The Copper Horse
The Copper Horse is a statue marking one end of the Long Walk at Snow Hill in Windsor Great Park in the English county of Berkshire. According to contemporary newspapers, His Majesty, King George IV, in January 1821, ordered "a full length statue in bronze of George III to be erected on the top of Snow Hill, Windsor Park, with his hand pointing towards his favourite residence, Windsor Castle". It was sculpted by Sir Richard Westmacott and erected in October 1831.
The northern end of the Long Walk is at the George IV Gateway at Windsor Castle. The Copper Horse is a statue of George III on horseback, and is said to represent George as an emperor in the Roman tradition riding without stirrups, along the lines of the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius. A comparison has also been made to the equestrian statue of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg.
The statue was commissioned by George's son, George IV. The base bears the ironic inscription in Latin: Georgio Tertio / Patri optimo / Georgius Rex, which translates as: To George the Third / the best of fathers / King George . Like so many father–son relationships in the Hanoverian family, however, George III and George IV were known to have despised one another.
