Gutenberg Monument
49°59′56″N 8°16′18″E / 49.9988°N 8.27162°E
| Gutenberg Monument | |
|---|---|
.jpg?lang=en) The monument in 2012 | |
| Artist | Bertel Thorvaldsen |
| Completion date | 14 August 1857 |
| Subject | Johannes Gutenberg |
| Location | Mainz, Germany |
| 49°59′56″N 8°16′18″E / 49.9988°N 8.27162°E | |
The Gutenberg Monument[1] (German: Gutenberg-Denkmal) 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
[edit]The bronze statue at a height of 11 ft 8.55 in (3.57 m) 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.[2][3][4] An inscription upon the face socle reads, in Latin:[4]
de Gutenberg
patricium Moguntinum
aere per totam Europam collato
posuerunt cives
MDCCCXXXVII.
of Gutenberg
patrician of Mainz,
funds having been collected through all of Europe,
was placed by the citizens
[in the year] 1837.
Another inscription at the rear of the socle reads:[5]
Germani sollers extulit ingenium.
Nunc, quidquid veteres sapiunt sapiuntque recentes
non sibi sed populis omnibus sapiunt.
was invented by the keen mind of a German.
Whatever the ancients and the moderns know
they now know not for themselves but for all peoples.
History
[edit]
By the early 19th century Gutenberg became the subject of Romantic glorification,[1] while the German city of Mainz and the French city of Strasbourg were embroiled in a civic rivalry[3] in the context of the larger nationalist enmity between Germany and France.[6] The cities, both of which he resided in,[7] laid claim to Gutenberg as an icon: Mainz being his birthplace, and Strasbourg being where he allegedly experimented with movable type.[3][8]
Mainz became the first to honor the inventor with a statue, employing Danish-Icelandic artist Bertel Thorvaldsen,[3] 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.[a] All the work was cast in bronze at Paris, by Charles Crozatier, 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.[10] 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.[11]
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.[12]
Gallery
[edit]-
Detail of the statue -
Detail of first bas-relief: Gutenberg showing types to Johann Fust -
Detail of second bas-relief: Gutenberg at a printing press -
German postcard featuring the monument, c. 1900
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.jpg?lang=en)
.jpg?lang=en)
References
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ Plon 1892 credits Thorvaldsen with the preparatory drawings. The website of the city of Mainz instead credits Ludwig Lindenschmit the Elder.[9]
Citations
[edit]- ^ a b Füssel 2020.
- ^
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Plon 1892, pp. 264–265
- ^ a b c d Driskel 1991, p. 361.
- ^ a b Pohlsander 2008, p. 109.
- ^ Pohlsander 2008, p. 110.
- ^ Pohlsander 2008, p. 111.
- ^ Clark 1979, p. 303.
- ^ Clark 1979, p. 303-304.
- ^ "Gutenberg-Denkmal". Landeshaupstadt Mainz (in German). Archived from the original on 12 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
- ^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Plon 1892, p. 129
- ^ Pohlsander 2008, p. 108.
- ^ Driskel 1991, pp. 359, 361–362.
Bibliography
[edit]- Clark, Harry (1979). ""Four Pieces in a Press": Gutenberg's Activities in Strasbourg". The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy. 49 (3): 303–309. ISSN 0024-2519.
- Driskel, Michael Paul (1991). ""Et la lumière fut": The Meanings of David d'Angers's Monument to Gutenberg". The Art Bulletin. 73 (3): 359–380. doi:10.2307/3045810. ISSN 0004-3079.
- Füssel, Stephan (2020-03-01). "Gutenberg's final years". Gutenberg. Translated by Lewis, Peter. Haus Publishing. ISBN 978-1-912208-68-5.
- Plon, Eugène (1892). Thorvaldsen: His Life and Works. Translated by Luyster, Isaphene M. (3rd ed.). Roberts.
- Pohlsander, Hans A. (2008). National Monuments and Nationalism in 19th Century Germany. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-03911-352-1.
Further reading
[edit]- Gedenkbuch an die festlichen Tage der Inauguration des Gutenberg-Denkmals zu Mainz am 13., 14., 15. u. 16. August 1837: Nebst den Acten, die Entstehung desselben betreffend, u. einer kurzen Lebensbeschreibung Gutenbergs [Commemorative book on the festive days of the inauguration of the Gutenberg monument in Mainz on 13, 14, 15 and 16 August 1837: together with the documents concerning its creation and a short biography of Gutenberg] (in German). Kupferberg in Comm. 1837. OCLC 47302639.
- Bratner, Luzie (2000). Das Mainzer Gutenbergdenkmal: von St. Far bis Thorvaldsen ; zu Entstehung und Geschichte des Gutenbergplatzes und des Gutenbergdenkmals ; Begleitheft zur Ausstellung des Landesamtes für Denkmalpflege Rheinland-Pfalz in Mainz im Auftrag des Ministeriums für Kultur, Jugend, Familie und Frauen ; Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Rheinland-Pfalz vom 4. August bis 30. September 2000 (in German). Verlag der Rheinhessischen Druckwerkstätte. ISBN 978-3-87854-152-3. OCLC 237383280.
- Imiela, H. J (1977). "Das Gutenberg-Denkmal von Bertel Thorvaldsen in Mainz in B. Thorvaldsen". Das Gutenberg-Denkmal von Bertel Thorvaldsen in Mainz in B. Thorvaldsen. 2: 367–397.
- Neeb, Ernst (1925). "Zur Geschichte des Mainzer Gutenberg-Denkmals.". In Ruppel, Aloys (ed.). Gutenberg Festschrift zur Feier des 25jährigen Bestehens des Gutenbergmuseums in Mainz (in German). Verlag der Gutenberg-Gesellschaft. pp. 331–334. OCLC 500009968.
- Nipperdey, Thomas (1968-12-01). "NATIONALIDEE UND NATIONALDENKMAL IN DEUTSCHLAND IM 19. JAHRHUNDERT". Historische Zeitschrift (in German). 206 (1): 529–585. doi:10.1524/hzhz.1968.206.jg.529. ISSN 2196-680X.