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The Vigeland Sculpture Park is an artistic highlight of Oslo. The park has 192
sculptures that were all modeled in full size by Gustav Vigeland. Vigeland was born in Mandal, Norway in 1869 and was active in developing new sculptures for the park until his death in 1943. |
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The first sculpture in the park was the Fountain. Six giant figures of men
hold a large saucer-shaped vessel and a curtain of water spills from it. Around the Fountain are 20 "tree groups," which are combinations of people and trees in two meter high sculptures. In the sculptures, Vigeland uses as a theme, the ages of man. |
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The Monolith is a column 46 feet high
carved out of a single block of stone. It consists of 121 human figures and it took three stone carvers 15 years to complete. The Monolith was finished shortly before Vigeland's death in 1943. One interpretation of this sculpture is that it represents man's struggle for existence. |
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Around the Monolith are 36
sculptures in granite depicting the cycle of life. I decided that I wanted to experience the sculpture first-hand, so I joined a group of children at play. |
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Not only did Vigeland design
the sculptures in the park, but he also developed its layout. |
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Now, we'll leave the park to
return to the ship and sail to Copenhagen, Denmark. |