Erection date: 1684
Carolo II. Caesari Britannico
Patriae Patri,
Regum optimo, Clementissimo, Augustissimo
Generis Humani deliciis,
Utriusque fortunae Victori,
Pacis Europae Arbitro,
Marium Domino ac Vindici,
Societatis Mercatorum Adventur. Angliae,
Quae per C C C C jam prope annos
Regia benignitate floret,
Fidei Intemeratae & Gratitudinis aeternae
Hoc Testimonium
Venerabunda(e?) posuit
Anno Salutis Humanae, MDCLXXXIV.
TRANSLATION
In the year (of Man’s redemption) 1684
he placed this testimony
of reverential unfailing trust and eternal gratitude
to King Charles II of Britain,
father of our country,
the greatest, most merciful and most majestic of kings,
delight of the human race,
both victor of prosperity,
controller of peace in Europe,
Lord of the seas,
and champion of the Society of Merchant Venturers of England,
which now for nearly 400 years
has flourished with royal generosity.
The copy of the Peter Vanderbank etching of the statue comes from , page 322, or page 11 of this 25 page article. The inscription is also given there, page 9. However, our Latin consultant, David Hopkins, found errors in the Latin there, which were resolved when we found the source publication at : Edward Hatton’s “A New View of London” (1708), where the inscription is given at p 616.
David writes: "Some of the letters are difficult to make out and I’ve been puzzling over some aspects of the grammar. (I asked another “Latin” friend of mine and he said he thought they’d just got some bits wrong!) Anyway, here is my best guess of what the original inscription said and the intended meaning. I’m not sure who the “he” is. Do we know who erected the statue?"
In answer to that question the Northumbria paper gives nothing more specific than "The Committee .. in 1682–83, .. accepted an offer from the Merchant Adventurers of Hamburg for a statue of Charles to occupy this central space."
have another drawing of the statue.
Site: Charles II - Royal Exchange - lost (1 memorial)
EC3, Royal Exchange
For the new Royal Exchange, following its destruction in 1666 fire, this statue was commissioned by the Merchant Adventurers of Hamburg from Grinling Gibbons and placed at the centre of the courtyard.
Unveiled in 1684, just a year before the death of the king, it was highly praised but by 1789 it had become so badly damaged or weathered that a replacement (still at the Royal Exchange) was commissioned from John Spiller.
The image of the building comes from where it is captioned "... The courtyard of the Royal Exchange, London, ... the statue of Charles II in the centre, 1729 ...".
Note: Yet another statue of Charles II was commissioned following the 1666 fire, from John Bushnell, that was erected in a niche at the Cornhill entrance. Another niche there was filled with a statue of Charles I, also by Bushnell. These both survived the 1838 fire and now are to be found in the Old Bailey.
Sources include: Public Sculpture of the City of London by Philip Ward-Jackson.
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