Statues are an important part of human history and culture. They are all different and unlike each other, but we have all heard of them at some point. Below is a list of the ten most famous statues in the world.
1. The Manneken Pis
The Manneken Pis is a symbol of Brussels, a miniature 61 cm tall bronze fountain figurine. It is located near the main square Grand Place in the capital of Belgium, Brussels. The exact time and circumstances of the creation of this statue are unknown. There are numerous urban legends about its appearance. According to some sources, it already existed in the 15th century, possibly since 1388.
2. The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid is a bronze statue by Edvard Eriksen depicting the character from the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The sculpture is located on a cliff on the shoreline of the Langelinie Promenade in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is 1.25 m high and weighs 175 kg. It was unveiled on 23 August 1913. It is one of the most famous symbols of Copenhagen and a world-famous tourist attraction. According to the German magazine Der Spiegel, the statue located in Copenhagen Harbour has always been a copy, with the original being kept by the sculptor's descendants in an unknown location.
3. The Thinker
The Thinker is a 181 cm high bronze sculpture by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin, which he worked on from 1880 to 1882. Since 1922, it has been in the collection of the Rodin Museum in Paris. Today, it is one of the most recognizable sculptures in the world. In addition to the original, there are about 20 more copies in plaster and bronze, located in different cities around the world.
4. Motherland
The Motherland is a statue located on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, Russia. It was dedicated to the Soviet soldiers who fought in the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II. When the monument was completed in 1967, it was one of the tallest in the world for 22 years (85 meters). The figure itself is 52 meters long, the sword is 33 meters. The entire sculpture weighs about 8,000 tons.
5. Buddha statue in Leshan
The Leshan Buddha is a statue of Buddha near the city of Leshan in the Sichuan province of China. It is 71 meters high, making it one of the tallest Buddha statues in the world. It was carved into a cliff at the confluence of the Min and Dadu Rivers. Its construction began in 713 under the direction of the Chinese monk Hai Tong during the Tang Dynasty. He hoped that the Buddha would calm the turbulent waters that interfered with shipping along the river. The work was completed 90 years later.
6. Giant Olmec Stone Heads
The Olmec Giant Stone Heads are a series of sculptures on the Gulf Coast of Mexico that depict large human heads. Carved from basalt boulders, they date back to at least 900 BCE and are a distinctive feature of the ancient Mesoamerican Olmec civilization. Each of the 17 known statues has a distinctive headdress. The backs of the monuments are mostly flat. The smallest of the heads weighs 6 tons, while the largest is estimated to weigh between 40 and 50 tons.
7. Moai
Moai are monolithic statues carved from volcanic rock on Easter Island. Of the more than 900 in existence, most date back to between 1250 and 1500. There are many hypotheses about who carved the moai. The most popular of them say that they were made by Polynesian settlers. The statues usually measure 3–5 m and weigh less than 5 tons. The largest moai, the so-called Paro, is about 10 m high and weighs 75 tons.
8. The Great Sphinx
The Great Sphinx is a monumental sculpture of a sphinx located on the Giza Plateau in Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile, near modern-day Cairo. It is 73 m long and 20 m high. It was carved from a monolithic limestone rock around 2550 BC on the initiative of Khafre, the son of Cheops, the fourth pharaoh of Egypt from the IV dynasty.
9. Statue of Christ the Redeemer
The Christ the Redeemer statue is a famous statue of Jesus Christ built on top of the granite mountain Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was erected between 1922 and 1931 and was inaugurated to the public on October 12, 1931. The statue is 39.6 m high (including the pedestal 9.5 m) and weighs 635 tons and is one of the main attractions of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil as a whole. It is visited by at least 1.8 million tourists annually.
10. Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a national monument of the United States, a symbol of freedom, democracy and justice, one of the most famous sculptures in the world, often called the "symbol of New York and the United States". It is a gift from French citizens for the centenary of the American Revolution. This monumental neoclassical structure was erected in 1884-1886 according to the design of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, Gustave Eiffel (construction) and Richard Morris Hunt (pedestal). The height of the statue is 93 m, the total weight is 204.1 tons.
