FIT FOR A KING!
‘BREATHTAKING’ MURAL CELEBRATES CITY’S LINKS TO RICHARD III
A MURAL has been created in the city to highlight its links to King Richard III.
The eye-catching artwork, fittingly on King Richard’s Road, features a scene from the Battle of Bosworth.
It was designed and created by local artist Mono, who worked with artists’ collective Graffwerk and was commissioned by Leicester City Council.
The mural is on the side of the Bazaar Mart shop at 109 King Richard’s Road and can clearly been seen by those travelling inbound along the main route into the city.
Five shops in King Richard’s Road are also set to be decked out with what the council has called “striking new vinyls for their shutters”, further depicting King Richard III.
Work on these is expected to begin next week.
Emmalese Johnson, the owner of Bazaar Mart, said: “I am so thrilled with the way the mural has turned out and so proud to have it on the side of our shop.
“When the council approached us with the designs, I couldn’t picture it, but I honestly never thought it would look as good as it does – it’s breathtaking.
“It has already attracted people to the area who stop and have a look. The shutter vinyls mean we will all tie in with the theme and the area will look really nice – it’s fantastic.”
Images on the shutters will show a painting of King Richard III, a soldier in armour, a flag, a battle scene and King Richard’s crown.
Shop owners helped to decide on the King Richard III theme, and contributed towards the upper floor paintwork.
The mural, shutter vinyls and other works to shutters are the result of a £17,000 investment scheme from the city council.
Assistant city mayor for neighbourhoods, Councillor Kirk Master, said: “As we come out of the coronavirus pandemic, our priority is to support local communities to recover and thrive.
“This project demonstrates our commitment to helping small independent retail businesses, working with them to come up with a theme for improvements and creating a striking new mural that will attract shoppers and visitors to the area.
“Commissioning the mural also helps us to support local artists.
“We know the vinyls on shop shutters can look really attractive, as demonstrated by a previous similar project on Saffron Lane.
“It will make a big difference to the street scene and helps to foster a sense of community and identity for King Richard’s Road.”
King Richard III’s body was found in a car park in Leicester in 2012 - ending a mystery over what had happened to his remains which lasted more than 500 years.
He was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field on August 22, 1485, when Henry Tudor took his crown.
Richard had spent his last night in Leicester, before marching to Bosworth for the showdown in the War of the Roses.
His body was then brought back to
Leicester, but what happened then was a mystery until his remains were found nine years ago.
The find has boosted Leicester’s economy by tens of millions.
His tomb has been on public view in Leicester Cathedral since March
2015.
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