Gutenberg Monument

Gutenberg Monument
The monument in 2012
Artist	Bertel Thorvaldsen
Completion date	14 August 1837 (1837-08-14)
Subject	Johannes Gutenberg
Location	Mainz, Germany
Coordinates	49°59′56″N 8°16′18″E / 49.9988°N 8.27162°E / 49.9988; 8.27162

The Gutenberg Monument¹ (German: Gutenberg-Denkmal) is a bronze statue monument of Johannes Gutenberg standing atop a plinth with bas-reliefs, designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and erected in Mainz in 1837.

The bronze statue at a height of 11 ft 8.55 in (3.57 m) depicts Johannes Gutenberg standing, and in a medieval costume; he holds in his right hand several movable types, and supported by his left arm the first printed Bible. In one of the bas-reliefs, Gutenberg is seated before a type case and showing the types to his collaborator, Johann Fust; the latter is leaning upon one of the engraved blocks in use before the invention of movable types. The other bas-relief represents Gutenberg examining a printed sheet, taken from the new press, upon which a printer is at work.²³⁴ An inscription upon the face socle reads, in Latin:⁴

Another inscription at the rear of the socle reads:⁵

By the early 19th century Gutenberg became the subject of Romantic glorification,¹ while the German city of Mainz and the French city of Strasbourg were embroiled in a civic rivalry³ in the context of the larger nationalist enmity between Germany and France.⁶ The cities, both of which he resided in,⁷ laid claim to Gutenberg as an icon: Mainz being his birthplace, and Strasbourg being where he allegedly experimented with movable type.³⁸

Mainz became the first to honor the inventor with a statue, employing Danish-Icelandic artist Bertel Thorvaldsen,³ though he did nothing further than make a miniature model of the statue. The statue had been ordered by the city of Mainz, in 1832; and the statue was made from small models by his pupil Herman Wilhelm Bissen and some preparatory drawings.^a All the work was cast in bronze at Paris, by Charles Crozatier, in 1836; and the monument was inaugurated at Mainz on 14 August 1837. The city, to thank Thorvaldsen, who would not accept any remuneration for his models, made him an honorary citizen.¹⁰ The statue was dedicated in a three-day ceremony attended by delegates from all Germany, although Thorvaldsen himself did not see the monument until 1841.¹¹

Thorvaldsen's rival David d'Angers, perhaps provoked by the monument in Mainz, went on to design a statue of Gutenberg in Strasbourg, which was unveiled in 1840.¹²

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  Detail of the statue
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  Detail of first bas-relief: Gutenberg showing types to Johann Fust
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  Detail of second bas-relief: Gutenberg at a printing press
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  German postcard featuring the monument, c. 1900