Rock sculpture of Decebalus: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Colossal carving in Mehedinți County, Romania}} |
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[[File:Capul lui Decebal.jpg|thumb|Rock sculpture of Decebalus, king of the Dacians.]] |
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[[File:Statuia Chipul lui Decebal - Cazanele Dunării, România.jpg|alt=|thumb|Side view]] |
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| ⚫ | The '''rock sculpture of |
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[[File:Frontal view of the Decebalus rock sculpture.jpg|thumb|Full frontal view]] |
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| ⚫ | The '''rock sculpture of Decebalus''' ({{Langx|ro|Chipul regelui dac Decebal}}) is a colossal carving of the face of [[Decebalus]] (r. AD 87–106), the last king of [[Dacia]], who fought against the Roman emperors [[Domitian]] and [[Trajan]] to preserve the independence of his country, which corresponds to present-day [[Romania]]. |
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The sculpture is located near the city of [[Orșova]], in [[Mehedinți County]]. It was made between 1994 and 2004, on a rocky outcrop on the river [[Danube]], at the [[Iron Gates]], which form the border between Romania and [[Serbia]]. The [[Dacians|Dacian]] king's sculpture is the tallest [[rock relief]] in Europe, at {{Convert|55|m|ft|abbr=on}} in height and {{Convert|25|m|ft|abbr=on}} in width. |
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It is the tallest [[Rock cut architecture|rock sculpture]] in Europe. |
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==Creation== |
==Creation== |
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It was commissioned by Romanian businessman [[Iosif Constantin Drăgan]] and it took 10 years |
It was commissioned by Romanian businessman [[Iosif Constantin Drăgan]] and it took 10 years for twelve sculptors to complete it. The lead artist sculptor was Florin Cotarcea, from Orșova.<ref>Daniela Schily, Matthias Eickhoff, ''Donau: von Regensburg zum Schwarzen Meer'', DuMont Reiseverlag, 2010, p.237.</ref> According to Drăgan's website, the businessman purchased the rock in 1992, after which the Italian sculptor Mario Galeotti assessed the location and made an initial model. The first six years involved dynamiting the rock into the basic shape, and the remaining four years were devoted to completing the detail.<ref name="Decebalusrex">{{cite web |url=http://www.decebalusrex.ro/en/istoricul-2.php |title=Fundatia Europeana Dragan, DECEBALUS REX DRAGAN FECIT, History of the monument |publisher=Decebalusrex.ro |accessdate=2014-08-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814124251/http://www.decebalusrex.ro/en/istoricul-2.php |archivedate=2014-08-14 }}</ref> |
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Under the face of Decebalus there is a Latin inscription which reads "DECEBALUS REX—DRAGAN FECIT" ("King Decebalus—Made by Drăgan"). The carving was placed opposite an ancient memorial plaque, carved in the rock on the [[Serbia]]n side of the river facing Romania. The plaque, known as the [[Tabula Traiana]], records the |
Under the face of Decebalus there is a Latin inscription which reads "DECEBALUS REX—DRAGAN FECIT" ("King Decebalus—Made by Drăgan"). The carving was placed opposite an ancient memorial plaque, carved in the rock on the [[Serbia]]n side of the river facing Romania. The plaque, known as the [[Tabula Traiana]], records the completion of Trajan's military road along the [[Danube]] and thus commemorates the final defeat of Decebalus by Trajan in 105, and the absorption of the Dacian kingdom into the [[Roman Empire]]. Drăgan wanted the Serbs to carve a giant head of a Roman Emperor, as if confronting Decebalus on the opposite side of the river, but the Serbs refused.<ref name = "nick"/> |
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==Significance== |
==Significance== |
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| ⚫ | Drăgan was a leading figure in the [[protochronism]] and [[Dacianism]] movements, nationalist ideologies which attempted to portray Romania as the major cradle of civilisation and which identified Romania with the Dacians and an ancient [[Thracian]] empire that supposedly dominated central Europe.<ref>Katherine Verdery, National Ideology under Socialism. Identity and Cultural Politics in Ceaușescu's Romania, University of California Press, 1991</ref> In this ideology, Dacia, the pre-Roman name of Romania, was the inheritor of this Thracian culture, a view expounded by Drăgan in his book and journal ''Noì, tracii'' ("We Thracians").<ref>[[Lucian Boia]], ''History and Myth in Romanian Consciousness'', [[Central European University Press]], Budapest, 2001, p.105</ref> |
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[[File:Decebalus Rex.jpg|thumb|The sculpture as it appears at a bend in the Danube]] |
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| ⚫ | Drăgan was a leading figure in the [[protochronism]] |
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The '' |
The ''Fundația Europeană Drăgan'', Drăgan's foundation, states that "Giuseppe Costantino Dragan is a strong supporter of the theory that the original 'flame' of civilization started on the ancient territory of Romania and argues as much in his work".<ref name="Decebalusrex"/> Drăgan saw the sculpture as a signpost to the cradle of civilisation. He is quoted saying, "Anyone travelling towards 'Decebal Rex Dragan Fecit' is also travelling towards the origins of European civilization and will discover that a United Europe represents the natural course of history".<ref name="Decebalusrex"/> |
