Britain Between 1970 and 1993, an image of the Poets' Corner statue of Shakespeare appeared on the reverse of Series D
£20 notes issued by the
Bank of England. Alongside the statue was an engraving of the balcony scene from
Romeo and Juliet. A complex memorial to Shakespeare was created in
Southwark Cathedral, which was his parish church when he lived in London close to the
Globe Theatre. It is also the burial place of Shakespeare's brother Edmund, along with other Elizabethan actors and playwrights. A recumbent statue of Shakespeare, created by Henry McCarthy in 1912, was placed in a niche on which was carved images of Elizabethan Southwark depicting the Globe,
Winchester Palace and the tower of the church. An elaborate stained glass window was also created, depicting Shakespearean characters. The original window was destroyed by a bomb blast in
World War II but was replaced in 1954. A birthday celebration of Shakespeare is held every year in April.
Continental Europe Despite Germany's early role in canonising Shakespeare it was not until 1904 that a statue was erected in
Weimar showing him, as one critic has put it, "seated and staring into the distance with a bemused and thoughtful look". It was designed by
Otto Lessing. In Denmark, a memorial statue was commissioned to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the publication of
Hamlet in 1603. The statue, designed by
Louis Hasselriis, was funded by public subscription and erected in
Elsinore, along with a sculpture of Hamlet.
Australia photo of the Sydney Shakespeare Memorial A memorial in Sydney, Australia was erected in 1926, designed by Australian sculptor
Sir Bertram MacKennal. It was commissioned by Henry Gullett (d. 4 August 1914), a former president of the Shakespeare Society of New South Wales. Paid for with a bequest from his estate, Gullett's daughter
Lucy Gullett ensured that the commission was carried out after her father's death. It depicts not only Shakespeare at the top, but five of his most famous characters around the base –
Hamlet,
Romeo and
Juliet embracing,
Portia and
Falstaff. It is located in Shakespeare Place, between the
Mitchell Library (part of the
State Library of New South Wales) and the
Royal Botanic Gardens. In 1959 the statue was repositioned to make way for the
Cahill Expressway. Though initiated in 1889, the project to create a Shakespeare statue in
Ballarat was not completed until 1960. Financial problems led to repeated shelving of the project. Eventually private donations to the fund produced sufficient resources to commission a bronze sculpture from Andor Meszaros, an Australian artist originally from Hungary. The statue depicts Shakespeare bowing, as if at the end of a performance.
North America A memorial was created for
Logan Circle section of
Philadelphia in 1926, designed by
Alexander Stirling Calder. It does not depict Shakespeare himself, but rather the figures of
Touchstone the jester from
As You Like It, representing comedy, and Hamlet, representing tragedy. Touchstone is lounging with his head tilted laughing, his feet hanging over the top of the tall stone pedestal and his left arm resting on Hamlet's legs. Hamlet is seated, brooding, his knife dangling over Touchstone's body. The opening lines of the famous
All the world's a stage speech from
As You Like It are inscribed on the pedestal beneath the figures. A statue made from tin was erected in the gardens outside the Festival Theatre, the principal theatre on the grounds of the
Stratford Shakespeare Festival, held every year from April to November in
Stratford, Ontario, Canada. ==Gallery==