David Aaron has unveiled a bronze of a juvenile T rex in Berkeley Square.
Unveiled last Thursday in Berkeley Square where the gallery is also located, the new statue, measuring six meters long, stands on Nightingale’s Corner in the north west of the square.
The cast was created in a specialist European bronze foundry and lab partly through the use of 3D technology. However, the gallery describes artistic decisions made about the piece including some made with the help of palaeontologists. Skeletons of this size are generally found with missing pieces. Divining what the missing bones looked like and how they fit together, “has an element of artistry about it,” says Jonathan Aaron, director at David Aaron.
He adds that the piece is a “work of art in itself”.
The gallery had a juvenile T-rex skeleton ‘Chomper’ as its starring piece at Frieze Masters this year. The specimen, discovered in Montana in 2019 is 55% complete and its skull over 90% complete. Though it serves as the basis for the new sculpture, the pose is different and aims to capture the animal as it would have moved in life.
Juvenile T-rex’s had proportionally longer legs and arms than their adult counterparts, and they are thought to have relied more heavily on their speed and agility than their jaw strength.
“This is a very exciting project, exemplifying one of the greatest paleontological finds combined with scientific innovation and artistic interpretation,” Aaron says. “We encourage everyone to visit and have a look.”
‘The Berkeley Square T-Rex’ is part of Mayfair’s art trail and will be in place until 2025. It can viewed on Instagram with the hashtag @theberkeleysquaretrex.
