10 Most Famous Statues In The World

Statues are an important part of human history and culture.  Here’s our own list of the 10 Most Famous Statues in the World.

10 Most Famous Statues in the World

1. Statue of Liberty, New York, United States – Located on Liberty Island in Manhattan, the statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886, as a gift to the United States from the people of France. It was given to celebrate the 100 years anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence. The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States: a welcoming signal to immigrants arriving from abroad

Most famous statues: Statue Of Liberty

Most famous statues: Statue Of Liberty

 

2. Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – The statue is considered the largest Art Deco statue in the world and the 5th largest statue of Jesus in the world. It is 30 meters (98 ft) tall, not including its 8 meters (26 ft) pedestal, and its arms stretch 28 meters (92 ft) wide. It is located at the peak of the 700-meter (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain. The statue has become an icon for Rio de Janeiro and Brazil’s most famous monument. It was constructed between 1926 and 1931

Most famous statues: Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado mountain

Most famous statues: Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado mountain

3. The Great Sphinx Of Giza, Egypt – Commonly referred to as the Sphinx, it is a limestone statue of a mythical creature with a lion’s body and a human head. It stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. It is the largest monolith statue in the world, standing 73.5 meters (241 ft) long, 19.3 meters (63 ft) wide, and 20.22 m (66.34 ft) high. It is also the oldest known monumental sculpture and is commonly believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians around 2558–2532 BC

Most Famous Statues

The Great Sphinx Of Giza, Egypt

4. Moai, Easter Island – Monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people from rock between the years 1250 and 1500. Almost all moai have overly large heads three-eighths the size of the whole statue. The tallest moai erected, called Paro, was almost 10 meters (33 ft) high and weighed 75 tonnes. The heaviest erected was a shorter but squatter moai weighing 86 tons and one unfinished sculpture, if completed, would have been approximately 21 meters (69 ft) tall with a weight of about 270 tons

Most Famous Statues

Most famous statues: Moai, Easter Island

 

5. David Statue, Italy – David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created between 1501 and 1504, by the Italian artist Michelangelo. It is a 5.17-metre (17.0 ft) marble statue of a standing male nude. The statue represents the Biblical hero David. The statue is located in the Accademia Gallery in Florence since 1873

Most Famous Statues

Most famous statues: David Statue (source: Rico Heil)

 

6. Olmec colossal heads, Mexico – The Olmec were an ancient Pre-Columbian civilization living in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco in Mexico. The Olmec civilization flourished roughly from 1400 BC to 400 BC. The most recognized aspect of the Olmec civilization are the enormous helmeted heads. The heads are thought to be portraits of rulers. No two heads are alike and the helmet-like headdresses are adorned with distinctive elements. 17 colossal heads have been found, and they range in size from the tallest at 3.4 m high to the shortest at 1.47 m

Most Famous Statues

Olmec colossal heads, Mexico

 

7. The Motherland Calls, Volgograd, Russia – The Motherland Calls statue, or simply The Motherland is a statue in Volgograd (formerly known as Stalingrad) commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad. Declared the largest statue in the world in 1967 (85 meters or 279 feet tall), it is the last non-religious statue to be declared the largest; every record holder since has been a Buddhism-related sculpture. Compared with the later higher statues, The Motherland Calls is significantly more complex from an engineering point of view, due to its characteristic posture with a sword raised high in the right hand and the left hand extended in a calling gesture.  The 200 steps, symbolizing the 200 days of the Battle of Stalingrad lead from the bottom of the hill to the monument

most famous statues

The tallest non-religious statue in the world – The Motherland Calls

8. The Thinker – A bronze sculpture by Auguste Rodin. The work shows a nude male figure at about life-size sitting on a rock with his chin resting on one hand as though deep in thought, and is often used as an image to represent philosophy. There are about 28 full-size castings, in which the figure is about 186 cm (73 in) high, though not all were made during Rodin’s lifetime and under his supervision. Rodin first conceived the figure as part of another work in 1880, but the first of the familiar monumental bronze appeared in 1904

most famous statues

The Thinker by Auguste Rodin – known world wide

 

9. The Little Mermaid, Denmark – A bronze statue depicting a mermaid, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Based on the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, the small and unimposing statue is a Copenhagen icon and has been a major tourist attraction since 1913. It has also become a popular target for defacement by vandals and political activists. The statue sits on a rock in a harbor and has a height of only 1.25 meters (4.1 ft).

In case you didn’t know, Denmark is considered one of the safest countries for women.

most famous statues

The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen – just 1.25 meters tall

 

10. The Terrace of the Lions, Delos Island, Greece – The island of Delos is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece. Delos had a position as a holy sanctuary for a millennium before Olympian Greek mythology made it the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. The Terrace of the Lions was dedicated to Apollo by the people of Naxos shortly before 600 BC and had originally 9 to 12 marble guardian lions along the Sacred Way, but only 5 lions survived and there are fragments of 3 others. The originals were moved to the Delos Museum in 1999.

most famous statues

The Terrace of the Lions, Delos Island, Greece

            

Related Articles

3 CommentsLeave a comment

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share this post with your friends!