MAP
The Destroyed City
Plein 1940, 2007, fotografie: Jannes Linders
The Sculpture
According to Zadkine the idea for The Destroyed City was born
when he arrived by train in the devastated city of Rotterdam in 1946. It
is, in his own words: ‘A cry of horror against the inhuman brutality of
this act of tyranny.’
[From: M.G. Schenk, Ossip Zadkine, Amsterdam
1967].
The sculpture represents a distressed figure with its head and arms
lifted skywards. Zadkine has positioned the arms, legs and hands in
various directions, giving the sculpture a great dynamism. The figure
leans against a tree trunk, providing a balance for the six-metre high
colossus.
The hole in the figure’s torso symbolises the destroyed heart of the city during the bombings of 14 May 1940.
Specifications
| nicknames | Jan Gat, City without a heart |
| date construction | 1951 |
| location since | 1953 , Plein 1940, City Centre |
| trend | Abstract Expressionism |
| material | Bronze |
Oorlogsmonumenten - War monuments in Rotterdam
