by Caroline RadfordA HUGE bronze statue commemorating a historical giant will be unveiled outside York Minster this summer.

The £80,000 statue depicts Constantine the Great, who was proclaimed Emperor of Rome in York in 306.

It was suggested some years ago that a statue should grace the newly pedestrianised Deangate by Dr Charles Brown, who was then the surveyor of the fabric of the Minster.

John Shannon, chairman of York Civic Trust, said it had taken up the idea and commissioned a statue from Philip Jackson, one of England's premier sculptors.

"He is not only a brilliant sculptor but he has also done a tremendous amount of research in both Britain and Rome to find out exactly what Constantine would have been wearing he has really gone into great historical detail.

Constantine's is only the second statue to be put up in York this century the first was that of William Etty, which stands in Exhibition Square.

The Terry Trust is contributing £50,000 towards the project with the Civic Trust making up the rest.

The statue, standing 1.6m tall on a 1.8m stone base, will be unveiled by the former Archbishop of York, Lord Coggan, on Saturday, July 25, the day before the anniversary of Constantine's proclamation as emperor, which followed the death of his father the emperor Constantius Chlorus.

"His mother Helen was a committed Christian and was said to have been present when the true cross was discovered in Jerusalem and to have a splinter of it in her possession," said Dr Shannon.

"The statue will be looking from the Minster across to the Roman column, which the Trust re-erected at the site of the legionaries' fortress

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