Victoria Square is dominated by sculpture. In the foreground is one of Dhruva Mistry's sphinxes. In the background is the sculpture that gave the square its name.

In the background is the Birmingham Town Hall. It was based on the temple of Castor and Pollux in Rome. The architect was Joseph Aloysius Hansom (1803-1882). His company went bankrupt as a result. To anyone who has read novels set in nineteenth century London hansom cabs are a familiar concept. Hansom cabs are two-wheel cabs with a low centre of gravity, often used as taxis. And yes, they were invented by J. A. Hansom.

Here's another sphinx by Mistry. Mistry called them guardians, rather than sphinxes. How Mistry came up with the idea of these mythical creatures, will be revealed shortly.

All in all there are four Mistry sculptures at Victoria Square. This is The River. According to Mistry she represents the life force. Brummies however have nicknamed her The Floozie in the Jacuzzi. Irreverence aside, she's my favourite of Mistry's sculptures in Victoria Square. The building in the background is the Birmingham Council House.

I found Thomas Attwood (1783-1859) sitting in front of the library. Attwood was at the centre of democratic and economic reform campaigns in the first half of the nineteenth century. He was one of Birmingham's first MPs. On the paper he holds it says Progress and Reconstruction. The steps around him are painted with other pro-democracy words. A soapbox is also part of the installation. The sculptors are Sioban Coppinger and Fiona Peever (1993).

I really liked this statue. The fact that it sits on the stairs rather than surrounded by water or on a tall plinth, made me feel like interacting with it. The painted steps and soapbox also gave me something to explore and explained to me what Attwood was about even though I didn't know anything about him before. As far as interactive sculpture goes, this was a definite hit.

And here we have Dhruva Mistry's muse. Or at least one of them. She sits inside the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

The name of the sculptor is Edward Gray Saunders. I haven't been able to find out more about him than that he was active in London in 1795. That's when the Birmingham manufacturer Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) bought the sphinxes. Boulton was a pioneering industrial manufacturer who worked with the Scottish inventor James Watt, the man whose name was used for the SI unit measuring power.

Here she is from the back. I thought the red and grey floor was a very effective background. However the sphinxes were really meant as garden sculpture. Boulton placed them in the grounds of Soho House outside Birmingham.

The thing on her back is her tail.

Another sculpture of a female. On the label it said "Crouching Venus". I took a picture of her because she is a nice example of the spiral effect evident in much Classical sculpture. It's part of what makes Classical sculpture so attractive. Earlier sculpture had shown people standing straight up and looking ahead. Having the people in the sculpture look in one direction and various limbs pointing in other directions gives them a sense of movement and dynamism that the "mug shot" sculptures of earlier times just don't possess.

Here we are inside the rotunda of the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. I love the cranberry colour on the walls and the way it contrasts with the white stucco. Linux fans will appreciate the painting over the doors.

If you look carefully through the right door, you'll notice a bronze of a woman lying down. She used to be part of a fountain in Birmingham but was stolen a few years ago. In 2001 she was recovered in a drugs raid. I guess it was felt that she would be safer indoors after that adventure.

In the museum some stunning stained glass windows have been preserved. This proud and optimistic window is a case in point.