What is the Angel of the North?

Despite the name, the Angel of the North is not a celestial manefestion. As a tribute to the industrial heritage of the North East, this huge steel structure watches over the people of Gateshead and is seen by 90,000 drivers each day.

Erected in 1998, the Angel of the North is the work of the talented and visionary artist Anthony Gormley. Despite initially suffering from several ill advised attempts to place the statue in various locations, eventually it was erected in Gateshead, England. Whilst relatively new, the impact of the Angel should not be underestimated and is well on its way to becoming a historical English icon.

The most pivotal structural element of the sculpture that makes it such an important statue is it’s (what some would call) revolutionary design. The angel stands at a height of 20 metres, yet its ‘wings’ reach over 54 metres. To put that into perspective, the statues width is longer than the height of America’s famous Statue of Liberty. Also, the wings are angled at a depth of 3.5 metres forward. Gormley was quoted as saying that this was to create a ‘sense of embrace’ for all who would witness the statue.

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