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Verity

North Devon, Italy

Verity

Verity is a 2012 stainless steel and bronze statue created by Damien Hirst. The 20.25-metre (66.4 ft) tall sculpture stands on the pier at the entrance to the harbour in Ilfracombe, 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 clearly visible. The stance has been described as a reference to Little Dancer of Fourteen Years 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 in Stroud. The sword, which gives the statue much of its height, and the upper left arm is one fibreglass piece. Measuring 25 cm (10 inches) higher than the Angel of the North, Verity became the tallest statue...

Listen to the audio guide for Verity Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off

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