1923, bronze, by Charles Hartwell (1873-1951)
On the island opposite St John’s Wood Church, this second casting was commissioned by Sigismund Goetze as a memorial to those who died in the First World War. The original work is sited in Eldon Square Newcastle. Goetze was a distinguished artist and patron of the arts and first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1888. He lived in Grove House, the regency villa on the north side of the park built by Decimus Burton, and perhaps the least altered. Goetze’s most famous work, but probably least seen by the public, is the series of murals surrounding the grand staircase in the Foreign Office, depicting great imperial moments as well as one of Christ in glory. They were his gift to the nation in 1921which was intended to be anonymous.
