Items - Cast in Stone

A marble statue of Robert Clive in hybrid Roman imperial outfit, modelled on Augustus Caesar, the greatest of all Roman emperors. Clive wears a cingulum militare, or a belt with hanging leather and metal straps, and sandals, to show that he is a soldier. However, on his upper body, he wears a toga, to show his concurrent civilian stature. A short straight sword is inexplicably tucked upside down under his right arm , while the left hand makes an oratorial gesture, presenting him as a philosopher. A shield with the head of Medusa is propped near his feet; since looking into Medusa's eyes was meant to turn the viewer to stone, Medusa shields were intended to be ritually protective in Roman iconography. This statue is therefore a knowledgeable but highly eclectic mix of Roman iconography, which tries to present Clive as a Roman hero, but in a manner that no Roman statue would ever be made. It was one of four marble statues commissioned by the British East India Company in the 1760s, and represented the rising British obsession with Roman-style statuary.