# Why are bronze statues of celebrities so horrible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2023, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416 "2023-08-11T18:09:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/61 "2023-08-16T22:50:09Z")
> [@Eclipse\_Chaser](#): > > Hope this one works > > [Molly Malone](https://www.historyhit.com/app/uploads/fly-images/5153426/Molly-Malone-1576x1074.jpg) AKA “The Tart with the Cart” ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/62 "2023-08-21T16:54:55Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Interesting! I guess I just don’t like the medium. Perhaps you’ve never been in the presence of a truly artistic bronze. Rodin’s bronze’s are both impressionistic ad realistic and hit you hard if you are standing in front of them. Below is an image of The Burghers of Calais. I’ve never seen the one in Calais, but I have seen one of the original castings in Copenhagen. [![](https://www.calais-cotedopale.co.uk/sites/calais-cotedopale/files/styles/contenu_slider/public/content/images/statue-bourgeois-de-calais-auguste-rodin.jpg?itok=tWNaHFCb) ](https://www.calais-cotedopale.co.uk/sites/calais-cotedopale/files/styles/contenu_slider/public/content/images/statue-bourgeois-de-calais-auguste-rodin.jpg?itok=tWNaHFCb) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/63 "2023-08-21T18:07:09Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > Perhaps you’ve never been in the presence of a truly artistic bronze. Well, you’re certainly right about that. I did google “The Burghers of Calais” and, although the work is impressive, bronze still isn’t my cup of tea. I find it very cold. That’s just me, though, and certainly not a reflection on the art itself. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/64 "2023-08-21T18:39:12Z")
Well, no one wants a cold burgher…. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/65 "2023-08-21T18:40:54Z")
AH!! Clever! 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/66 "2023-08-21T19:02:38Z")
Has anyone considered that the crappy quality may be due to municipal authorities wanting the job done as quickly and cheaply as possible? Just a suggestion; I don’t actually know how these things work. There’s a statue of Woody Allen in Oviedo, in northern Spain. Here’s a Pinterest link. I’m seeing images of other statues, as well (YMMV). > **[woody allen statue Oviedo | Woody allen, Oviedo, Woody](https://www.pinterest.es/pin/350717889712171114/)** > > Feb 27, 2013 - This Pin was discovered by redacted. Discover (and save!) your own Pins on Pinterest Hey, there’s a Wikipedia entry: > **[Monument to Woody Allen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_Woody_Allen)** > > The Monument to Woody Allen (Spanish: Monumento a Woody Allen) is a life-size bronze sculpture of the American actor and director Woody Allen, situated in the Spanish city of Oviedo. > The statue was designed by Vicente Santarúa and installed in 2003 by mayor Gabino de Lorenzo. El País remarked that "It looks like he is walking with a sad face and his mind somewhere else, not in Oviedo right now, although if you put yourself to his side and start a conversation with him it is so realistic that it ... ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/67 "2023-08-21T19:23:56Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > Perhaps you’ve never been in the presence of a truly artistic bronze. Rodin’s bronze’s are both impressionistic ad realistic and hit you hard if you are standing in front of them. Below is an image of The Burghers of Calais. I’ve never seen the one in Calais, but I have seen one of the original castings in Copenhagen. I agree! The Rodin Museum here in Philly is one of my favorites. I think my favorite might be the Three Shades. He was a true artistic genius, and his bronze sculptures were sublime. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/68 "2023-08-21T19:37:08Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Not only was everything out of proportion, Hideous! ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2023, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/69 "2023-12-27T23:37:02Z")
> **[Nearly 21ft bronze statue of Shakira unveiled in her home town in Colombia](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/dec/27/shakira-bronze-statue-unveiled-colombia)** > > In social media posts, the singer thanked the sculptor Yino Márquez and his students for their ‘enormous artistic talent’ At 6.5 metres tall I would come up to her knee-caps. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2023, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/70 "2023-12-28T03:32:06Z")
