Charles II Trampling Cromwell

An equestrian statue of Charles II trampling Cromwell stands near Newby Hall in North Yorkshire, England. It was previously sited at Gautby Hall in Lincolnshire, and was originally installed at the Stocks Market in the City of London. It is a Grade II listed building. The 17th-century statue is made of Carrara marble. It shows a man with the features of King Charles II in armour and riding a horse, which is walking over and trampling a figure lying on the ground representing Oliver Cromwell. The rider holds bronze reins in his left hand and a staff in his right hand. The sculpture stands on a tall plinth of stone ashlars, with moulded base and cornice, and rounded ends. The original sculpture was made in Italy, but the sculptor is not known. It portrayed the Polish commander John III Sobieski riding down a Turkish soldier (said by some sources to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Vienna in 1683, although it pre-dates the battle by at least a decade). A similar sculpture was made by Franciszek Pinck to a design by André-Jean Lebrun and erected in 1788 as part of the John III Sobieski Monument (Śródmieście, Warsaw) in Łazienki Park in Warsaw, which was based on Bernini's equestrian statue of Louis XIV and a sculpture of c. 1693 in Wilanów Palace, also in Warsaw, perhaps inspired by the 1686 portrait of Sobieski by Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter. The sculpture may have been made for the King of Poland or the Polish ambassador in London, but it was bought in c. 1672 by the London goldsmith and banker Sir Robert Vyner, 1st Baronet, who was a strong supporter of Charles II, and who had made Charles's new coronation regalia to replace items sold or destroyed before or under the Commonwealth. Vyner had the head of the rider remodelled by Jasper Latham to resemble Charles. The figure interpreted as "Cromwell" retains a distinctly Turkish appearance, including a turban. Vyner had offered in 1668 to donate a statue of Charles for the Royal Exchange when it was rebuilt…