Maggiore, dates from 1697, and is the work of a sculptor known as Il
Cerano. Its height is 76 feet, or with its pedestal, 114 feet. The arm
is over 29 feet long, the nose 33 inches, and the forefinger 6 feet 4
inches. The statue is entirely of hammered copper plates riveted
together, supported by means of clamps and bands of iron on an interior
mass of masonry. The effect of the work is far from being artistic. It
is in a retired spot on a hill, a mile or two from the little village of
Arona. The Bavaria, near Munich, erected in 1850, is 51 feet high, on a
pedestal about 26 feet high, and is the work of Schwanthaler. It is of
bronze and weighs about 78 tons. The location of this monstrous lump of
metal directly in front of a building emphasizes its total want of
sculptural merit, and makes it a doubly lamentable example of bad taste
and bombast. The Arminius colossal, on a height near Detmold in
Westphalia, was erected in 1875, is 65 feet high, and weighs 18 tons.
The name of the sculptor is not given by any of the authorities
consulted, which is perhaps just as well. This statue rests on "a
dome-like summit of a monumental structure," and brandishes a sword 24
feet long in one hand. The Virgin of Puy is by Bonassieux, was set up in
1860, is 52 feet high, weighs 110 tons, and stands on a cliff some 400
feet above the town. It is, like the Bavaria, of bronze, cast in
sections, and made from cannons taken in warfare. The Virgin's head is
surmounted by a crown of stars, and she carries the infant Christ on her
left arm. The location of this statue is felicitous, but it has no
intrinsic value as an art work. It will be seen, then, that these
outdoor colossi of to-day do not afford us much encouragement to believe
that Mr. Bartholdi will be able to surmount the difficulties which have
vanquished one sculptor after another in their endeavors to perform
similar prodigies. Sculpture is perhaps the most difficult of the arts
of design. There is an antique statue in the Louvre which displays such
wonderful anatomical knowledge, that Reynolds is said to have remarked,