Ken Maguire writes about an odd trend in popular culture: the tendency for statues of celebrities to resemble them very badly. See, for example, those of soccer star Harry Kane and basketballer Dwyane Wade, neither looking much like their human inspirations. And then there's the "infamous" Cristiano Ronaldo bust (previously at Boing Boing). But the modern obsession with accuracy is just that—in the past, it didn't matter so long as those seeing it were impressed.
In classical times, sculptors "had absolutely no interest in depicting people accurately," explained Lucy Branch, a London-based sculptural conservator. "What they ended up doing quite often, they recycled sculptures so when another athlete became more prominent, they just changed the name on the plaque," said Branch, host of the "Sculpture Vulture" podcast. "There's this idea now, in this era, that commemorative sculpture should be like portraiture — it should look exactly like the person they are commemorating. But actually that's a really new idea in sculpture."
Maguire offers a series of amusing tips from professional sculptors to prospective competitors. It works well as a device to tour the genre and its many horrors.
Previously: Soccer legend's grotesque statue mocked
