Augustus
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In discussions about the merits of keeping controversial statues, some people have argued that they serve an educational purpose that makes them worthwhile beyond any artistic or historical merits. It sort of sounds like it makes sense, but are they really a useful learning mechanism?
This made me think about what I had learned from the existence of statues that were around me when I was growing up, and came to the conclusion that it was basically nothing. This is despite living in one of the most statue-dense cities in the world.
So I was wondering what other people's experiences were of learning from statues in their hometown in terms of either the statue itself, being told about the statue or being motivated to learn by a statue. What knowledge that you would not have otherwise been exposed to did you acquire?
This statue actually made me less knowledgeable. For years I thought this "Hume" chap wearing a toga was one of these single-named Greek blokes like Plato or Aristotle until I was in my late teens
There is also a statue for Sir Walter Scott, not just a statue, but one covered by a 200 foot tall gothic monument. What I learned from this, he wrote books and used to be quite popular.
A 150 foot tall column has a chap called Robert Dundas on the top, had no idea who he was, other than being some generic toff, until people started to talk about cancelling him.
Adam Smith statue? I learned there was a person called Adam Smith who previously lived and did something of note.
There's a statue of George IV, one of the the most useless kings in history. Although you wouldn't know this from the statue of course.
There's some religious philanthropist dude whose name I forget, and a statue of Alexander Fleming, which I just found out is actually James Young Simpson and I had misremembered it. There are dozens more.
In fact, looking online at a list of statues, in very prominent places, that I had seen hundreds of times, I realised I didn't even know who many of them were supposed to be.
I think the only statues I have learned anything at all from are one of a dog who sat on his master's grave for years, and Wojcek the soldier bear who was a bear that was friends with some Polish soldiers.
Maybe that's the key, Kids like bears and dog, but aren't massively interested in learning about the lives of Duggald Stewart, James Clark Stewart or Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch. So if you want them to learn about history, get rid of all the humans and replace them with Granville the Civil War Gibbon or Chester the Confederate Cat
What have you learned from statues in your hometown (not from things you saw on your holidays)?
This made me think about what I had learned from the existence of statues that were around me when I was growing up, and came to the conclusion that it was basically nothing. This is despite living in one of the most statue-dense cities in the world.
So I was wondering what other people's experiences were of learning from statues in their hometown in terms of either the statue itself, being told about the statue or being motivated to learn by a statue. What knowledge that you would not have otherwise been exposed to did you acquire?
This statue actually made me less knowledgeable. For years I thought this "Hume" chap wearing a toga was one of these single-named Greek blokes like Plato or Aristotle until I was in my late teens
There is also a statue for Sir Walter Scott, not just a statue, but one covered by a 200 foot tall gothic monument. What I learned from this, he wrote books and used to be quite popular.
A 150 foot tall column has a chap called Robert Dundas on the top, had no idea who he was, other than being some generic toff, until people started to talk about cancelling him.
Adam Smith statue? I learned there was a person called Adam Smith who previously lived and did something of note.
There's a statue of George IV, one of the the most useless kings in history. Although you wouldn't know this from the statue of course.
There's some religious philanthropist dude whose name I forget, and a statue of Alexander Fleming, which I just found out is actually James Young Simpson and I had misremembered it. There are dozens more.
In fact, looking online at a list of statues, in very prominent places, that I had seen hundreds of times, I realised I didn't even know who many of them were supposed to be.
I think the only statues I have learned anything at all from are one of a dog who sat on his master's grave for years, and Wojcek the soldier bear who was a bear that was friends with some Polish soldiers.
Maybe that's the key, Kids like bears and dog, but aren't massively interested in learning about the lives of Duggald Stewart, James Clark Stewart or Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch. So if you want them to learn about history, get rid of all the humans and replace them with Granville the Civil War Gibbon or Chester the Confederate Cat
What have you learned from statues in your hometown (not from things you saw on your holidays)?
