Boudiccan Rebellion
Victoria Embankment
London England
2010

Boadicea and Her Daughters is a bronze sculptural group in London representing Boudica, queen of the Celtic Iceni tribe, who led an uprising in Roman Britain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boadicea_and_Her_Daughters

It is located to the north side of the western end of Westminster Bridge, near Portcullis House and Westminster Pier, facing Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster across the road. It is considered the magnum opus of its sculptor, the English artist and engineer Thomas Thornycroft. Thornycroft worked on it from 1856 until shortly before his death in 1885, sometimes assisted by his son William Hamo Thornycroft, but it was not erected in its current position until 1902.

The statue portrays Boudica (commonly written as "Boadicea" in the Victorian era), 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. She 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. None of them holds reins to control the horses.

The statue was commissioned in the 1850s, after Thornycroft made an equestrian statue of Queen Victoria which was exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851. The statue was praised by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and they were involved with Thornycroft's new project. Albert intended the monumental statue to be erected over the central arch of Decimus Burton's entrance to Hyde Park, and asked Thornycroft to make a "throne upon wheels". Parallels were drawn between Victoria and Boudica, whose name also means "victory". Albert lent two horses as models, and the statue bears some resemblance to a young Queen Victoria. Albert died in 1861 before the statue was completed.


The Horses of the Boadicea And Her Daughters Statue

Boadicea And Her Daughters is surely one of the most dramatic statues in London. It was sculpted between 1856 and 1885 by artist engineer Thomas Thornycroft. It depicts Boudica/Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni tribe, who led a rebellion against Roman occupation in 60AD.

Prince Albert and Queen Victoria were involved in the project and Prince Albert actually lent Thornycroft the two horses on which the rearing horse statues were modelled. It was cast in 1898 and finally put up in its current location in 1902.