Europe's Statues
Story and photography by
Nancy & Eric Anderson

e Americans can be ignorant about things European, blissfully ignorant because we don't even know what we don't know about this continent, the original homeland of many Americans.

On the other hand, there has been criticism America has been too Eurocentric and, of course, many Americans have traveled in Europe or lived there for a spell in the past or even read its literature but, in general, what many Americans know about this original first world is what they've seen when Hollywood discovers a good storyline for a movie. To which some U.S. geography school teachers might say, "Thank goodness for Walt Disney!"

If we don't know Europe's history how can we understand its statues or recognize the figures standing on pedestals all over foreign cities. If those were subjects for "Jeopardy" or "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" U.S. contestants might not make any money. You could argue how can we identify the subject of an interesting statue if the information at the base of the column is written in a Cyrillic language, for example? You mean Americans would have to learn a foreign language? Well that's another issue, another beef foreigners have about those of us who live on the other side of the Atlantic.

But as we, visitors, stop and gaze at interesting statues in Europe, then look for a local worthy who might know the identity of the figure we're gazing at, we sometimes get shoulders shrugged for the universal sign for "I don't know an' I don't care!" Indeed, when we asked a Roman passer by to explain why there was a large statue of a foot in his city we got a head shake and the local moved on . It's not our fault we're not learning, we think. "The fault, dear Brutus is not in our stars." Maybe the foot is a relic from some podiatry convention

A good city map and tourist guide may make the need unnecessary for a foreign language or guide. Interestingly enough old guide books may be better than recent ones if tour needs are to follow the past. If a monument was at the corner of a piazza before the first Michelin Guide came out, the best description may be in an older book because many of today's guide books try too hard to cover too much including stuff that comes and goes and is not necessarily an important part of anyone's vacation.

So what's out there among the monuments of Europe? A lot. Yesterday's princes and kings and emperors and popes must have been more pompous and narcissistic than even today's politicians. Even if we knew our foreign history it would be hard to keep up with all those emperors with unpronounceable names who stand like giants across the city squares of Europe.

Though we wonder if poet Edna St. Vincent Millay knew something when she wrote: "The rain has such a friendly sound/ To one who's six feet underground." Surely the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry would know.

We have some favorites.

We rather like the statue of Karageorge Petrovitch in front of Saint Sava Cathedral in Belgrade for several reasons. First he has to compete and does so fairly successfully with the magnificent cathedral behind him. This church in the capital of Serbia is the largest Orthodox church in the world. It is not yet completed but when it's finished the mosaic of Jesus in the dome will be massive with each eye about 10 feet wide. We view the statue of Karadorde Petrovic sympathetically because he was also an underdog, a commoner, a cattleman who rose from humble beginnings to lead the Serbian people against the Ottoman Empire in the first part of the 19th century. He won several significant battles against the Ottomans but was finally assassinated in 1817 by a rival Serb, Prince Milos Obbrenovic who later became the wealthiest man in Serbia.

Karadorde means "Black George," a name he was given because of his violent and non aristocratic background. If the bird perched on Karadorde's head knew of his prowess with the sword it surely would take off in a hurry. The savagery and hatred between the Serbs and the Ottomans to a degree may explain -- but not justify -- the recent war in Bosnia. Such hatreds last for many generations and clarify why many Eastern European nations still detest the countries of the old Ottoman Empire; why, for example, the Greeks have no time for the Turks and why Vlad the Impaler, (the real Dracula of history) is seen as a savior of Romania, a hero because he so brutally repelled the Ottomans from his country.

The scene is more benign in Bratislava the capital of Slovakia where a statue of Hans Christian Andersen improbably shows up on the cobbles of the Hviezdoslavovo Námestie pedestrian mall. Why here and not say Copenhagen? Well, there are plenty in Denmark and even in New York City but the statue in Bratislava -- complete with his muse on his shoulder whispering in his ear -- is indeed special., standing there because the children's author once called this place "the most beautiful city in Europe."

Andersen called Bratislava a "fairy tale itself." The Danish storyteller was an avid 19th century traveler. He was captivated by the city as we were, too. He wrote in his diary: "We saw … most beautiful children. I met a small girl with a big bouquet. She smiled at me, a complete stranger. Suddenly she stopped, picked one rose from her bouquet, gave it to me, bowed her head and disappeared." Hans Christian Andersen, of course, had an affinity for children that even now still comes through in his writing. The pensive mien in his statue surely contrasts with the martial ones elsewhere that seem to glorify war.

Yet there is sometimes a quiet dignity to some country's heroes such as that of Kossuth on the Heroes' Square in Budapest. The memorial stands in front of the Hungarian Parliament Building. Kossuth died in 1894, almost a half century after the 1848 Revolution he led that gave Hungary independence from Austria and the Imperial power of the Habsburgs.

There's as much historical blood around the statue of Calvinistic John Knox in St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and the chill that comes from viewing so stern and uncompromising a preacher. This was a man apparently who thought you should not smile on the Sabbath. A rigid Protestant he fought Mary Queen of Scots, his monarch, for years and for many reasons one of which that she was Catholic. When she was imprisoned for her beliefs more than 500 years ago Knox openly called for her execution.

Knox, the son of a farmer, lived in an intolerant era. Religious reformers were often prosecuted for heresy. At one time Knox carried a sword as the bodyguard to the Protestant preacher George Wishart. Those were violent times. When the Catholic leader Cardinal Beaton burned Wishart at the stake in 1546 - he was, for revenge, murdered himself three months later. Knox was a prisoner in French Catholic galley ships for 19 months then later had to travel widely in Europe to avoid arrest. He finally returned to Scotland to thunder his long sermons at St. Giles and when he died in1572 the Regent of Scotland declared: "Here lies one who never feared any flesh."

Salvatore Dali, to be sure, led a different life from John Knox. Dali could laugh at himself and loved to play tricks on those who viewed his paintings. He would often transpose the numbers on any dated painting or bury other images within a more obvious work.

Dali's Theatre-Museum in Spain's Costa Brava in the city of Figueres is a restored 19th century theater that burned down in the Civil War. It contains most of Dali's work and personality. The exhibits defy description: golden thrones, stuffed animals, elephant statues, weird sculptures, dissected bones, large eggs on rooftops and, inexplicably, dozens of large reproductions of the Academy Award statues. Those huge Oscars look down on Dali's 1978 "car-naval," his antique Cadillac and rising from it like a radiator cap a massive bronze "Queen Esther" by Dali's friend Ernest Fuchs. Dali called it his Rainy Taxi and, if you put a coin in the cab's meter, water falls from above showing why the highest point of the ensemble is an umbrella.

Dali said of Fuchs' bronze: "Her breasts are like wells. I thirst for the milk of knowledge." Although there are other Dali quotes on display in this museum such as "I believe a man has as much right to be insane as he has to be sane."