Nick Higham reports Christ's statue will not be there permanently

It is the first of three sculptures to be placed temporarily on the plinth, bare since the square was first laid out in 1841.

The life-sized statue, entitled Ecce Homo (Behold the Man), has been built by 39-year-old conceptual artist Mark Wallinger.

It is made of white marble resin, and depicts Christ standing before the multitude, with his head slightly bowed.

Mark Wallinger: Intended the statue to look vulnerable

The artist says he wanted an antidote to the spiritually empty celebration of the millennium in Greenwich.

Because of the scale of Trafalgar Square, the figure will be dwarfed by its own plinth, surrounding statuary and Nelson's Column.

This, says Mr Wallinger, is meant to have a powerful effect on both Christians and non-Christians:

"I consciously made him lifesize. We are made in God's image, he was made in our image so to stand in contrast to the overgrown relics of empire was definitely part of the plan," he explains.

Crushed bronze head

The other two sculptures, which will be displayed for a year each, are by Bill Woodrow, who has designed a head crushed by a book and clamped by tree-roots, and Rachel Whiteread, who has designed an upturned replica of the plinth itself.

What Rachel Whiteread's sculpture could look like

If planning permission is granted, the three works will be installed in the Goodwood Sculpture Park in Sussex - which paid for the work - after their spell in central London.

The three other corners of the square boast Empire-scale equestrian statues: two of 19th century imperial generals and one of King George IV.

But the fourth has stood empty since King William IV died without leaving enough funds to have his own statue erected, and no one else stepped in.

Giant pigeon

In 1995 the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) was given permission by Westminster City Council to fill the plinth - but finding a suitable subject for the remaining corner did not prove easy.

When the public were asked, their suggestions ranged from a statue of the Queen Mother with her horse Red Rum to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher or the late Princess Diana.

Other suggestions included Nelson Mandela, Charles Dickens, Winnie the Pooh, The Beatles and a giant pigeon.

A final choice must be made by 2001 - and the decision-making process is expected to provide much debate.