Year 1975 (1975) Medium Bronze Artist Elisabeth Frink | Type Sculpture Location London, United Kingdom Created 1975 | |
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Similar The Messenger, The Barbican Muse, Christ Child, The Young Lovers, Big 4 | ||
Paternoster, also known as Shepherd and Sheep or Shepherd with his Flock, is an outdoor 1975 bronze sculpture by Elisabeth Frink, installed in Paternoster Square near St Paul's Cathedral in London, United Kingdom.
The statue measures 84 by 129 by 32 inches (213 cm × 328 cm × 81 cm). It depicts a shepherd herding five sheep. The subject of the statue reflects the former use of Paternoster Row as the site of Newgate Market for the sale of livestock and meat, and may also have theological overtones reflecting its position in the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral.
The statue was commissioned by Trafalgar House for the north side of its 1960s development at Paternoster Square. It unveiled in July 1975 by Yehudi Menuhin. Around the same time, Trafalgar House also commissioned Frink's Horse and Rider statue for Dover Street on Piccadilly.
It was removed in 1997 to a temporary location on London Wall near the Museum of London while the site was redeveloped, and was reinstalled in 2003 on a new Portland stone plinth after the redevelopment was completed.
A series of eight smaller statues was created in the 1980s. One example at All Saints Church in Great Thurlow in Suffolk, in memory of Ronald Vestey. Frink was born nearby, in Little Thurlow.