Men Alone, in Bronze and Stone: A Tale of Two Statues

Abstract

We pass by them every day in cities and towns, without a second thought. Solitary figures, usually male, standing stern and silent. Familiarity, it seems, has bred not contempt but indifference; statues have become invisible. Yet this is not true always and everywhere. From time to time, sometimes quite unexpectedly, a statue will come to life, will shed its cloak of invisibility and become the focus of public attention and debate.