Editing Nelson's Column (section)

==Lions==
The four identical bronze [[Barbary lion]]s<ref>{{cite web |title=The lion: A victim of its own power? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33315873 |publisher=BBC News |date=30 June 2015 |access-date=1 July 2015}}</ref> at the column's base were not added until 1867. At one stage they were intended to be of granite, and the sculptor [[John Graham Lough]] was chosen to carve them. However, in 1846, after consultations with Railton, he turned down the commission, unwilling to work under the restrictions imposed by the architect.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=Landseer%E2%80%99s_Lions_in_Trafalgar_Square |title=Landseers Lions in Trafalgar Square |access-date=30 May 2011}}{{dead link |date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}
</ref><ref name=times43>{{cite news |title=Origins of Nelson Column |newspaper=The Times |date=22 November 1943 |page=6}}</ref>

[[File:Stone Lion (29530696422).jpg|left|thumb|Milne's model for "War", in place at [[Saltaire]] Village]]

[[Thomas Milnes (sculptor)|Thomas Milnes]] received the commission in 1858, and produced four full-scale models in sandstone, each individualised to represent Peace, War, Vigilance and Determination. These were rejected, and the commission was transferred, again, to Sir [[Edwin Landseer]]. Subsequently mill owner Sir [[Titus Salt]] bought the statues instead for a civic building at the centre of his workers village, installed on pedestals in 1869.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Banerjee |first1=Jacqueline |title=Comparison of Sir Edwin Landseer's and Thomas Milnes's Lions for the Base of Nelson's Column |url=https://victorianweb.org/sculpture/misc/landseer2.html |website=victorianweb.org |access-date=30 March 2024}}</ref> The four sandstone Lions now have Grade II* listed building status.<ref>{{cite web |title=Victoria Hall including wall, gate-piers and sculpted lions to front area, and railings to rear, Shipley - 1314205 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1314205 |website=historicengland.org.uk |access-date=9 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=SALTAIRE SCHOOL INCLUDING WALL, GATE PIERS AND SCULPTED LIONS TO FRONT AREA, AND GATE TO SOUTH SIDE, Shipley - 1300666 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1300666 |website=historicengland.org.uk |access-date=9 April 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Bronze lion and church spire, Trafalgar Square - geograph.org.uk - 1600280.jpg|thumb|One of the four lions designed by [[Edwin Landseer]] at the base]]

The sculptures eventually installed were designed by Sir Edwin Landseer in collaboration with [[Carlo Marochetti]]. Landseer was a hugely popular painter and the favourite of Queen Victoria.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Desert by Sir Edwin Landseer |url=http://revealinghistories.org.uk/smoking-drinking-and-the-british-sweet-tooth/objects/the-desert.html |website=revealinghistories.org.uk |publisher=Manchester City Galleries}}</ref> Their design may have been influenced by Marschalko János's lions at each abutment to the [[Széchenyi Chain Bridge]] in Budapest, installed six years before the Trafalgar Square lions were commissioned.

Landseer requested casts of a real lion from Turin which did not arrive until 1860. In the meantime, he made sketches of lions at [[London Zoo]] and eventually received the corpse of one to work with. Delays in completing the work meant that the corpse started to decompose, leading to some discrepancies in form. The paws, for example, were based on those of a cat, and the sculpted lion's backs are concave rather than convex.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gulliver |first=Beth |title=The gruesome story behind the Trafalgar Square lions you probably don't know |url=https://www.mylondon.news/news/gruesome-story-behind-trafalgar-square-21824427 |website=My London |date=12 October 2021 |access-date=9 April 2024}}</ref>

The sculptures were eventually installed in 1867. Landseer was paid £6,000 for his services, and Marochetti £11,000.<ref name=times43/>

In 2011, consultants for the [[Greater London Authority]] reported that tourists climbing onto the backs of the lions have caused considerable damage and recommended banning tourists from climbing them.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8584165/Ban-tourists-from-Trafalgar-Square-lions-before-they-destroy-them-report-says.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/http://telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8584165/Ban-tourists-from-Trafalgar-Square-lions-before-they-destroy-them-report-says.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Ban tourists from Trafalgar Square lions before they destroy them, report says |date=19 June 2011 |work=Telegraph.co.uk}}{{cbignore}}</ref>