Columbus Statue Finds A Home
On Tuesday in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Zurab Tsereteli’s huge sculpture of Christopher Columbus was inaugurated. Says The Guardian: ‘At 350 feet tall, Birth of a New World is not the tallest sculpture in existence. For example, Anish Kapoor’s ArcelorMittal Orbit, in the London Olympic Park, is 25 feet taller. But Tsereteli’s work is enormous, 45 ft taller than the Statue of Liberty from pedestal to torch. The voyage to Puerto Rico of the work, entitled The Birth of the New World, has been long, arduous and controversial, not least because of its expense on an island gripped by a $72 billion debt crisis.’ Called ugly by many, the statue has a long history: In 1993, Columbus, Ohio, turned it down. Other cities followed suit, including New York, Boston, Cleveland, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Finally the statue was offered a home in Puerto Rico, where Columbus arrived in 1493.
