A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals or non-representational forms are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal, or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture that represents persons or animals in full figure but that is small enough to lift and carry is a statuette or figurine, whilst one more than twice life-size is a colossal statue. Statues have been produced in many cultures from prehistory to the present; the oldest-known statue dating to about 30,000 years ago. Statues represent many different people and animals, real and mythical. Many statues are placed in public places as public art. The world’s tallest statue, the Statue of Unity, is 182 meters (597 ft) tall and is located near the Narmada dam in Gujarat, India. Ancient statues often show the bare surface of the material of which they are made. For example, many people associate Greek classical art with white marble sculptures, but there is evidence that many statues were painted in bright colors. Most of the color has weathered off over time; small remnants were removed during cleaning; in some cases, small traces remained that could be identified. A traveling exhibition of 20 colored replicas of Greek and Roman works, alongside 35 original statues and reliefs, was held in Europe and the United States in 2008: Gods in Color: Painted Sculpture of Classical Antiquity. Details such as whether the paint was applied in one or two coats, how finely the pigments were ground, or exactly which binding medium would have been used in each case—all elements that would affect the appearance of a finished piece—are not known. Richter goes so far as to say of classical Greek sculpture, “All stone sculpture, whether limestone or marble, was painted, either wholly or in part.

Christ of the Abyss:

Christ of the Abyss. Top 10 Famous Statues In The World.

Christ of the Abyss is a submerged bronze statue of Jesus Christ by Guido Galletti, the original cast of which is located in the Mediterranean Sea, off San Fruttuoso, between Camogli and Portofino on the Italian Riviera. Various other casts of the statue are located in other places worldwide, in underwater locations, churches, and museums. The original clay positive, minus the arms, was located in a foundry in 1993. The arms were later found and attached, but not the hands, which had to be replaced. The reconfigured clay sculpture is now on display at the National Museum of Underwater Activities in Ravenna, Italy.

Grand Buddha at Ling Shan:

Grand Buddha at Ling Shan. Top 10 Famous Statues In The World.

The Grand Buddha is located on the north shore of Lake Tai, near Wuxi, Jiangsu. It is one of the largest Buddha statues in China and also in the world. The Grand Buddha at Ling Shan is a bronze Amitabha standing Buddha outdoor, weighing over 700 metric tons (690 long tons; 770 short tons). It was completed at the end of 1996. The monument is 88 meters (289 ft) in total height, including a 9 m lotus pedestal. In 2008, a Five-signets Palace and a Hindu-inspired Brahma Palace were built south-east of the Grand Buddha Statue.

Tian Tan Buddha:

Tian Tan Buddha. Top 10 Famous Statues In The World.

Tian Tan Buddha is a large bronze statue of Buddha Amoghasiddhi, completed in 1993, and located at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, in Hong Kong. The statue is sited near Po Lin Monastery and symbolizes the harmonious relationship between man and nature, people and faith. It is a major center of Buddhism in Hong Kong and is also a tourist attraction. The statue’s base is a model of the Altar of Heaven or Earthly Mount of Tian Tan, the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. One of the five large Buddha statues in China, it is enthroned on a lotus on top of a three-platform altar. Surrounding it are six smaller bronze statues known as “The Offering of the Six Devas” that are posed offering flowers, incense, lamp, ointment, fruit, and music to the Buddha. These symbolize the Six Perfections of generosity, morality, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom, all of which are necessary for enlightenment.

Leshan Giant Buddha:

Leshan Giant Buddha. Top 10 Famous Statues In The World.

The Leshan Giant Buddha is a 71-meter (233 ft) tall stone statue, built between 713 and 803 (during the Tang dynasty), depicting Maitreya. It is carved out of a cliff face of Cretaceous red bed sandstones that lies at the confluence of the Min River and Dadu River in the southern part of Sichuan province in China, near the city of Leshan. The stone sculpture faces Mount Emei, with the rivers flowing below its feet. It is the largest and tallest stone Buddha statue in the world and it is by far the tallest pre-modern statue in the world. The Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area, has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.

Spring Temple Buddha:

Spring Temple Buddha. Top 10 Famous Statues In The World.

