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# Does the statue of Gandalf in an English abbey ring no bells?
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/statuia-gendalfa-v-angliiskom-abbatstve-vam-ni-o-chem-ne-govorit/
- Published: 2023-07-31T18:01:40.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:36:09.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Architecture, Art, Cinema, London, Humour

In fact, this is how in 1755 the sculptor Alexander Cederbach envisaged the figure of Diogenes of Sinope for the adornment of Lacock Abbey in the county of Wiltshire in England.

The lantern in the sage's hand is an allusion to the story of how Diogenes walked about the city in broad daylight with a lit lantern and, when asked "why?", replied "I am looking for a man".

As for the pointed conical hat, by the eighteenth century, when the sculpture was made, its look was associated not only with the shape of church spires but also with witches and warlocks, among whom Diogenes, evidently as a member of the guild of thinkers, happened to be numbered by accident

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_9450@31-07-2023_21-01-40.jpg)