Interesting times and statues.
May you live in interesting times!, as the supposed Chinese curse says - I sure do, these days; things are quite crazy and likely to remain so for quite some time, but also very exciting. And very busy; particularly the week that's just coming to an end has been mad. I have heaps of things I want to post about related to this, but that will have to wait for a calmer moment. So instead, just a quick post with some photos I've wanted to post for some time, of various statues I've come across in different places.
I came across this 'statue' in a small park close to the train station in Regensburg, Germany. I love the absurdity of it - two feet stretching up to the heavens next to a church.
These two very stylish creatures are a lion and a unicorn I saw in Edinburgh. The lion and the unicorn are old heraldic symbols of England and Scotland respectively. Wikipedia quotes a nursery rhyme about them that goes as follows:
The lion and the unicorn were fighting for the crown
The lion beat the unicorn all around the town.
Some gave them white bread, and some gave them brown;
Some gave them plum cake and drummed them out of town.
These particular representations of the symbolic beasts are not fighting, however; rather, they are peacefully and respectfully positioned on each side of the entrance to the Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh Castle. The statues were commissioned specially for the Memorial, which opened in 1927.
This statue is found outside the cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden. It shows Nathan Söderblom, who was arch bishop of the city from 1914-1931. What drew me to this statue in particular was the size of it - surprisingly small for the august position of the person it portrays. I've put my glove at the base of the statue in the close-up to illustrate the scale.
Finally, a couple of statues from Oslo. The first one shows a chained eagle inspired by a poem by Henrik Wergeland, one of Norway's most famous - and important - poets. Presumably the statue was commissioned in connection with the 200th anniversary of his birth this year. It is one of the most graceful statues I have ever seen. There is something of the grace of the ballet dancer in the way the eagle looks upwards on the tip of its outstretched wing, longing, I think, for freedom. I find the imagery of it very powerful; there is a painful contrast between the grounding of the eagle by the chain around its foot and the yearning for freedom in its gaze and the stretch of its wing.
I left this statue for last because I rather dislike it. It stands in the park at St. Hanshaugen, and shows children playing in a school marching band. Presumably it is meant to refer to May 17th and the fact that our national day is celebrated with a children's parade rather than a military parade. Obviously this fact is indeed something to celebrate, but I can't help but wish that it could have been done with better taste. I find the statue to be garishly painted - the red, blue and white I guess are picked because these are the colours of our flag - and the black of the figures' bodies, their faces in particular, I think is just... ugly.
I came across this 'statue' in a small park close to the train station in Regensburg, Germany. I love the absurdity of it - two feet stretching up to the heavens next to a church.
These two very stylish creatures are a lion and a unicorn I saw in Edinburgh. The lion and the unicorn are old heraldic symbols of England and Scotland respectively. Wikipedia quotes a nursery rhyme about them that goes as follows:
The lion and the unicorn were fighting for the crown
The lion beat the unicorn all around the town.
Some gave them white bread, and some gave them brown;
Some gave them plum cake and drummed them out of town.
These particular representations of the symbolic beasts are not fighting, however; rather, they are peacefully and respectfully positioned on each side of the entrance to the Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh Castle. The statues were commissioned specially for the Memorial, which opened in 1927.
This statue is found outside the cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden. It shows Nathan Söderblom, who was arch bishop of the city from 1914-1931. What drew me to this statue in particular was the size of it - surprisingly small for the august position of the person it portrays. I've put my glove at the base of the statue in the close-up to illustrate the scale.
Finally, a couple of statues from Oslo. The first one shows a chained eagle inspired by a poem by Henrik Wergeland, one of Norway's most famous - and important - poets. Presumably the statue was commissioned in connection with the 200th anniversary of his birth this year. It is one of the most graceful statues I have ever seen. There is something of the grace of the ballet dancer in the way the eagle looks upwards on the tip of its outstretched wing, longing, I think, for freedom. I find the imagery of it very powerful; there is a painful contrast between the grounding of the eagle by the chain around its foot and the yearning for freedom in its gaze and the stretch of its wing.
I left this statue for last because I rather dislike it. It stands in the park at St. Hanshaugen, and shows children playing in a school marching band. Presumably it is meant to refer to May 17th and the fact that our national day is celebrated with a children's parade rather than a military parade. Obviously this fact is indeed something to celebrate, but I can't help but wish that it could have been done with better taste. I find the statue to be garishly painted - the red, blue and white I guess are picked because these are the colours of our flag - and the black of the figures' bodies, their faces in particular, I think is just... ugly.