sculptures round 2 poll 1
which piece do you like better?
Smok Wawelski (The Wawel Dragon) by Bolesław Chromy, 1969
Sailor monument by Ryszard Chachulski, 1980 (Grunwald Square in Szczecin)
Smok Wawelski (The Wawel Dragon) by BRONISŁAW Chromy, 1969:
propaganda: This is a famous and beloved statue outside of Wawel Castle (pronounced Vavel) in Kraków. The story of Smok Wawelski goes that he'd been eating all the animals (and people?) in Kraków so the king ordered his sons to kill him, but obviously the dragon is very dangerous. The princes tricked him by filling animals with tar and leaving them out. He ate them and when he tried to breathe fire, his insides burned up. There is a second version that says a cobbler tricked him into eating a tar-filled sheep and the tar made him so thirsty he drank the Wisła (the Vistula, the river that runs through Kraków) until he burst.
Fun fact, those are not extra arms but rather extra heads. Also, you can text the dragon to ask him to breathe fire, and then he does. He gets thousands of texts a day.
about the artist: When I was a kid, I was sure this statue was the actual Smok Wawelski that had somehow carbonized over a thousand years, but alas no, a guy made it in 1969 out of bronze. Bronisław Chromy was an artist, a professor, and Dragon Mother. He passed away in 2017.
submitted by @slaviclore
Sailor monument by Ryszard Chachulski, 1980 (Grunwald Square in Szczecin):
propaganda: Every december he is dressed as santa claus! [photo link]