Friday 23 March 2012

CHOPIN STATUE, WARSAW

The Chopin Statue is a large bronze statue of Frédéric Chopin that now stands in the upper part of Warsaw's Royal Baths Park aka Łazienki Park, adjacent to Aleje Ujazdowskie (Ujazdów Avenue). It was designed in 1907 by Wacław Szymanowski for its planned erection on the centenary of Chopin's birth in 1910, but its execution was delayed by controversy about the design, then by the outbreak of World War I. The statue was finally cast and erected in 1926.

During World War II, the statue was destroyed by the occupying Germans on May 31, 1940. According to local legend, the next day a handwritten sign was found at the site which read: "I don’t know who destroyed me, but I know why: So that I won’t play the funeral march for your leader." The original mould for the statue, which had survived the war, made it possible to cast a replica, which was placed at the original site in 1958. At the statue's base, since 1959, on summer Sunday afternoons are performed free piano recitals of Chopin's compositions. The stylised willow over Chopin's seated figure echoes a pianist's hand and fingers.

This post is part of Sylvia's Skywatch Friday meme.





12 comments:

  1. Love the first picture.. very nice~

    http://keeyit.com/2012/03/22/skywatch-friday-dinosaur-came-for-celebration/

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  2. Awesome skies and your first capture is totally breathtaking, Nick! What a delightful place! And such a fascinating story! I love it! Thanks as always for sharing!

    Sylvia

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  3. Awesome! The first has a great angled shot, as if someone is on Chopin's back!

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  4. Great views of the place.
    Nice details of the statue.

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  5. The light in that first photo is spectacular!

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  6. Beautiful statue and photos.

    Regards and best wishes

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  7. Great post!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  8. Superb shot! Love the first shot too.

    SWF

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  9. Dziękuję za ten post i wspaniałe zdjęcia. Nigdy nie przypuszczałam,że ktoś pokaże pomnik naszego wielkiego kompozytora i pianisty. Jeszcze raz dziękuję i pozdrawiam. *** Thank you for this post and great pictures. I never thought that someone will show a monument of our great composer and pianist. Thanks again and best regards

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  10. Great place and great photograph. And the information accompanying the photographs are interesting.And a lovely place to listen to the music of the master , in the evenings. Lucky local populations.

    Thanks for sharing this with the readers.

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  11. Hello Nick
    Very nice pictures you show.
    Wishing you a good day.
    Hugs Hanne Bente

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I love to hear from you, so please comment. I appreciate constructive criticism as it improves my skills as an amateur photographer.