 The statue of James II is an outdoor bronze sculpture located in the front garden of the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square in London , United Kingdom . Probably inspired by French statues of the same period , it depicts James II of England as a Roman emperor , wearing Roman armour and a laurel wreath ( traditionally awarded to a victorious Roman commander ) . It originally also depicted him holding a baton . It was produced by the workshop of Grinling Gibbons , though probably not by Gibbons himself . The statue has been relocated several times since it was first erected in the grounds of the old Palace of Whitehall in 1686 , only two years before James II was deposed . 
