Glasgow artist swaps Duke of Wellington statue’s traffic cone for paper-reading pigeon

Glasgow’s famous Duke of Wellington statue has taken on a new look – after a street artist added an extra sculpture on top of it.

The statue outside the city’s Gallery of Modern Art typically has a traffic cone perched on its head – a tradition believed to date back to at least the 1980s.

However on Monday a second model, showing a pigeon reading a newspaper with a small traffic cone atop its head, was added.

The addition is the work of street artist the Rebel Bear, who came to fame for street art in Glasgow during the coronavirus lockdown.

The artist – who has been dubbed the Scottish Banksy for his style by some admirers – declined to comment on the new artwork when asked by BBC Scotland.

His Instagram post, showing pictures of it, stated: “The dignified and undignified beasts.

“Located: well, youse (sic) know where.”

It depicts a pigeon reading a pun-filled newspaper, with stories about a seagull gang, a park bench “poop crisis” and a sports story about a pigeon race.

The post was greeted enthusiastically on social media, with comments saying it should win “the Scottish Art of the Year award” and that it should remain permanently in place.

The tradition of placing a traffic cone on the statue has a famous admirer in Banksy himself, who said it was his favourite piece of art in the UK.

When the artist brought an exhibition to Glasgow in 2023, a sign outside the Gallery of Modern Art declared: “For anyone who isn’t aware – the statue out the front has had a cone on its head continuously for the past 40 odd years.

“Despite the best efforts of the council and the police, every time one is removed another takes its place.”

The statue itself dates back to 1844 and was sculpted by Italian artist Carlo Marochetti.

The traffic cone prank is thought to have been started in the 1980s by revellers and has become a famous Glasgow sight, even being referenced during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.