‘She sat for him 12 times’: The Nigerian artist who made a bronze sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II
An artist and film director from Nigeria, Daniel Prentis, was inspired to create a bronze sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II for his country’s national museum.
Prentis, who now lives in Britain, said: “She sat for me for 12 times.
“Sometimes I would ask her just to stand still, or point to something and I would show how she would have to move if she was to use her arms to hold things.
“Then I would ask her to sit in the chair so it would be a full picture and then she would just keep sitting.”
According to the National Museum and Art Gallery of Nigeria, which is in Abuja, Prentis had the idea to create a sculpture of the Queen while visiting her former home, Buckingham Palace.
The artist, who now lives in Cambridge, used to live in Nigeria as a child and attended Queen Elizabeth school.
In 2014, he said: “I had a good idea of the image I wanted, but I needed someone to give me the chance to realise my idea.”
He continued: “My mother told me that Queen Elizabeth II would sit for me whenever I asked her. So I went to her palace and asked.
“She was delighted with the idea of me sitting next to her. She said she was happy to do so, so we sat for a few minutes every time you went to visit. I didn’t know I was going to make a statue of her in the first place, but the idea of making a statue of her was always in my head.”
The sculpture, which has been cast in bronze, is due to be unveiled in June.
Prentis’s mother, Christine, told the Associated Press on Thursday that the artist was honoured by the discovery of the statue.
She said: “The bronze statue of the Queen was cast by us and it is a very good piece, a good work by an artist who is a very good artist. This is great news for our country and for the Queen Elizabeth museum.”
He has been compared with sculptors such as Henry Moore and Elisabeth Frink, who became famous