Bronze Horseman is a famous Statue of Peter the Great at St Petersburg in Russia. I got to know this statue from listening to the audio book (biography) Catherin the Great.
What piqued my interest in this statue is neither its historical significance nor its artistic features, it is the mechanics involved in structural design of the statue, as well as how the statue's pedestal, a 1500 tone boulder, was transported.
The statue portrays Peter the Great sitting triumphantly on his horse, his outstretched arm pointing towards the River Neva. The horse reared on its hind legs, its tail crushing a serpent (*). The horse itself stands on a thunder stone pedestal. The pedestal has inscription Peter I and Catherin II.
At the time of the design of the statue by French sculptor Étienne Maurice Falconet, some criticized the the design about the placement of the serpent. The sculptor argued that Functionally the tail on the serpent provide a third point of the support, without it, the statue would break. This demonstrated the sculptor's good understanding of mechanics and structural stability.
Moving the pedestal, the 1500 tone thunder stone, from at Lakhta, 6 km inland from the Gulf of Finland in 1768 to Senate Square at St. Petersburg, is an engineering feat in itself (Wikipedia).
Workmen waited for winter, when the ground was frozen, and then they dragged the giant stone over the frozen ground to the sea for shipment and transport to the city. A metallic sled that slid over bronze spheres about 13.5 cm (6 inches) in diameter, over a track. The process worked in a way similar to ball bearings. Making the feat even more impressive was that the labour was done entirely by humans; no animals or machines were used in bringing the stone from the original site to the Senate Square. It took 400 men nine months to move the stone, during which time master stonecutters continuously shaped the enormous granite monolith.
The Bronze Horseman - the statue of Peter the Great of Russia, is a master piece of sculpture, and its construction is an engineering feat. It is one of the most admired equestrian statues in the world!
(*)The snake represents Peter the Great's enemies, especially those who opposed his reforms and military victories. It also symbolizes ignorance, resistance to progress, and Peter’s triumph over old traditions. The Bronze Horseman’s raised hand and forward-leaning posture emphasize Peter leading Russia into the future, while the crushed snake shows his dominance over obstacles.
