Reformation Wall
The International Monument to the Reformation (French: Monument international de la Réformation; German: Internationales Reformationsdenkmal), usually known as the Reformation Wall
The Wall is in the grounds of the
The monument was the culmination of a contest launched to transform that part of the park. The contest involved 71 proposals from around the world, and was won by four Swiss architects: Charles Dubois, Alphonse Laverrière, Eugène Monod, and Jean Taillens (whose other design came third).[2] The sculptures were then created by two French sculptors: Paul Landowski and Henri Bouchard.[3][4]
During the Reformation, Geneva was the centre of
At the centre of the monument, four 5 metre-tall statues of Calvinism's main proponents are depicted:
- William Farel (1489–1565)
- John Calvin (1509–1564)
- Theodore Beza (1519–1605)
- John Knox (c.1513–1572)
To the left (facing the Wall, ordered from left to right) of the central statues are 3 metre-tall statues of:
- Frederick William of Brandenburg (1620–1688)
- William the Silent (1533–1584)
- Gaspard de Coligny (1519–1572)
To the right (ordered from left to right) are 3 metre-tall statues of:
- Roger Williams(1603–1684)
- Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658)
- Stephen Bocskai (1557–1606)
Along the wall, to either side of the central statues, is engraved the motto of both the Reformation and Geneva:
The monument gave inspiration to one of the most important 20th century Hungarian poems, written by Gyula Illyés in 1946 under the title Before the Monument of Reformation in Geneva.[5]
References
- ^ It is sometimes translated into other forms, including 'Wall of the Reformation' and 'Wall of the Reformers'.
- ^ Frey, Pierre A. "Alphonse Laverrière, l'entrée en lice d'un protagoniste" (PDF) (in French). Retrieved 2006-08-12. [dead link]
- ^ Chancellerie de l'Etat de Genève: Le parc des Bastions. URL last accessed 2008-04-28.
- ^ McWilliam, Neil: "Monuments, martyrdom, and the politics of religion in the French third republic", The Art Bulletin, June 1, 1995. URL last accessed 2008-04-28.
- ^ "Archived copy of poem" (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on October 21, 2007. Retrieved March 2, 2008.