Male border guard with dog and female sharpshooter bronze sculptures flanking arch at Revolution Square subway station, Moscow, Russia
Ploschad Revolutsii station contains 76 statues in the socialist realism style. Originally, 80 sculptures were created for the space—10 pairs, each replicated 4 times throughout the station. Today, nine pairs are in the archways, and a copy of the final pair ("The Pioneers") appears on each of the two platforms, bringing the total number of statues to 76. Each arch is flanked by a pair of bronze sculptures by Matvey Manizer depicting the people of the Soviet Union, including soldiers, farmers, athletes, writers, aviators, industrial workers, and schoolchildren. The series is meant to be considered in order, symbolizing Russia's transformation from the pre-revolutionary past, through the revolution, into the contemporary tradition of rubbing statues at Ploshchad Revolyutsii originated back in 1938, when engineering students at Moscow’s Bauman Technical University would rub their report cards against the nose of Ingus, the border guard sculpture’s dog, in hopes of nailing their exams. The practice caught on with Muscovites and tourists alike, and the dog’s nose now shines from the constant touching.
Size: 6000px × 4000px
Location: Moscow, Russia
Photo credit: © ruelleruelle / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1930s, 1938, arch, arched, art, border, capital, capitals, cities, city, copy, dogs, good, guard, indoor, indoors, interior, luck, manizer, matvey, metro, moscow, nose, ploschad, ploshchad, revolution, revolutsii, revolyutsii, ritual, rubbed, russia, russian, sculpture, sculptures, soviet-era, space, square, station, subway, superstition, symbol, touch, transportation, travel, worn
