Watercolour of the Melville Monument in Edinburgh. It is a large neoclassical column in the centre of St Andrew Square, in the New Town, dedicated to the 18th‑century Scottish statesman Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville.
A tall fluted column about 41–45 m high, modelled on Trajan’s Column in Rome, and topped by a statue of Dundas carved by Robert Forrest to a design by Francis Leggatt Chantrey. The architect was William Burn, and the monument was built between about 1821 and 1827 as a memorial to Dundas, who was one of the most powerful politicians in Scotland at the time.
 
Interesting facts...
The column’s position was chosen so that it could be seen from ships in the Firth of Forth, partly honouring Dundas’s role in naval and imperial affairs. His unfortunate relationship with the slave trade (he delayed abolition) is now reflected in his plaque.