Following the defaced monk in a previous blog, here is another statue I saw cheekily decorated a while ago, in a courtyard behind the Royal Exchange and near the statue of Peabody.
It is a very personal and sensitive piece, the mother’s care and love for her children clearly evident and a very personal sculpture compared to most in the Square Mile.
It’s called Charity, by Dalou and was commissioned in 1879 originally in marble for this location.
However the stone began to rapidly deteriorate and eventually this smaller bronze copy was erected – a stone copy of the original is now on display in the V&A.
Aimé-Jules Dalou was a radical French artist, a refugee who barely escaped with his life from the 1871 Paris Commune and settled in England.
Surprisingly he was accepted into the English upper class very easily and despite his radical past became a favourite of Queen Victoria creating a monument in her private chapel in Windsor among other commissions.
On his return to France became a much feted sculptor and a commander of the Légion d’honneur, the highest French order of merit.
