Gutenberg Monument

The ''Gutenberg Monument'' () is a bronze statue of Johannes Gutenberg standing atop a plinth with bas-reliefs, designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and erected in Mainz in 1837.

Description

The bronze statue at a height of depicts Johannes Gutenberg standing, and in a medieval costume; he holds in his right hand several movable types, and supported by his left arm the first printed Bible. In one of the bas-reliefs, Gutenberg is seated before a type case and showing the types to his collaborator, Johann Fust; the latter is leaning upon one of the engraved blocks in use before the invention of movable types. The other bas-relief represents Gutenberg examining a printed sheet, taken from the new press, upon which a printer is at work. An inscription upon the face socle reads, in Latin:

Another inscription at the rear of the socle reads:

History

By the early 19th century Gutenberg became the subject of Romantic glorification, while the German city of Mainz and the French city of Strasbourg were embroiled in a civic rivalry in the context of the larger nationalist enmity between Germany and France. The cities, both of which he resided in, laid claim to Gutenberg as an icon: Mainz being his birthplace, and Strasbourg being where he allegedly experimented with movable type.

Mainz became the first to honor the inventor with a statue, employing Danish-Icelandic artist Bertel Thorvaldsen, though he did nothing further than make a miniature model of the statue. The statue had been ordered by the city of Mainz, in 1832; and the statue was made from small models by his pupil Herman Wilhelm Bissen and some preparatory drawings. All the work was cast in bronze at Paris, by , in 1836; and the monument was inaugurated at Mainz on 14 August 1837. The city, to thank Thorvaldsen, who would not accept any remuneration for his models, made him an honorary citizen. The statue was dedicated in a three-day ceremony attended by delegates from all Germany, although Thorvaldsen himself did not see the monument until 1841.

Thorvaldsen's rival David d'Angers, perhaps provoked by the monument in Mainz, would go on to design a statue of Gutenberg in Strasbourg, which was unveiled in 1840.

Gallery

File:Mainz Gutenbergdenkmal 2016.jpg, Detail of the statue
File:Reliëf op het monument voor Johannes Gutenberg te Mainz, voorstellende Johannes Gutenberg toont blokletters, RP-F-2001-7-751-16 (cropped).jpg, Detail of first bas-relief: Gutenberg showing types to Johann Fust
File:Reliëf op het monument voor Johannes Gutenberg te Mainz, voorstellende Johannes Gutenberg controleert een gedrukte tekst, RP-F-2001-7-751-17 (cropped).jpg, Detail of second bas-relief: Gutenberg at a printing press
File:Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz - Dom und Gutenbergdenkmal (Zeno Ansichtskarten).jpg, German postcard featuring the monument, c. 1900

References

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{{Authority control
Statues in Germany
Cultural depictions of Johannes Gutenberg