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Reformation Wall: Difference between revisions
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Reformation Wall | [[Image:ReformationsdenkmalGenf2.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Reformation Wall stretches for 100 m, depicting numerous Protestant figures from across Europe.]] | ||
[[Image:ReformationsdenkmalGenf1.jpg|thumb|right|300px|At its heart are statues to [[William Farel]], [[John Calvin]], [[Theodore Beza]], and [[John Knox]]. The [[Christogram]] can be seen below the statues.]] | |||
[[File:Reformation-Wall-aerial.JPG|thumb|right|300px|The International Monument to the Reformation, aerial view]] | |||
The '''International Monument to the Reformation''' (French: ''Monument international de la Réformation''; German: ''Internationales Reformationsdenkmal''), usually known as the '''Reformation Wall'''<ref>It is sometimes translated into other forms, including 'Wall of the Reformation' and 'Wall of the Reformers'.</ref> (French: ''Mur des réformateurs''), was inaugurated in 1909 in [[Geneva]], Switzerland. Key individuals, events, and documents of the [[Protestant Reformation]] are depicted therein in statues and [[bas-relief]]s. | |||
The Wall is in the grounds of the [[University of Geneva]], which was founded by [[John Calvin]], and was built to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Calvin's birth and the 350th anniversary of the university's establishment. It is built into the old [[city walls]], and the monument's location there is designed to represent the integral importance of the fortifications, and therefore of the city of Geneva, to the Reformation. | |||
The monument was the culmination of a contest launched to transform that part of the park. The contest involved 71 proposals from around the world, and was won by four Swiss architects: [[Charles Dubois (architect)|Charles Dubois]], [[Alphonse Laverrière]], [[Eugène Monod]], and [[Jean Taillens]] (whose other design came third).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://dawww.epfl.ch/acm/collaborateurs/frey/concours-art1.pdf | title=Alphonse Laverrière, l'entrée en lice d'un protagoniste | last=Frey | first=Pierre A | access-date=2006-08-12 |language=fr}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> The sculptures were then created by two French sculptors: [[Paul Landowski]] and [[Henri Bouchard]].<ref name="bastion">Chancellerie de l'Etat de Genève: ''[https://archive.today/20121206001829/http://www.geneve.ch/fao/2007/20070810.asp Le parc des Bastions]''. URL last accessed 2008-04-28.</ref><ref name="mcwilliam">McWilliam, Neil: "[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-17239628.html Monuments, martyrdom, and the politics of religion in the French third republic]", ''The Art Bulletin'', June 1, 1995. URL last accessed 2008-04-28.</ref> | |||
During the Reformation, Geneva was the centre of [[Calvinism]], and its history and heritage since the sixteenth century has been closely linked to that of [[Protestantism]]. Due to the close connections to that theology, the individuals most prominently depicted on the Wall were Calvinists; nonetheless, key figures in other theologies are also included. | |||
At the centre of the monument, four 5 metre-tall statues of Calvinism's main proponents are depicted: | |||
* [[William Farel]] (1489–1565) | |||
* [[John Calvin]] (1509–1564) | |||
* [[Theodore Beza]] (1519–1605) | |||
* [[John Knox]] (c.1513–1572) | |||
To the left (facing the Wall, ordered from left to right) of the central statues are 3 metre-tall statues of: | |||
* [[Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg|Frederick William of Brandenburg]] (1620–1688) | |||
* [[William the Silent]] (1533–1584) | |||
* [[Gaspard II de Coligny|Gaspard de Coligny]] (1519–1572) | |||
To the right (ordered from left to right) are 3 metre-tall statues of: | |||
* [[Roger Williams (theologian)|Roger Williams]] (1603–1684) | |||
* [[Oliver Cromwell]] (1599–1658) | |||
* [[Stephen Bocskai]] (1557–1606) | |||
Along the wall, to either side of the central statues, is engraved the motto of both the Reformation and Geneva: ''[[Post Tenebras Lux]]'' (Latin for ''After darkness, light''). On the central statues' pedestal is engraved a [[Christogram]]: ΙΗΣ. | |||
The monument gave inspiration to one of the most important 20th century Hungarian poems, written by [[Gyula Illyés]] in 1946 under the title ''Before the Monument of Reformation in Geneva''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freeweb.hu/iratok/egyhtori/magyar/ILLYES.HTM |title=Archived copy of poem|language=HU |access-date=March 2, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021035029/http://www.freeweb.hu/iratok/egyhtori/magyar/ILLYES.HTM |archive-date=October 21, 2007 }}</ref> | |||
==References== | |||
[[Category:1909 sculptures]] | |||
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Geneva]] | |||
[[Category:Culture in Geneva]] | |||
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Switzerland]] | |||
[[Category:Protestant Reformation]] | |||
[[Category:Reformation in Switzerland]] | |||
[[Category:University of Geneva]] | |||
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Geneva]] | |||
[[Category:Walls]] | |||
[[Category:Colossal statues]] | |||