The Spring Temple Buddha is a colossal statue depicting Vairocana Buddha located in the Zhaocun township of Lushan County, Henan, China, built from 1997 to 2008. It is located within the Fodushan Scenic Area, close to National Freeway no. 311. At 128 meters (420 ft), excluding a 25 meters (82 ft) lotus throne, it is the second-tallest statue in the world after the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, India, which surpassed it in 2018 with a height of 182 meters (597 ft). Taking into account the 25 meters (82 ft) pedestal/building atop which it is placed, the monument has a total height of 153 meters (502 ft). As of October 2008, the hill on which the statue stands is being reshaped to form two further pedestals, the upper one being 15 m tall. The total height of the monument is now said to be 208 m (682 ft). The project as a whole was estimated to cost around $55 million, $18 million of which was to be spent on the statue. It was originally estimated to consist of 1,100 pieces of the copper cast, with a total weight of 1,000 tonnes. The Spring Temple Buddha derives its name from the nearby Tianrui hot spring, whose water, at 60 °C (140 °F), is renowned in the area for its curative properties. The Foquan Temple, built during the Tang dynasty, houses the Bell of Good Luck, placed on top of Dragon Head peak. This bronze bell weighs 116 tonnes.

Venus de Milo:

Venus de Milo. Top 10 Famous Statues In The World.

The Venus de Milo is an ancient Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic period, depicting a Greek goddess. It is one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture. The Venus de Milo has been prominently displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris shortly after the statue was rediscovered on the island of Milos, Greece in 1820. Sculpted sometime between 150 and 125 BC, the work was originally attributed to the sculptor Praxiteles, but, based upon an inscription on its plinth, the statue is now widely agreed to be the work of Alexandros of Antioch. The statue is believed to depict Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, and it bears the name of Venus, the Roman counterpart of Aphrodite. Some scholars theorize that the statue actually represents the sea-goddess Amphitrite, who was venerated on Milos. Made of Parian marble, the statue is slightly larger than life-size, standing 204 cm (6 ft 8 in) high. The statue is missing both arms, with part of one arm, as well as the original plinth, being lost after the statue’s rediscovery. The sculpture is sometimes called the Aphrodite de Milos, due to the imprecision of naming the Greek sculpture after the Roman deity Venus.

The Little Mermaid:

The Little Mermaid. Top 10 Famous Statues In The World.

The Little Mermaid is a bronze statue by Edvard Eriksen, depicting a mermaid becoming human. The sculpture is displayed on a rock by the waterside at the Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is 1.25 meters (4.1 ft) tall and weighs 175 kilograms (385 lb). Based on the 1837 fairy tale of the same name by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, the small and unimposing statue is a Copenhagen icon and has been a major tourist attraction since its unveiling in 1913. In recent decades it has become a popular target for defacement by vandals and political activists. Mermaid is among iconic statues that symbolize cities; others include Manneken Pis in Brussels, the Statue of Liberty in New York, and Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. In several cases, cities have commissioned statues for such a purpose, such as with Singapore’s Merlion.

The Motherland Calls:

The Motherland Calls. Top 10 Famous Statues In The World.

The Motherland Calls is the compositional center of the monument-ensemble “Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad” on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, Russia. It was designed by sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich and structural engineer Nikolai Nikitin and declared the tallest statue in the world in 1967. At 85 m (279 ft), it is the tallest statue in Europe, the tallest outside of Asia, and the tallest statue (excluding pedestals) of a woman in the world. The work of sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich and engineer Nikolai Nikitin is an 85-meter (279 ft) figure of a woman stepping forward with a raised sword. The statue is an allegorical image of the Motherland, which calls on its sons and daughters to repulse the enemy and return to the attack.

Christ the Redeemer:

Christ the Redeemer. Top 10 Famous Statues In The World.

Christ the Redeemer is an Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, created by French sculptor Paul Landowski and built by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with the French engineer Albert Caquot. Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida fashioned the face. Constructed between 1922 and 1931, the statue is 30 meters (98 ft) high, excluding its 8-meter (26 ft) pedestal. The arms stretch 28 meters (92 ft) wide. The statue weighs 635 metric tons (625 long, 700 short tons), and is located at the peak of the 700-meter (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro. A symbol of Christianity across the world, the statue has also become a cultural icon of both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil and was voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone.

Statue of Liberty National Monument:

Statue of Liberty National Monument. Top 10 Famous Statues In The World.

The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor within New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886. The statue is a figure of Libertas, a robed Roman liberty goddess. She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries, a tabula ansata inscribed JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776, in Roman numerals), the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. A broken shackle and chain lie at her feet as she walks forward, commemorating the recent national abolition of slavery. After its dedication, the statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea.