Peter the Great Statue
The monument to Peter I ( officially: Памятник « В ознаменование 300 - летия российского флота " German about: Monument " in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Russian Navy " ) in Moscow is a statue erected in 1997, the Russian Tsar Peter I. the Great on a boat shows. With nearly one hundred meters, this is one of the highest statues in the world.
Description
The monument is about 96 meters high. It consists of a sailing ship on which a disproportionately large figure is that Peter is the Great. This holds with the left hand the steering wheel of the ship, with his right hand he holds up a scroll. Behind him is the mast of the ship with ropes and three sails. Under the ship is a pedestal, showing waves and several smaller ships. The large and small ships carrying flags with St. Andrew's crosses. The sculpture stands on an artificial island made of reinforced concrete. This is lined with fountains, which should give the impression that the ship was moving through the water. Together with the island, the statue rises about 98 meters above the water surface. The support structure and the ropes are made of stainless steel, the outer layer is partially made of bronze, the sailing copper. Various details like the scroll, and the diagonal crosses are plated with gold. The ropes are so intertwined that they can not move. The sails are made of lighter weight because of a hollow structure. Overall, the structure weighs around 600 tons.
Formation
The statue was created by Georgian- Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli. There have been various claims Tsereteli had initially created the work as a reflection of Christopher Columbus and offered 1991-1992 in the United States, Spain and Latin America for the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492. When he should have not been accepted, he should have amended the statue to transform Columbus in Tsar Peter. From other side - among other things Tsereteli itself - is an attempt to refute these allegations.
In fact, Columbus takes as a motif a recurrent place in the work Tsereteli; the artist has been dedicated to the sailors several statues of enormous size, about 45 meters high, 1995 in Seville, Spain erected Birth of a New Man. Currently, another statue of Columbus Tsereteli is assembled in the Puerto Rican Arecibo, which is expected to reach a height of about 126 meters (as of 2011). The system called Birth of the New World plant has in its composition similarities to Peter I monument on: Both show a disproportionately large man at the wheel of a masted ship, which is equipped with three sails; both figures have a raised right arm and the left hand on the steering wheel of the ship.
The monument was approved by the then Lord Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, who is considered a friend Tsereteli. Under Luzhkov several Tsereteli - works were erected in the public space of the city, partly against the resistance of the population. The Peter- the - Great statue was erected in 1997 on an artificial island in the Moscow River, just before the turn of the water diversion channel. These various elements were - the ship, the pedestal and the Tsar figure - individually made and assembled at the site. The bronze parts were blasted with sand, provided with an artificial patina and coated with a protective wax to the weather. In the support structure ladders were installed to make it accessible to the monument for maintenance.
With the erection of the statue, the 300 - year anniversary of the Russian Navy was honored. Its foundation can be traced back to Peter the Great. The cost is estimated at 15 to 20 million U.S. dollars.
Reception
The work was received mainly negative in public. Before deployment, there was in Moscow campaigns that tried to prevent the establishment. According to surveys, finds the majority of Muscovites the statue unsightly. Another reason for the rejection in the Moscow population, the BBC believed that Peter the Great Moscow had replaced in 1710 as the capital of the Russian Tsardom and later Empire by Saint Petersburg. The former Russian President Boris Yeltsin described the statue as "ugly" and advised Luzhkov to promote other artists.
Even abroad, the monument elicited similar responses. In 2008 it was taken by Virtual Tourist in the top ten ugliest buildings and monuments. Foreign Policy in 2010 it counted also among the ugliest statues in the world. Also in other lists of this kind appeared the monument on a regular basis.
A bomb attack on the statue on July 6, 1997, it was prevented. Using special underwater equipment, the Group had Revolutionary War Council, responsible for several attacks on other monuments in the country, mounted under the statue explosives. After an anonymous tip to law enforcement agencies did not happen to carry.
Immediately after the end of Luzhkov's tenure as mayor of Moscow suggested the provisional successor Vladimir Resin ago on 4 October 2010 to put the statue. A decade earlier, the Federation Council Sergei Mironov, chairman had already brought the Gulf of Finland in front of Saint Petersburg as an alternate location this week. This idea was taken up again. In response organized by the St. Petersburg news site fontanka.ru an online survey in which 65 % of the votes for " Mironov's dacha " were issued. The St. Petersburg City Council rejected the plan as well and proposed instead, the monument was to be dismantled and used as scrap metal. Thereupon several cities offered as new locations. The expected costs for offsetting the statue are estimated at 6 to 10 million U.S. dollars. The Moscow Mikhail Moskvin - Tarkhanov construction manager estimates even that alone disassembly would cost 25 to 30 million U.S. dollars. Marat Gelman, a patron of the arts from Moscow, had declared to be able to muster the necessary donations. Gelman is an outspoken opponent of the statue and had already been involved in a campaign to prevent their formation.