Statue of Mars, York

The statue stands to a height of 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m), though it is missing the feet from below the ankle and any plinth it may have originally stood on. Mars is depicted as a youthful soldier, wearing a Greek helmet and bearing a large oval shield held in his left arm. He is wearing a cuirass with elaborate lappets beneath and at the sleeves over a tunic. He has a sword strapped on his left side. His right arm is extended but the hand is missing; this probably held a spear originally.^[1]

The Statue was first put on display in 1881, in the Hospitium in the York Museum Gardens.^[2] It has featured prominently in the Yorkshire Museum's exhibitions ever since.

In the 1980s the statue was on display as part of an exhibition titled "Roman Life at the Yorkshire Museum".^[7]

In 2010 the Yorkshire Museum reopened after a twelve-month closure for redevelopment. The new exhibition, "Roman York - Meet the People of the Empire" features the statue as a central piece of the display and is situated at the entrance into the main hall of the museum.^[8][9]

• 
  Keeper of the Yorkshire Museum Liz Hartley posing with the Statue of Mars in the 1980s.
• 
  The statue on display in 2007.
• 
  The statue on display in 2011.