Memorial: M4123

Statue in Spanish Town, Jamaica commemorating Admiral George Brydges Rodney d. 1792

Location

Spanish Town, Jamaica, Rest of the World

Transcript

'GEORG. BRYDG. RODNEY . BARON RODNEY / NAVAL PRAEL. VICTORI. / PRID. ID. APRILIS / A.D. MDCCLXXXII / JAMAICAE SALUTEM / BRITANN. PACEM REST. / DDD S.P.G. JAMAICENSIS.'

Details

Description: In a domed pavilion, a statue of Rodney dressed as a Roman general holding a baton in his extended right hand, his left hand rests on a sword hilt above a polygonal shield resting on a rock covered with seaweed and shells. On the back a relief of the 'Ville de Paris' surrendering based on a painting by Dominic Serres. Symbolic reliefs of Britannia on east and west sides. One in a sea shell chariot on the other side protecting Jamaica.
Type: Statue
Date Erected: 1792
Artists: John Bacon, the elder

People

Rodney, George Brydges
Age: 74
Date of Death: 24/5/1792
Cause of Death: Unknown/None
Rank / Occupation: Admiral of the White
Organisation: Royal Navy

Extra

Notes: Commissioned by Jamaican Assembly after the battle of the Saints. Clay model in V & A with Rodney in contemporary uniform. Serres painting exhibited at RA in 1784. No. 89 'La Ville de Paris striking to the British Fleet Apr. 12 1782.' John Bacon Junior 'Reminiscences of the late John Bacon Esquire RA and other persons of his time; as far as an old treacherous memory may be relied on' (MSS).
Bibliography: Lesley Lewis 'English Commemorative Monuments in Jamaica', 'The Jamaican Historical Review' vol. ix, (1972); K.A. Esdaile 'English Church Monuments' (London, 1946) p. 39, p.68; Rupert Gunnis 'Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851' (London, 1964)); 'Times' (Dec 15 1929). Joan Coutu 'Eighteenth-Century British Monuments and the Politics of Empire' (PHD thesis, University of London, 1993) pp. 208-211.
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