The statue of George III, Somerset House, formally titled George III and the River Thames,[1] is a Grade I listed outdoor bronze sculptural group depicting King George III and Neptune or Father Thames, located in the quadrangle of Somerset House, London, England.[2] The sculptor was John Bacon, and the statue was erected between 1778 and 1789.
George III is dressed in Roman apparel, leaning on a rudder, flanked by the prow of a Roman boat and a lion.[2] Father Thames is reclining on a lower, semi-circular plinth, one hand on an urn with a cornucopia behind him.[2]
When Queen Charlotte first saw the statue of her husband she asked the sculptor 'Why did you make so frightful a figure?'. Bacon bowed and replied 'Art cannot always effect what is ever within the reach of Nature – the union of beauty and majesty.'[3]