Mermaid Statue. Pomnik Syrenki

Sculpture

@. Wybrzeze Kosciuszkowskie
artist. Ludwika Nitschowa
finished. 1939

The mermaid is a symbol of Warsaw. There's two monuments to her in the city. In both she's represented with a shield and drawn sword. However, the sculpture we see in the old town is more reminiscent of a pudgy cherub than a warrior. That's why I like the one on Wybrzeze Kosciuszkowskie. She's a stoic hero, not romantic at all. She stares bravely in the face of her adversaries knowing they might bring her defeat. Krystyna Krahelska posed for the monument. She was a poet, ethnographer and soldier in the (AK, the Polish Army in occupied Poland). She died on the second day of the Warsaw Uprising.