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Hannes Hafstein

Hannes Hafstein

Einar Jónsson


  • Year : 1928
  • Height : 215 cm
  • Width : 80 cm
  • Category : Skúlptúr
  • Sub-category : Málmskúlptúr

Location: In front of Stjórnarráðið. Owned by the Icelandic state. When the artist Einar Jónsson first arrived in Reykjavík, there was one large public statue in the town, the self-image of Bertel Thorvaldsen in Austurvöllur. Thus it fell to Einar to create statues of people who were thought to be pioneers in the country’s history, during the first decades of the 20th century, and this task should be viewed as a testimony of the prevailing nationalistic discourse of that time. Einar’s sculpture of Hannes Hafstein (1931), the first Icelandic minister, was definitely made in that spirit. Hannes stands tall on a high pedestal in front of the Cabinet Building in Lækjargata, to the left of the entrance, looking over Reykjavík Harbour. The sculpture mirrors another one of Einar’s, of the Danish King Christian IX, which stands atop a similar pillar to the right side of the entrance to the Cabinet Building.

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