Thomas Paine’s new statue comes to Lewes.

I couldn’t make it to the unveiling of the new Thomas Paine statue in my town of Lewes, England yesterday but I went down later and managed to take a photograph before the light faded.

I wrote about the other Tom Paine statues in my weekend blog as I wondered what the new work would be like. I am not disappointed. It may not be startlingly avant-garde but the sculptor, Marcus Cornish has given us a striking and appropriate terracotta figure part inspired by Michelangelo’s noble slaves escaping from the rock from which they were carved, part Atlas holding up or being weighed down by the World and part a saintly Gothic column supporter with his eyes on some ideal future.

It is a welcome addition to our town – well done the anonymous Lewes man for commissioning it and Lewes for agreeing to it. Welcome back Tom Paine – I shall think of you and your still relevant challenges every time I walk by.

4 Comments

  1. “Well done the anonymous Lewes man for commissioning it” – I wonder what Paine would make of that piece of inadvertant sexism over 200 years on from his life. Surely it couldn’t have been commissioned by a woman , could it ? Well actually , yes it was.

    • Thanks for you comment John – sorry to have missed it until now – I’ve not been updating the blog recently but will be back soon. Like you, I’m not a great fan of that statue!

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