One of the critics is none other than British actress Dame Joanna Lumley.

As did many she said she was “sorry” the Queen was “not on a horse” for the statue because “we all wanted her to be on a horse. We wanted her on Burmese. An equestrian statue, that's what we wanted. We really wanted her on a horse because we know she loved horses above everything.”

But the 68-year-old sculptor Martin Jenning spoke to the Daily Mail and claims, “when I was appointed, we came to the conclusion that it needed to be a single standing figure, not an equestrian one. Primarily because this represents the Queen as the sovereign, as the head of state.”

“Had we put her on a horse, she'd have needed to be in military uniform, and that would have reflected only one part of what she stood for.”

He also noted that this was something the King, “approved” and, pointed out that for those who wanted to see more of an equestrian, one already exists in Windsor Great Park so he “didn't want to replicate that idea.”

So “this is what we'll have, the Queen herself, rather than the Queen and an awful lot of horse.'

The one thing he did take blame for and admit to not getting perfect, was her resemblance in the image. While attempting to explain the big ‘why’ he said, “all I was trying to do was to suggest an idea - the costume, the pose, the turn of the head - really simple things.”

Moreover “you don't really worry too much about likeness at this stage,” he explanined. “The head on the models that I was showing is no bigger than the end of your thumb, so I'm not concerned yet about making it look facially exactly like the Queen.” Plus “It's extremely demanding to make this piece of work. But to put a large monument onto the Mall - what I think of as being within the Golden Mile of great British monuments - is an extraordinary honour and a great responsibility.”

Before signing off he also offered the perspective that, “in a way, this is the final marker for the Queen's reign.”