I don’t know that the first sculpture is Alexander. I think it’s one of the Roman emperors. Augustus maybe? Anyone out there know who it is? ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2023, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/71 "2023-12-28T03:47:06Z")
It’s Augustus. The second one is Julius Caesar. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2023, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/72 "2023-12-28T03:56:59Z")
Thank you! I knew the second one was Julius. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/73 "2025-05-07T20:29:07Z")
Resurrecting this thread to add the [new statue of Lemmy out of Motorhead](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/may/07/itll-be-solemn-enshrining-his-ashes-statue-of-lemmy-to-be-unveiled-in-his-home-town-of-stoke-on-trent) in his home town of Stoke-on-Trent. This one looks really good, and catches him in his very characteristic high mike stance. Its by sculptor Andy Edwards, best known for the [Beatles sculpture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Edwards_%28sculptor%29) on the waterfront at Liverpool, which has to be one of the most joyous works of art on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/74 "2025-05-07T20:54:57Z")
One of my favorite modern bronze statues is a 2009 statue of Meir Dizengoff (1861-1936), founder and first mayor of Tel Aviv. It’s an equestrian statue that doesn’t try to be heroic - it just shows a pudgy guy on a horse, which is what he was. It succeeds, I think, because it takes the impressionistic route of trying to capture the spirit of a person without trying to be too realistic: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Statue_of_Mayor_Meir_Dizengoff_on_a_Horse_in_Tel_-Aviv.jpg/1920px-Statue_of_Mayor_Meir_Dizengoff_on_a_Horse_in_Tel_-Aviv.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Statue_of_Mayor_Meir_Dizengoff_on_a_Horse_in_Tel_-Aviv.jpg/1920px-Statue_of_Mayor_Meir_Dizengoff_on_a_Horse_in_Tel_-Aviv.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/75 "2025-05-07T22:07:16Z")
The pudgy guy I get, but why a horse? As Man on a Horse statues go, this is the least heroic one I’ve ever seen. There’s no doubt a reason for that - perhaps Tel Aviv’s first mayor was a stodgy bureaucrat but was liked for that reason. Even so, the horse - Is that the horse he rode in on? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/76 "2025-05-07T22:17:10Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > As Man on a Horse statues go, this is the least heroic one I’ve ever seen. Challenge accepted [![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51994273827_3647ecf06b_c.jpg) ](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51994273827_3647ecf06b_c.jpg) Good King Wenceslaus ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/77 "2025-05-07T22:22:54Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > As Man on a Horse statues go, this is the least heroic one I’ve ever seen. There’s no doubt a reason for that - perhaps Tel Aviv’s first mayor was a stodgy bureaucrat but was liked for that reason. Even so, the horse - Is that the horse he rode in on? Dizengoff had a beloved Arabian horse he used to ride around the young city, meeting with citizens and reviewing public works. He wasn’t so much a “charge into battle” type of horseman, more a “saunter down the street tipping his hat at people” type. He was what you’d call a “character” (and also a master at self-promotion), and people generally loved him for his quirks. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/78 "2025-05-07T23:02:04Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Dizengoff had a beloved Arabian horse he used to ride around the young city, meeting with citizens and reviewing public works. He wasn’t so much a “charge into battle” type of horseman, more a “saunter down the street tipping his hat at people” type. He was what you’d call a “character” (and also a master at self-promotion), and people generally loved him for his quirks. I understand that type of rider, but an Arabian horse was wasted on him. You have to let it fly on an open field or a beach. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/79 "2025-05-07T23:03:11Z")
I’m with the OP. Most bronze statues are creepy looking. The “Bronze Fonz” we have here in Milwaukee looks like something in Terminator 2. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416/80 "2025-05-07T23:19:21Z")
His in > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I understand that type of rider, but an Arabian horse was wasted on him. From what I understand, it was given to him by a Bedouin chieftain and was notoriously slow for an Arabian. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bronze-statues-of-celebrities-so-horrible/988416.md?page=5)