Man chains self to statue
Thursday morning, a man was arrested after he chained himself to a statue in a building on Square Victoria. The brief report suggests it was some kind of protest but not whether it was related to the encampment on the square.
MarcG 12:21 on 2024-07-04 Permalink
Must be talking about the statue w/ water fountain inside the Centre de commerce mondial de Montréal.
Kate 13:00 on 2024-07-04 Permalink
Amphitrite – let’s hope she didn’t get damaged.
CE 20:08 on 2024-07-04 Permalink
I saw photos of her with a message spray painted on her. It would be a shame if the statue is damaged because it’s a few hundred years old.
Ian 09:51 on 2024-07-05 Permalink
274 to be precise – but at the same time, it’s pretty old for us but statuary from the mid 1700s by lesser-known artists is a dime a dozen in Europe, where it was imported from to spiff up the business district. The slab of the Berlin Wall isof more historical significance and can also tell us an important lesson about art and politics, especially how spraypaint doesn’t “damage” even highly culturally significant public landmarks, it adds context.
Kate 10:39 on 2024-07-05 Permalink
OK, but there’s a difference between spray‑painting a wall, and spray‑painting a statue like that.
I’ve made the point before, but will say it again: we don’t have many statues of women. No city does. We have some Virgin Marys around, and Amphitrite is just as mythical, but at least it’s a female form. Besides those there are two Queen Victoria statues – McGill has hidden theirs in a box, last I saw – , a small Jeanne d’Arc in front of the Union Française building, Marguerite Bourgeoys near the Palais de Justice, and the Athena statue in Park Ex. That’s about the size of it. Amphitrite is by far the most sexy. What does defacing her tell us?
Ian 10:54 on 2024-07-05 Permalink
Point taken. That said, the vaguely prurient aspect of mythological semi-nudes appeals to the menfolk in the halls of power, too – it certainly did historically.
The McGill Queen Vicky statue is of special interest as it is a cast of an original marble done by her grand-daughter, Princess Louise.
Blork 22:15 on 2024-07-05 Permalink
I used to walk by that statue frequently, years ago when it was on my daily lunch-walk route. I had no idea it had any history. Frankly I thought it was just concrete knock-off, nicely placed in a newish building. Nice to know it has some history, and f*ck that guy and his self-entitlement that thinks he can just mess up things that other people enjoy because of whatever bee is in his bonnet. It’s not like he had a specific beef against Amphitrite or Poseidon.
CE 16:41 on 2024-07-06 Permalink
I’ve read that the statue was in a small town in France and the CEO of Canada Steamship Lines was visiting and asked if it was for sale. To his surprise it was so he had it shipped to Montreal and installed in its current location because he would be able to see it from his office that has a window overlooking the fountain (which itself is a feat of engineering, especially in a climate where the ground shifts as much as ours!)