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David of Sassoun (statue)
David of Sassoun (Armenian: «Սասունցի Դավիթ») is a copper equestrian statue portraying David of Sassoun (Sasuntsi Davit’) in Yerevan, Armenia. Erected by the sculptor and artist Yervand Kochar in 1959, it depicts the protagonist of the Armenian national epic Daredevils of Sassoun. It is placed on a basalt base shaped to resemble natural rock formations. The statue stands at the center of a round reflecting pool in a large square in front of Yerevan's central railway station.
The first version of the statue was originally erected in 1939 for the thousandth anniversary of the epic, but two years later, the statue was destroyed and Kochar was arrested. Since its erection, the statue has been widely admired and has become a symbol of Yerevan. Following a decline in arrivals to the city via train, there have been frequent calls to relocate the statue to Yerevan's Republic Square. It is designated as a national monument by the Armenian government.
The David of Sassoun statue was first conceived prior to the 1000th-anniversary celebrations of the epic in Soviet Armenia in 1939. Yervand Kochar, who in 1936 became the most prominent artist to move to Soviet Armenia from abroad, was commissioned to produce the sculpture. Kochar made it of gypsum and reportedly finished it on site in 18 days working directly in plaster at the installation site. Other sources state he spent up to three months on the project. In the same year, he created six illustrations for David Sasunskiy, the Russian-language academic publication of the epic. Kochar's statue was unveiled in mid-September 1939 in the square in front of the Yerevan Railway Station. It was positioned there so as to greet city visitors, the majority of whom during this period arrived by train. The 3 m-tall (9.8 ft) sculpture stood on a 7 m-tall (23 ft) rectangular pedestal. It was the first equestrian monument erected in modern Armenia. The sculpture incorporated both Renaissance and socialist realist elements. Art critic M. Sargissian later commended its "high artistic value", calling it a "significant step toward realistic sculpture."
The statue was destroyed days after Kochar was arrested on June 23, 1941 for "anti-Soviet agitation", and only survives in photographs. Kochar was released in August 1943, through the intervention of his former Nersisian School classmates Anastas Mikoyan and Karo Halabyan.
In 1957, on the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution, Soviet authorities decided to restore the statue. Kochar began working on the new statue at a large pavilion at Yerevan's Central Cemetery (Tokhmakh) no later than August 1957. It was completed within the same year. He recreated it with significant changes from the initial version, which had included an old Arab man besides David. It is more ambitious in scale that the first version. The artistic council was highly critical, complaining about the proportions between David and his horse Kurkik and the size of details. Kochar explained that the details were inspired by specific lines from the epic.
The current restored statue was inaugurated on December 3, 1959. The opening ceremony attracted a large crowd despite the cold weather, including many Armenians hailing from Sasun. Many came with carpets and wine, turning it into a spontaneous celebration that lasted until late night. The opening ceremony was officiated by Yerevan Mayor Gurgen Pahlevanian; no senior officials from the local Communist Party attended. It featured several speakers, including the literary scholar and writer Gevorg Abov, the sculptor Grigor Aharonian, a factory lathe operator, and a ninth grade student. The actor Zhan Eloyan recited an excerpt from the epic, which inflamed the crowd's emotions. The literary scholar Yakov Khachikian, who witnessed its opening, said there was much enthusiasm and jubilation among the crowd.
According to Khachikian, Kochar had long conceived the idea of the statue, which he only realized with the support of the Soviet state. On the other hand, the Russian literary scholar Lev Ospovat quoted Kochar, whose artistic style was more abstract and enigmatic, as saying that he created the statue to gain recognition, rather than as an expression of his personal creativity. The classically-inspired statue disappointed artists who admired Kochar's experimental Parisian work.
The statue was erected during a period of an Armenian nationalist resurgence amid the Khrushchev Thaw. The anthropologist Adam T. Smith argued that David, along with the contemporary statue of Mesrop Mashtots (1962) in front of the Matenadaran, "commemorates the achievements of a specifically national hero—a hero of Armenia, not Soviet Armenia", while earlier statues in Yerevan commemorated Soviet and Bolshevik leaders. Taline Ter Minassian suggested that it highlights the "exact limits of national expression in the post-Stalinist era." The art critic Hrach Bayadyan noted that the statue, along with the genocide memorial erected in 1965–67, "played a principal role in the symbolic construction of Soviet (Eastern) Armenian identity, connoting the nation's tragedy and rebirth, as well as its longevity and struggle against foreign rule."
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David of Sassoun (statue)
David of Sassoun (Armenian: «Սասունցի Դավիթ») is a copper equestrian statue portraying David of Sassoun (Sasuntsi Davit’) in Yerevan, Armenia. Erected by the sculptor and artist Yervand Kochar in 1959, it depicts the protagonist of the Armenian national epic Daredevils of Sassoun. It is placed on a basalt base shaped to resemble natural rock formations. The statue stands at the center of a round reflecting pool in a large square in front of Yerevan's central railway station.
The first version of the statue was originally erected in 1939 for the thousandth anniversary of the epic, but two years later, the statue was destroyed and Kochar was arrested. Since its erection, the statue has been widely admired and has become a symbol of Yerevan. Following a decline in arrivals to the city via train, there have been frequent calls to relocate the statue to Yerevan's Republic Square. It is designated as a national monument by the Armenian government.
The David of Sassoun statue was first conceived prior to the 1000th-anniversary celebrations of the epic in Soviet Armenia in 1939. Yervand Kochar, who in 1936 became the most prominent artist to move to Soviet Armenia from abroad, was commissioned to produce the sculpture. Kochar made it of gypsum and reportedly finished it on site in 18 days working directly in plaster at the installation site. Other sources state he spent up to three months on the project. In the same year, he created six illustrations for David Sasunskiy, the Russian-language academic publication of the epic. Kochar's statue was unveiled in mid-September 1939 in the square in front of the Yerevan Railway Station. It was positioned there so as to greet city visitors, the majority of whom during this period arrived by train. The 3 m-tall (9.8 ft) sculpture stood on a 7 m-tall (23 ft) rectangular pedestal. It was the first equestrian monument erected in modern Armenia. The sculpture incorporated both Renaissance and socialist realist elements. Art critic M. Sargissian later commended its "high artistic value", calling it a "significant step toward realistic sculpture."
The statue was destroyed days after Kochar was arrested on June 23, 1941 for "anti-Soviet agitation", and only survives in photographs. Kochar was released in August 1943, through the intervention of his former Nersisian School classmates Anastas Mikoyan and Karo Halabyan.
In 1957, on the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution, Soviet authorities decided to restore the statue. Kochar began working on the new statue at a large pavilion at Yerevan's Central Cemetery (Tokhmakh) no later than August 1957. It was completed within the same year. He recreated it with significant changes from the initial version, which had included an old Arab man besides David. It is more ambitious in scale that the first version. The artistic council was highly critical, complaining about the proportions between David and his horse Kurkik and the size of details. Kochar explained that the details were inspired by specific lines from the epic.
The current restored statue was inaugurated on December 3, 1959. The opening ceremony attracted a large crowd despite the cold weather, including many Armenians hailing from Sasun. Many came with carpets and wine, turning it into a spontaneous celebration that lasted until late night. The opening ceremony was officiated by Yerevan Mayor Gurgen Pahlevanian; no senior officials from the local Communist Party attended. It featured several speakers, including the literary scholar and writer Gevorg Abov, the sculptor Grigor Aharonian, a factory lathe operator, and a ninth grade student. The actor Zhan Eloyan recited an excerpt from the epic, which inflamed the crowd's emotions. The literary scholar Yakov Khachikian, who witnessed its opening, said there was much enthusiasm and jubilation among the crowd.
According to Khachikian, Kochar had long conceived the idea of the statue, which he only realized with the support of the Soviet state. On the other hand, the Russian literary scholar Lev Ospovat quoted Kochar, whose artistic style was more abstract and enigmatic, as saying that he created the statue to gain recognition, rather than as an expression of his personal creativity. The classically-inspired statue disappointed artists who admired Kochar's experimental Parisian work.
The statue was erected during a period of an Armenian nationalist resurgence amid the Khrushchev Thaw. The anthropologist Adam T. Smith argued that David, along with the contemporary statue of Mesrop Mashtots (1962) in front of the Matenadaran, "commemorates the achievements of a specifically national hero—a hero of Armenia, not Soviet Armenia", while earlier statues in Yerevan commemorated Soviet and Bolshevik leaders. Taline Ter Minassian suggested that it highlights the "exact limits of national expression in the post-Stalinist era." The art critic Hrach Bayadyan noted that the statue, along with the genocide memorial erected in 1965–67, "played a principal role in the symbolic construction of Soviet (Eastern) Armenian identity, connoting the nation's tragedy and rebirth, as well as its longevity and struggle against foreign rule."