Statue of David Livingstone, Blantyre

The David Livingstone statue stands in Blantyre, outside the David Livingstone Centre. It is a life-size bronze group showing the missionary and explorer during a lion attack. The scene recreates an 1844 incident near Mabotsa in South Africa when Livingstone tried to protect local cattle. The work was designed by Ray Harryhausen, the American-British animator, who oversaw twelve years of modelling and casting. Harryhausen made a wax maquette and then Gareth Knowles, an Irish artist, completed the full bronze. Most of the money came from the National Trust for Scotland, and the group was unveiled in April 2004. Visitors see Livingstone pinned beneath a lion whose front paws rest on his shoulder and thigh. He leans against a rock while two unarmed companions lie on the ground nearby. The sculpture sits on a round stone pedestal about two metres high.