How does Statue of Queen Victoria, Hove elucidate its Description?
The statue is in bronze and stands 13 feet (4.0 m) high on an Aberdeen granite plinth which is embellished with four bronze panels. The statue is life-size and depicts Victoria standing in royal regalia, wearing a crown and veil. In her left hand is an orb and in her right a sceptre. The orb is surmounted by a winged Victory, possibly a reference to the statue Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker in Apsley House, London. She faces south, out to sea. The panels contain low reliefs of allegorical figures which represent commerce, education, science and art, and the British Empire—each captioned in incised lettering in the stonework—advancements made during Victoria's reign. These were added after the original design was complete. The plinth was originally surrounded by four small bollards, one of which has since been lost. An inscription on the plinth at the front reads "Erected by the inhabitants of Hove to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Victoria June 20 AD 1897". Circling the top of the plinth is a Latin inscription, "Victoria dei gra Britanniae Regina fidei defensor in imperatix" ("Victory of God, Queen of Britain, defender of the faith and the empire").The front relief (the south side of the monument), Empire, is the most detailed of the four and is in the best condition. It depicts a female figure of Justice, holding a pair of scales in her right hand and an orb in her left. She is surrounded by figures representing parts of the British Empire—Australia and Canada to the right and India and Africa to the left. The rear (north) relief, Science and Art, depicts a woman embracing a child who sits on an anvil and holds a machine. Behind the child is another, also holding a machine. On the eastern side is Education, which depicts a mother holding a book and teaching a child to read; behind are three scholars. The western relief is Commerce, in which a merchant is kneeling with his wares spread around him being examined by two men; a third man is examining a vase. The sea is in the background and a galley is depicted with its sails raised.The four reliefs on the plinth
bronze Hove Victory British Empire orb relief galley Queen Victoria plinth sceptre Apsley House Justice Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker