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Statue of James II of England
James II of England (r. 1685-1688) was the last Catholic king in Britain, for which he faced significant opposition from the mostly Anglican parliament. In 1688, Parliament invited his Protestant daughter, Mary, and son-in-law, William of Orange, to invade England and take the throne. Defeated by William at the Battle of the Boyne (1690), James spent the remainder of his life as an exile in France, dying in 1701.
The statue depicts James as a Roman Emperor, wearing Roman armour and a laurel wreath.
It was inspired by similar Roman-style statues of Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France and sculpted during James II’s reign in 1686 by Flemish artists Peter van Dievoet and Laurens van der Meulen. Initially placed on the grounds of the old Palace of Whitehall (later destroyed by fire), William III removed it, and over the years, it has moved between several London locations, including the Admiralty building and a train storage facility. It was moved to its current location, outside the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, in 1947.
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