Charles XIV Johns statue, Bronze equestrian statue in Gamla stan, Stockholm, Sweden

The Charles XIV John statue is a bronze equestrian sculpture about 4.5 metres high, showing the king in a field marshal's uniform with the Order of the Seraphim and a marshal's baton in his raised right hand. The horse walks at a slow pace. The bronze rests on a low granite base with a royal coat of arms plaque on the front, at Slottsbacken in Gamla stan, Stockholm.

Oscar I commissioned the equestrian statue from Bengt Erland Fogelberg in 1844, and the sculptor began work in Rome in 1847. Ferdinand von Miller the Elder cast it in bronze in Munich between 1851 and 1854, mostly in one piece apart from the head and arm. It was unveiled at Slussen on 4 November 1854, and Fogelberg was made a commander of the Order of the Polar Star that day.

The statue stands on a small square in the heart of the old town, where people pass through or stop briefly on their way between the main streets. The surrounding cobblestone lanes and old facades give the place a distinct character that visitors naturally notice.

The statue is in the center of Gamla stan and easy to reach on foot from the nearby metro stations. A walk through the narrow lanes of the old town fits naturally around a visit to this spot.

Charles XIV John was not born Swedish but was originally a French general named Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, elected as heir to the Swedish throne in 1810. He never learned to speak Swedish fluently, yet he ruled the country for over two decades.