Auguste Rodin, The Thinker, Bronze, c.1902, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, Denmark

The definition of a statue is not always clear-cut; sculptures of a person on a horse, called Equestrian statues, are certainly included, and in many cases, such as a Madonna and Child or a Pietŕ, a sculpture of two people will also be. A small statue, usually small enough to be picked up, is called a statuette or Figurine.

Many statues are built on commission to commemorate a historical event, or the life of an influential person. Many statues are intended as public art, exhibited outdoors or in public buildings for the edification of passers-by, with a larger magnitude than normal words could ever have for the common man.

On rare occasions, statues themselves become historic and inspire their own historic events. In 1986, when the Statue of Liberty marked her one-hundredth anniversary, a three-day centennial celebration in her honor attracted 12 million, said to have been the largest public event in the world as of that date. The guest list was unique. "We invited all the great statues of the world to her birthday party and created giant puppets to represent them," said Jeanne Fleming, director of the event. "Each one arrived accompanied by native music."

There is an urban legend concerning a code for mounted statues, whereby the horse's hooves are supposed to indicate how the rider met his end. One hoof off the floor would indicate the rider died of wounds received in battle, or perhaps was just wounded in battle; two hooves off the floor would indicate the rider was killed in battle. An examination of the equestrian statues in most major European cities shows this is not true. If it ever was true, the practice appears to have died out in the 19th century. http://www.snopes.com/military/statue.htmhttp://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_074.html

Statues are amongst the wonders of the world, with the Colossus of Rhodes and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the Moai of Easter Island among the wonders of the modern world.

Gallery

<gallery> Image:Venus von Willendorf 01.jpg|Venus of Willendorf, one of the oldest known Statuettes, Upper Paleolithic, 24,000 BC-22,000 BC Image:Great Sphinx Closeup.JPG|The Great Sphinx at Giza, 3rd millennium BC, Egypt Image:Venus de Milo Louvre Ma399 n4.jpg|Venus de Milo, c. 130 - 100 BC, Greek, the Louvre Image:Laocoon Pio-Clementino Inv1059-1064-1067.jpg|Laocoön and his Sons, Greek, (Late Hellenistic), circa 160 BC and 20 BC, White marble, Vatican Museum Image:AhuTongariki.JPG|Moai of Easter Island facing inland, Ahu Tongariki, c. 1250 - 1500 AD, restored by Chilean archaeologist Claudio Cristino in the 1990s Image:Kamakura Budda Daibutsu front 1885.jpg|The Great Buddha of Kamakura, c. 1252, Japan Image:David von Michelangelo.jpg|Michelangelo's David, 1504, Florence, Italy Image:The.burg.of.calais.london.arp.750pix.jpg|Auguste Rodin, The Burghers of Calais (1884?c. 1889) in Victoria Tower Gardens, London, England. Image:Statofliberty.jpg|The Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor, USA, c.1886 Image:Millais statue 3.jpg|Thomas Brock, John Everett Millais, at Tate Britain 1905 Image:Brasil.RioDeJaneiro.Corcovado.jpg|Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1931 Image:IwoJimaMemArlington.JPG|U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, located in Arlington, Virginia, 1954 Image:marcus.aurelius.horse.statue.rome.arp.jpg|A closeup of the replica statue of Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, 1981, The original c. 200 AD is in the nearby Capitoline Museum, Rome Image:Grotepier TN.JPG|Anne Woudwijk, Pier Gerlofs Donia c.1985, legendary Frisian hero Image:Ushiku Daibutsu 2006.jpg|The Ushiku Daibutsu, Amitabha Buddha, 1995, Japan. The second tallest statue in the world. Image:TsDKh Moscow Statue1.jpg|Stone statue outside Moscow's New Tretyakov Gallery </gallery>

See also

Venus of Dolní V?stonice, ceramic figurine, 29,000 to 25,000 BC

• Bronze sculpture
• Bust
• Colossus
• Equestrian sculpture
• Figurine
• History of sculpture
• List of statues
• List of statues by height
• Living statue
• Memorial
• Monument
• Sculpture
• Statues of Gudea, c.2100 BC
• Stone carving
• Stone sculpture
• The Thinker
• Venus of Willendorf

References

External links

• UK Public Monument and Sculpture Association

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