A History of Love and Hate in 21 Statues TABLE OF CONTENTS Hatshepsut Built: c.1460 BCE Destroyed: Unknown The battered nose, fractured chin and ruin forehead of Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty, a woman who ruled Egypt with her stepson Thutmose III, tell a story of more than the passage of time. Those who vandalised her face and nose, making her spirit unable to breathe, wanted to sever her connection to the gods and the afterlife. Nero Built: c.50 Destroyed: c.61 In 1907, the severed marble head of the Roman Emperor Nero was found in the River Alde in Suffolk. It probably stood in a temple in Colchester which was sacked by the Celtic Queen Boudicca during the uprising in 61AD. The head was hacked off by her followers before Boudicca took her own life after she was defeated in battle.
Athena Built: c.123 Destroyed: c.385 and 2016 The statue of Athena in the Temple of Allat in the ancient Semitic city of Palmyra was a copy of an original 5th Century sculpture by Phidias. Decapitated and mutilated by early Christians because they believed it harboured evil spirits, the restored statue was destroyed a second time by ISIS in 2016. Buddhas of Bamiyan Built: c.507 and 554 Destroyed: March 2001 The Buddhas of Bamiyan were the largest Buddha carvings in the world and they stood watching over the ancient Silk Road for 1,500 years until they were destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001, a few months before the destruction of the Twin Towers. Hecate Built: c.600 Destroyed: c.
726 This chapter features the three-headed statue of Hecate (as opposed to the original idea of the icon of Chris Chalkites). There is no drawing or surviving visual representation of the statue. We know it stood on a column and men needed ladders in order to decapitate it. Two of the severed heads fell to the ground. The third head fell forward but wasn''t fully severed. There is no record of the statue other than she stood on a high column. Our Lady of Caversham Built: 1106 Destroyed: September 14 1538 The Shrine of Our Lady Caversham, which stood in the chapel attached to Notley Abbey, was removed during the English Reformation. It was sent to London where Thomas Cromwell ordered it to be burned.
Huitzilopochtli Built: c.1487 Destroyed: 1521 A wooden statue of the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli dominated the Templo Mayor at the heart of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. It was destroyed when the city fell to the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes and his indigenous allies in 1521. Confucius Built: c.1730 Destroyed: November 1966 There had been a temple of Confucius at the site of the philosopher''s house in Qufu since his death in 479 BC. The destruction of the temple and the desecration of the graves of Confucius and his descendants was followed by the parading of a defiled statue of Confucius through the city. This act marked the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in China. Louis XV Built: February 23 1763 Destroyed: August 11 1792 The equestrian statue of King Louis XV was the centrepiece of the Place Louis XV until it was destroyed during the French Revolution.
The square was renamed the Place de la Revolution and a guillotine erected where the statue had stood. King Louis XVI was executed in the square on 21st January 1793. Mendelssohn Built: May 26 1892 Destroyed: November 9 1936 The statue erected in Leipzig in honour of the Jewish composer Felix Mendelssohn was destroyed "as a homage to the spirit of Aryanism". Mendelssohn, who founded the first music conservatorium in Germany, was considered unfit to represent German music. The Confederate Monument (Portsmouth, Virginia) Built: 1893 Destroyed: June 10 2020 A large obelisk with four figures on the base representing the soldiers of the Confederacy was erected in 1893 on the site of a former slave whipping post as a monument to the Confederate dead of Portsmouth. In 2020, all four figures were beheaded to the accompaniment of a brass band. Sir John A. Macdonald Built: June 6 1895 Destroyed: August 29 2020 John A.
Macdonald was the first Prime Minister of Canada and the Macdonald Monument in Montreal was dedicated on the 4th anniversary of his death. After repeated attacks, the statue was finally toppled in 2020, the head breaking off as it struck the ground. Edward Colston Built: November 13 1895 Destroyed: June 7 2020 The statue of Edward Colston, erected to commemorate his philanthropy, was tossed into Bristol Harbour in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, with one protestor putting his knee on Colston''s neck. Colston made his fortune in the slave trade. Christopher Columbus Built: 1904 Destroyed: October 12 2004 The sculpture of Christopher Columbus in Caracas was made by the 19th Century Venezuelan sculptor, Rafael de la Cova. Commissioned to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Columbus in Venezuela, it was destroyed in 2004 on the Day of Indigenous Resistance. Cecil Rhodes Built: 1912 Destroyed: July 12 2020 The statue of Cecil Rhodes on Devil''s Peak in Cape Town was decapitated. The Rhodes Must Fall campaign began in South Africa in March 2015 to remove the statue but soon expanded into a protest against racism and colonialism.
One of the movement''s leaders, the son of a wealthy South African lawyer, was later awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford. George Washington Built: July 4 1927 Destroyed: June 18 2020 Donated to the city of Portland by Dr. Henry Waldo Coe and dedicated on Independence Day, the statue of George Washington was destroyed by protestors, spray-painted and the words "You are on Native land" were attached to his head. Stalin Built: December, 1951 Destroyed: October 23 1956 Intended as a gift to the Hungarian people, the statue of Joseph Stalin was destroyed during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, leaving only his boots. Today, those boots still stand on a reconstructed plinth. Yagan Built: September 11 1984 Destroyed: September 1997 Yagan was a Noongar leader who fought against colonialism. In 1833, he was shot at close range, beheaded and his head sent to England, where it was buried in a cemetery in Liverpool. In 2007, his head was returned to Australia.
A week later a statue of Yagan in Perth was beheaded. After being repaired, it was beheaded a second time in 2002. Saddam Hussein Built: April 2002 Destroyed: April 9 2003 In 2002, a statue of Saddam Hussein was erected in Baghdad to celebrate his 65th birthday.