11. Venus de Milo
Located in the Louvre, this is a famous ancient Greek statue of the goddess Aphrodite, created between approximately 130 and 100 BC. Perhaps the most famous statue and one of the oldest in existence. The broken arms give it a special flavor.
12. Nelson's Column
Located in the centre of Trafalgar Square in London, the column was built between 1840 and 1843 to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The 5.5 metre tall statue sits atop a 46 metre granite column. The statue faces south towards the Admiralty and Portsmouth, home of Nelson's flagship, the Royal Navy ship HMS Victory. Hitler is said to have wanted to take the column to Berlin if he successfully invaded Britain.
13. Statue of Shiva in Sanga or Kailasnath Mahadev
Situated on the border of Bhaktapur and Kavrepalankok districts in Nepal, it is the tallest statue of Lord Shiva and one of the tallest statues in general. Completed only a few years ago, it is made of copper, cement, zinc and steel and is one of Nepal's first modern landmarks.
14. The Walking Man
Not only the world's famous statue, but also the most expensive is the work of Alberto Giacometti with the interesting name "Walking Man" with a height of 1.83 m. Swiss Alberto created it in 1961, and quite recently, somewhere at the very beginning of 2010, it became a lot at auction. This lot was bought for a fabulous amount of money - 104.3 million dollars. And all this happened because "Walking Man" is one of the most masterpieces of important works in the life of the author, the image of which can be seen even on 100 francs.
15. Nike of Samothrace
An ancient symbol of the victory of the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes over the fleet of Syria is the marble sculpture "Nike of Samothrace". It was found in the area of the sanctuary of the Cabiri on the local island of Samothrace. Standing on a rock, Nike was like the front part of a ship rushing into battle. The clothes that fluttered on it in the wind gave the whole image an irrepressibility and thirst for movement. Today you can see the statue in the Louvre.
16. Pieta
It was not for nothing that Michelangelo was considered a genius creator. Just look at his sculpture "Pieta". At the age of 24, the author created one of the best scenes of the Virgin Mary mourning her son. Here, emotionality, symbolism and an incomparable composition harmoniously merge. All these indicators became the reason for recognizing the sculpture as a true example of the High Renaissance.
17. Nefertiti
"Nefertiti" is another of the world's famous statues that depicts the culture of Ancient Egypt. It was created using limestone, which was then painted. The bright colors of the gems on the crown, which are still preserved on the sculpture, create an unrivaled contrast with Nefertiti's face. This work in the form of a bust is alternately located in Greece and Germany, which causes constant controversy.
18. Capitoline Wolf
A famous sculpture made of bronze is the Capitoline Wolf. It was located in Rome throughout its existence and was often interpreted as a propaganda symbol that reflected the desire of the fascist regime to restore the former Roman Empire.
19. Another place
The list of the most famous sculptures of our time can be easily supplemented by "Another Place" by Enony Gormley. It is a landscape installation that inspires deep thoughts and even melancholy. The installation consists of 100 human images made of cast iron and placed at a distance of 3 km from the impressive coastline of the city of Liverpool. Facing the sea, the statues completely disappear into the water during high tide.
20. Statue of the "British of Calais"
Another famous creation by Auguste Rodin is the statue "The Burghers of Calais". During the Hundred Years' War, King Edward III of England besieged this city, and as a result, hunger forced its inhabitants to surrender. But the cruel king set another condition - six citizens from the nobility had to come to him with ropes around their necks ready to give themselves up for execution. When one of them did so, it aroused pity in Queen Philippe, and she persuaded her husband to forgive the others.
21. Terracotta Army
A famous sculpture, or rather a whole row of 8,099 such sculptures, is the "Terracotta Army" in the Republic of China. They include not only warriors, but also their horses. Each of them has individual features and was intended to support the power of Qin Shi Huangdi when he went to the afterlife.
22. David
Among the most famous sculptures, one of the honorable places is occupied by Michelangelo's "David". David is a biblical hero, which the great sculptor created at the age of 28. This 5-meter-high work of art is not only a representation of a certain character, but also a symbol of human genius, the Florentine Republic, and the peak of the Renaissance. This sculptural image is the most replicated.
