During the Summer of 2014 I was in London for a Sherlockian and Whovian-based trip, and I also had the chance to see the statue of Boudica, the warrior queen of the Iceni, who is among my favourites in the three categories of 'Celtic women', 'warrior-women' and 'historical female figures'.
'Boadicea and her daughters' is a bronze sculptural group by Thomas Thornycroft, erected near Westminster bridge in 1902. More info on the statue here.
"The statue portrays Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni tribe of Britons, accompanied by her two daughters, mounted on a scythed chariot drawn by two rearing horses. The chariot is based on Roman models, not native British or Iceni models, and has a scythe blade attached to each wheel. Boadicea stands upright, in a flowing gown, with a spear in her right hand and her left hand raised. Her daughters with bared breasts crouch in the chariot, one to either side of their mother." (Source)
Although I love the statue, Boudica is depicted in a rather anachronistic way (same as the chariot is based on Roman models), more similar to Victoria and Minerva than to a Briton queen. The Celtic Boudica, according to what we know about Celtic clothing and Dio Casio's description, would have looked more like this (the author of this gorgeous artwork is still unknown to me, if anyone knows who it is, please let me know!):
" “In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace; and she wore a tunic of divers colours over which a thick mantle was fastened with a brooch. This was her invariable attire ...” wrote Dio, who added that she clutched a spear when she spoke to her people." (Source)
No comments:
Post a Comment