''Verity'' is a 2012 stainless steel and bronze statue created by

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...

. The tall sculpture stands on the pier at the entrance to the harbour in

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and along t ...

, Devon, looking out over the Bristol Channel towards South Wales. It has been loaned to the town for 20 years. The name of the piece refers to "truth" and Hirst describes his work as a "modern allegory of truth and justice". The statue depicts a pregnant woman holding aloft a sword while carrying the scales of justice and standing on a pile of law books. Half of the sculpture shows the internal anatomy of the pregnant woman, with the

foetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal develo ...

clearly visible. The stance has been described as a reference to ''

Little Dancer of Fourteen Years ''The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer'' (French: ') is a sculpture begun c. 1880 by Edgar Degas of a young student of the Paris Opera Ballet dance school, a Belgian named Marie van Goethem. Description The sculpture is one-third life size an ...

'' by Edgar Degas, a c. 1880 work that previously inspired Hirst when he created ''Virgin Mother'', another massive sculpture of a pregnant woman with her foetus exposed. The sculpture was cast in stainless steel and bronze in 40 separate sections by the Pangolin Editions

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

in Stroud. The sword, which gives the statue much of its height, and the upper left arm is one

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

piece. Measuring 25cm (10 inches) higher than the ''

Angel of the North The ''Angel of the North'' is a contemporary sculpture by Antony Gormley, located in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Completed in 1998, it is believed to be the largest sculpture of an angel in the world and is viewed by an estimated 33 m ...

'', ''Verity'' became the tallest statue in the UK when it was put into place, but is now surpassed by ''

The Kelpies ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', near Falkirk, Scotland, at . Members of North Devon Council referred to the controversial nature of the statue as a potential boost to tourism. In August 2013 councillors announced that the statue had a "tremendous effect" with people visiting the town solely to see Hirst's work. Hirst, who lives in

Combe Martin Combe Martin is a village, civil parish and former manor on the North Devon coast about east of Ilfracombe. It is a small seaside resort with a sheltered cove on the northwest edge of the Exmoor National Park. Due to the narrowness of the ...

, has loaned the statue to the town for 20 years starting from its erection on 16 October 2012.

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{{Damien Hirst 2012 sculptures Works by Damien Hirst English contemporary works of art Ilfracombe Bronze sculptures in England 2012 in England Culture in Devon Colossal statues in the United Kingdom Sculptures of children in the United Kingdom

See also

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External links