Eros - Krakow, Poland
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member Metro2
N 50° 03.686 E 019° 56.167
34U E 423852 N 5546002
The official name of this large sculpture is Eros Bendato (Eros Bound)...but it is popularly called the Empty Head. Eros is the Greek god of love.
Waymark Code: WMQ1JA
Location: Małopolskie, Poland
Date Posted: 11/29/2015
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member saopaulo1
Views: 16

This website (visit link) provides much of the info:

"Among Kraków’s most well-known landmarks, this sculpture in the western corner of the market square is a popular meeting place and at some point serves as a photographic backdrop for almost every tourist who visits the city. Affectionately referred to as ‘The Head’, the bronze body part’s official title is ‘Eros Bendato’ (Eros Bound) and is the work of Polish artist Igor Mitoraj (1944 - 2014). A student of Tadeusz Kantor at the Kraków School of Art, an exhibition of 14 of Mitoraj’s monumental works dressed the Rynek from Oct 17, 2003 to Jan 25, 2004, during which the artist gifted this work to the city, sparking controversy over what to do with it. Initially, the sculpture was designated for the square in front of Galeria Krakowska, but the artist was indignant about having his work in front of a commercial building. Despite protest from historians and many locals, the sculpture eventually found its current place near the Town Hall Tower, where it has become an unexpected tourist attraction. In summer, children can be seen crawling all over the hollow edifice, sticking their heads and limbs through the eyeholes for camera-snapping parents, though winter too often finds it profaned with trash and foul-smelling liquids. Fans of Mitoraj’s work will find another of his large sculptures – titled ‘Luci di Nara’ - adorning the charming courtyard of Collegium Luridicum (ul. Grodzka 53), and another in front of the Kraków Opera building (ul. Lubicz 48)."

and Wikipedia (visit link) adds:

"In Greek mythology, Eros ...was the Greek god of love. His Roman counterpart was Cupid("desire"). Some myths make him a primordial god, while in other myths, he is the son of Aphrodite...

Primordial god

According to Hesiod (c. 700 BC), one of the most ancient of all Greek sources, Eros (the god of love) was the fourth god to come into existence, coming after Chaos, Gaia (the Earth), and Tartarus (the Abyss or the Underworld).

Homer does not mention Eros. However, Parmenides (c. 400 BC), one of the pre-socratic philosophers, makes Eros the first of all the gods to come into existence.

The Orphic and Eleusinian Mysteries featured Eros as a very original god, but not quite primordial, since he was the child of Night (Nyx). Aristophanes (c. 400 BC), influenced by Orphism, relates the birth of Eros:

At the beginning there was only Chaos, Night (Nyx), Darkness (Erebus), and the Abyss (Tartarus). Earth, the Air and Heaven had no existence. Firstly, blackwinged Night laid a germless egg in the bosom of the infinite deeps of Darkness, and from this, after the revolution of long ages, sprang the graceful Love (Eros) with his glittering golden wings, swift as the whirlwinds of the tempest. He mated in the deep Abyss with dark Chaos, winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race, which was the first to see the light."
Time Period: Ancient

Epic Type: Religous

Exhibit Type: Figure, Statue, 3D Art

Approximate Date of Epic Period: Not listed

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