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==Descriptions== |
==Descriptions== |
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[[File:Decebal treteen1.jpg|thumb|As seen from the river's edge]] |
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[[Michael Palin]] in his 2007 book ''[[New Europe (book)|New Europe]]'' described the colossal head: |
[[Michael Palin]] in his 2007 book ''[[New Europe (book)|New Europe]]'' described the colossal head: |
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{{quote|As we move into the Kazan Gorge, where a small valley enters the Danube from the Romanian shore, an enormous head is carved into the rock together with the Latin inscription 'Decebalus Rex - Dragan Fecit'. It turns out to be less ancient than I thought, in fact it dates from the 1990s. The carved figure, Decebalus, was a Dacian king who took on the armies of Emperor Trajan and is regarded as a great Romanian folk hero. Dragan, more prosaically, is a rich businessman who paid for it to be carved. On this slightly ominous note of resurgent nationalism, we pass into the gorge itself.<ref> |
{{quote|As we move into the Kazan Gorge, where a small valley enters the Danube from the Romanian shore, an enormous head is carved into the rock together with the Latin inscription 'Decebalus Rex - Dragan Fecit'. It turns out to be less ancient than I thought, in fact it dates from the 1990s. The carved figure, Decebalus, was a Dacian king who took on the armies of Emperor Trajan and is regarded as a great Romanian folk hero. Dragan, more prosaically, is a rich businessman who paid for it to be carved. On this slightly ominous note of resurgent nationalism, we pass into the gorge itself.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://palinstravels.co.uk/book-4270 |title=Palin's travels |publisher=Palinstravels.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2014-08-15}}</ref>}} |
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[[Nick Thorpe]] in ''The Danube: A Journey Upriver from the Black Sea to the Black Forest'' writes, {{quote|Upstream from the church, the bulbous features of Decebal, moustachioed and wide-eyed, have been carved into the rock face, forty meters high and twenty five wide. The ancient Dacian leader stares across the river at the opposite cliff...The cliff, rising above his head into the |
[[Nick Thorpe]] in ''The Danube: A Journey Upriver from the Black Sea to the Black Forest'' writes, {{quote|Upstream from the church, the bulbous features of Decebal, moustachioed and wide-eyed, have been carved into the rock face, forty meters high and twenty five wide. The ancient Dacian leader stares across the river at the opposite cliff...The cliff, rising above his head into the wooded slope, provides him with the illusion of a large forehead or a pointed wizard's hat.<ref name = "nick">Thorpe, Nick, ''The Danube: A Journey Upriver from the Black Sea to the Black Forest'', [[Yale University Press]], 2014. p.336.</ref>}} |
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*[[Tourism in Romania]] |
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*[[Seven Wonders of Romania]] |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*[http://www.zamolxis.ro/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=51 Sculpture of Decebalus]{{ |
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927195526/http://www.zamolxis.ro/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=51 Sculpture of Decebalus] {{in lang|ro}} |
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*[http://www.decebalusrex.ro/?lang=en Official website: Dragan European |
*[http://www.decebalusrex.ro/?lang=en Official website: Dragan European Foundation] |
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{{coord|44 |
{{coord|44.64118|22.29125|format=dms|type:landmark_region:RO|display=title}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Decebalus, sculpture}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Decebalus, sculpture}} |
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[[Category:Mountain monuments and memorials]] |
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[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in Romania]] |
[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in Romania]] |
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[[Category:Stone sculptures in Romania]] |
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[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Romania]] |
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Romania]] |
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[[Category:2004 sculptures]] |
[[Category:2004 sculptures]] |
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[[Category:Colossal statues]] |
[[Category:Colossal statues]] |
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[[Category:Dacia]] |
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[[Category:Dacia in art]] |
[[Category:Dacia in art]] |
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[[Category:Buildings and structures in Mehedinți County]] |
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Mehedinți County]] |
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[[Category:Monuments and memorials completed in the 2000s]] |
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Latest revision as of 02:41, 7 November 2024
The rock sculpture of Decebalus (Romanian: Chipul regelui dac Decebal) is a colossal carving of the face of Decebalus (r. AD 87–106), the last king of Dacia, who fought against the Roman emperors Domitian and Trajan to preserve the independence of his country, which corresponds to present-day Romania.
