Statues and Fountains, Sydney

The Shakespeare Memorial is located between the Mitchell Library and the Royal Botanic Gardens. The monument was built in 1926 in honour of the famous play writer, William Shakespeare.

The monument not only shows Shakespeare, but also five of his most famous characters: Hamlet, Romeo, Juliet, Portia and Falstaff.

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Liz and I were walking through the Botanical Gardens when we came upon this large bronze statue of King Edward VII on horseback. This statue was made in 1922 by Sir Thomas Brock.

King Edward was the son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; he waited a long time until he was 60 years old for his crown. He was a popular King but known to have many mistresses. His favorite mistress was Camilla Parker Bowle's Great Grandmother..I guess being a Mistress runs in her family but Charles did eventually marry Camilla.

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Rayner Hoff' sculpture Sacrifice is the centerpiece of the Anzac Memorial. A sculpture that is quite moving and riveting. The best view of the sculpture is above from the Hall of Memory. The sculpture is of a corpse of a dead soldier lying naked over his shield. An the side are images of three women and an infant representing; Mother, Wife, Sister and child who are left behind to grieve for the dead soldier.

The sculpture is meant to represent the sacrifice of not only the soldier in giving his life but that of his family left behind grieving.

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The William Bligh statue is right next to the Cadman's Cottage in the Rocks. From a distance the figure looked like Napoleon because of the small statue and the hat. Once we got up close we saw the plaque that told us it is Captain William Bligh; the infamous Captain of the Bounty.

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The Il Porcellino statue outside of Sydney Hospital is a copy of Pietro Tacca's statue that is found in Florence. The statue was donated by Marchessa Clarissa Torrigiani in memory of her father and her brother who were both surgeons at Sydney hospital.

It is believed that if you rub the boar's snout he will bring you good luck and health. The wild boar even has special outfits which he wears on special occasions to help raise money for the hospital.

Liz and I just had to rub the pig....it can't hurt.

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The John Dunmore Lange Statue was sculpted by Giovanni Fontana in 1890. He was a Scottish Presbyterian preacher who decided to come to Australia in 1823 to cleanse the colony of it's evils against morality. He couldn't have picked a better place to cleanse since the colony was full of convicts and the other colonist weren't any better...

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When we first saw this fountain by the Gardens we didn't think there was anything about it other than it being a fountain. It is actually in memory of Lieutenant-General Sir Lesley Morshead. His bravery in defense of Tobruk in World War II which lead to his being knighted.

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As we walked through the Botanic Gardens we came upon this fountain. In 1897 the fountain was unveiled to honor Captain Governor Phillip. Achille Simonetti sculpted the piece. The fountain at the time of construction was £13,000 which made it the most expensive construction of the time.

The center piece of the fountain is the statue of Captain Governor Phillips . Below the main statue are reliefs of Justice, Patriotism and Education. Bronze figures of Neptune (for navigation), Agriculture, Cyclops (mining) and Commerce. Dolphins, clam shells, ships and plaques depicting Aboriginal people are also decorating the fountain. It is a pretty fountain and you must walk around it to see all of the details.