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Gladiator to return to guard Whitby Abbey headland
HE ONCE stood casting his eye over the Whitby Abbey Headland with his shield and sword at the ready.
But in just a few months' time, a life-size gladiator will once again be standing guard near the entrance to Whitby Abbey in front of the former banqueting house.
English Heritage has begun re-casting a bronze Borghese Gladiator which historians believe once stood in front of what is now the Abbey Visitor Centre, built by Sir Hugh Cholmley II in the 17th Century.
One of Britain's foremost conservators, Rupert Harris of London, has been commissioned to create the lifesize figure from a mould taken from a bronze of the same model in the Royal Collection.
The gladiator will stand with a shield in one hand and a thrusting sword in the other.
The statue is set to create a buzz around Whitby and it promises to be a testament to the town's history – something Jeremy Reed, English Heritage's operations director in the north, feels strongly about.
He said: "This fascinating project is a reminder that Whitby Abbey's history did not stop when the monastery came to an end.
"Thanks to the 5.7m Whitby Headland Project, we have been able to unearth a wealth of information about the post-dissolution period, when Sir Hugh Cholmley brought glamour to the Abbey Headland with his new house, works of art and cobbled gardens.
"Restoring the gladiator in the centre of the courtyard will set the seal on a decade of work to restore the Abbey Headland's glory."
The original Borghese statue was first uncovered during excavations in Italy sometime before 1611 and was signed by the sculptor Agasias of Ephesus, dated about 100BC, but it was probably based on a much earlier Greek original.
Soon after it entered the collection of the Pope's powerful aide, Cardinal Borghese, acquiring its modern name of the Borghese Gladiator.
Today it stands in The Louvre in Paris.
But a copy of the original came to stand on the Abbey Headland thanks to nobleman Sir Hugh Cholmley II who had his own cast made to follow the trends of his peers at the time.
It had gained iconic status, especially among the wealthy with James I and Charles I both buying moulds of the statue which began to appear in classical gardens including Castle Howard.
Not be outdone, Sir Hugh, whose family fortune was based on the east coast alum trade, paid for his own figure to be made. Cast in bronze, it would have been a work of the highest quality and a statement of ambition, wealth and power.
Although historians and archaeologists have pieced together the evidence for the Whitby gladiator they have failed to solve one mystery – what became of Cholmley's original statue?
The casting of the bronze figure is under way using the same technique employed to create King Charles' 17th Century Borghese figure while skilled masons at William Anelay Ltd in York are creating the stone plinth on which the gladiator will stand looking out over the North Sea.
A grand public unveiling of the sculpture is planned for the spring.
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Weather for Whitby
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Light sleet
Temperature: -3 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 37 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
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