The sculpture is located near the city of Orșova, in Mehedinți County. It was made between 1994 and 2004, on a rocky outcrop on the river Danube, at the Iron Gates, which form the border between Romania and Serbia. The Dacian king's sculpture is the tallest rock relief in Europe, at 55 m (180 ft) in height and 25 m (82 ft) in width.
Creation
[edit]It was commissioned by Romanian businessman Iosif Constantin Drăgan and it took 10 years for twelve sculptors to complete it. The lead artist sculptor was Florin Cotarcea, from Orșova.[1] According to Drăgan's website, the businessman purchased the rock in 1992, after which the Italian sculptor Mario Galeotti assessed the location and made an initial model. The first six years involved dynamiting the rock into the basic shape, and the remaining four years were devoted to completing the detail.[2]
Under the face of Decebalus there is a Latin inscription which reads "DECEBALUS REX—DRAGAN FECIT" ("King Decebalus—Made by Drăgan"). The carving was placed opposite an ancient memorial plaque, carved in the rock on the Serbian side of the river facing Romania. The plaque, known as the Tabula Traiana, records the completion of Trajan's military road along the Danube and thus commemorates the final defeat of Decebalus by Trajan in 105, and the absorption of the Dacian kingdom into the Roman Empire. Drăgan wanted the Serbs to carve a giant head of a Roman Emperor, as if confronting Decebalus on the opposite side of the river, but the Serbs refused.[3]
Significance
[edit]Drăgan was a leading figure in the protochronism and Dacianism movements, nationalist ideologies which attempted to portray Romania as the major cradle of civilisation and which identified Romania with the Dacians and an ancient Thracian empire that supposedly dominated central Europe.[4] In this ideology, Dacia, the pre-Roman name of Romania, was the inheritor of this Thracian culture, a view expounded by Drăgan in his book and journal Noì, tracii ("We Thracians").[5]
The Fundația Europeană Drăgan, Drăgan's foundation, states that "Giuseppe Costantino Dragan is a strong supporter of the theory that the original 'flame' of civilization started on the ancient territory of Romania and argues as much in his work".[2] Drăgan saw the sculpture as a signpost to the cradle of civilisation. He is quoted saying, "Anyone travelling towards 'Decebal Rex Dragan Fecit' is also travelling towards the origins of European civilization and will discover that a United Europe represents the natural course of history".[2]
Descriptions
[edit]Michael Palin in his 2007 book New Europe described the colossal head:
As we move into the Kazan Gorge, where a small valley enters the Danube from the Romanian shore, an enormous head is carved into the rock together with the Latin inscription 'Decebalus Rex - Dragan Fecit'. It turns out to be less ancient than I thought, in fact it dates from the 1990s. The carved figure, Decebalus, was a Dacian king who took on the armies of Emperor Trajan and is regarded as a great Romanian folk hero. Dragan, more prosaically, is a rich businessman who paid for it to be carved. On this slightly ominous note of resurgent nationalism, we pass into the gorge itself.[6]
Nick Thorpe in The Danube: A Journey Upriver from the Black Sea to the Black Forest writes,
Upstream from the church, the bulbous features of Decebal, moustachioed and wide-eyed, have been carved into the rock face, forty meters high and twenty five wide. The ancient Dacian leader stares across the river at the opposite cliff...The cliff, rising above his head into the wooded slope, provides him with the illusion of a large forehead or a pointed wizard's hat.[3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Daniela Schily, Matthias Eickhoff, Donau: von Regensburg zum Schwarzen Meer, DuMont Reiseverlag, 2010, p.237.
- ^ a b c "Fundatia Europeana Dragan, DECEBALUS REX DRAGAN FECIT, History of the monument". Decebalusrex.ro. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
- ^ a b Thorpe, Nick, The Danube: A Journey Upriver from the Black Sea to the Black Forest, Yale University Press, 2014. p.336.
- ^ Katherine Verdery, National Ideology under Socialism. Identity and Cultural Politics in Ceaușescu's Romania, University of California Press, 1991
- ^ Lucian Boia, History and Myth in Romanian Consciousness, Central European University Press, Budapest, 2001, p.105
- ^ "Palin's travels". Palinstravels.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-08-15.