Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is dominated by the one hundred forty-five foot tall Nelson’s Column, which rises from the center of the plaza to honor Admiral Horatio Nelson following his victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in eighteen oh five. The granite column, topped with a sandstone statue of the admiral, is guarded at its base by four colossal bronze lions. These sculptures were designed by the painter Sir Edwin Landseer, who spent ten years on the project. Because he was not a professional sculptor, legend says he based his models on a dead lion from the London Zoo. The process took so long that the carcass reportedly began to decompose, which some observers point to as the reason the lions’ paws resemble those of a domestic cat rather than a great cat.