The Statue unveiling (A nice thread)

[Viviennemary]

I really liked Diana and I hope the statue will do her justice. I wonder if it will be televised live. I expect so.

DH has had a better look at the pictures now. He says a chemical has been applied with heat, and then warm wax is stippled on. It mimics the ageing process.

I thought it looked like a representation of how her sons would imagine her to be now, a 60 year old woman, graceful, kind and benevolent. If it was supposed to be a likeness of her from the 90s, she looks too old! Eek!

@SheldonesqueDoesNotBelongHere

The super pack of golden retrievers.

I’m awfully tempted to be Somerset bound.

I’m not sure that the statue is painted. They went a bit closer on the news. You can see the blues/greens starting.

Possibly just weathered a bit? I’m no expert.

We just have wrought iron in our garden.

Hms Airfix will be able to be grey for some time yet.

Is the word “verdigris” or am confusing some other substance with bronze ageing?

It’s the same effect. Verdigris usually appears on copper, but bronze has copper in it so it does the same 😀

As a PP said the sculptor has done some amazing work previously but this is dreadful. I saw it from a certain angle and it looked like the girl in front had a hand growing out of her elbow.

I seem to be in the minority but I love the statue, the sculptor has created something uncannily like Diana and I don’t mind the grey at all.

Oh, close then. @smilesy

There's a brilliant picture on the BBC news app of William & Harry both looking at the statue. Although we can only see them from behind, from their body language, neither look that impressed with it....

I’m not loving it at all
It doesn’t capture her beauty, style, personality or presence

the sculptor acknowledges on his website that he prefers the male form.

What on Earth was he chosen to do this commission if he admits he prefers the male form. My immediate thought on seeing the statue was that the sculptor doesn’t actually like the female form. The shape of Diana is quite monstrous and absolutely nothing like her.

@MariposaLilly

The statue is awful! She looks too masculine. No figure/waistline, horrible belt/clothes. The female child looks like an small adult. One child hidden. It looks as if Diana is abducting some random children. No warmth. Depressing. She would hate it.

This monstrosity needs to be pushed into the shrubbery and hidden. A more appealing one, which captures her likeness and warmth needs to be made.

Spot on!!!

Could it be transferred to that plinth in Trafalgar Square? It seems rather formal and traditional and might suit that setting better. Then a new statue could be commissioned for the garden setting, something more dynamic, aesthetic and modern, representative of Diana the real person rather than an archetype.

Could it be transferred to that plinth in Trafalgar Square? It seems rather formal and traditional and might suit that setting better. Then a new statue could be commissioned for the garden setting, something more dynamic, aesthetic and modern, representative of Diana the real person rather than an archetype.

Well it was personally commissioned by W and H so they were presumably involved in its design and approved of it. I can’t imagine today was the first time they saw it, or at least, photos of it. I don’t think they would want to move it and commission another one. If they like it then that’s fine surely. She was their mother after all. It s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but then art never is. It was always going to be a bit of a poison chalice to try and represent her as has been said. I’m not a huge fan of it, but it’s not in my back garden and she wasn’t my mother.

Well said Smileys, I agree.

I don't dislike it and seeing it close up on the news tonight, it looked better than the still

I’m guessing the random children were because they didn’t want her to stand alone, but it doesn’t quite work. It would have been nicer if they’d had a young William and Harry instead. I wish he’d had captured her emotion more. Oh, well, it’s not going in my garden!

It looks as if Diana is abducting some random children.

@MariposaLilly

The statue is awful! She looks too masculine. No figure/waistline, horrible belt/clothes. The female child looks like an small adult. One child hidden. It looks as if Diana is abducting some random children. No warmth. Depressing. She would hate it.

This monstrosity needs to be pushed into the shrubbery and hidden. A more appealing one, which captures her likeness and warmth needs to be made.

agree.

I read that they are supposed to represent the children she met in Bosnia as part of her landmine campaign. It’s such a lovely idea. It just didn’t work well. I didn’t even realize there was another child behind her.

@smilesy

It must be a massively difficult undertaking to make a statue of someone as iconic as Diana. It’s ok. I just think she looks a bit stern. I still think something other than an actual likeness would have been better to avoid comparisons to the actual person.

its been nearly 4 years, they could have produced something better.

@PhillipPhillop

I thought it looked like a representation of how her sons would imagine her to be now, a 60 year old woman, graceful, kind and benevolent. If it was supposed to be a likeness of her from the 90s, she looks too old! Eek!

yeah, that might be it.

@MariposaLilly

The statue is awful! She looks too masculine. No figure/waistline, horrible belt/clothes. The female child looks like an small adult. One child hidden. It looks as if Diana is abducting some random children. No warmth. Depressing. She would hate it.

This monstrosity needs to be pushed into the shrubbery and hidden. A more appealing one, which captures her likeness and warmth needs to be made.

@MariposaLilly I agree. Where are all the statue toppling vandals, when they're needed?!?

Her figure looks heavy, face looks awful. She was a beautiful woman and this does nothing for her memory.

As this is a nice thread I’ll be polite. I think Id be a little disappointed if I’d commissioned it. Gardens are lovely though.

I have never thought of Diana as the luminous beauty that others do (attractive, sure, but I think you could name a dozen celebrities who are better looking) - so I don't see it as THAT off facially.

It's the composition that bothers me. The girl child looking like a shrunken adult, and the child behind her being the same height.

I'd have her head on the hand of a (correct sized) girl, with a smaller child in front of the girl. Then perhaps Diana sharing an encouraging look with the boy on the left. Or perhaps the boy leaning in to her, or shyly peeping from behind. Something with life and action, otherwise there's no point in the being there, since they're not supposed to be representing real individuals.

(Her own children would just be creepy - it's not particularly the done thing to make statues of live people, is it? I know it happens, but it's more commemorative in this country.)

The Mario Testino photos of her were beautiful. She was so radiant in them. I think that radiance is missing. I know it’s a sculpture not a photo but even a sculpture should capture a persons spirit.