What is The Little Mermaid (statue)?
[[File:Mermaid im Spiegel.jpg|thumb|Little mermaid in the mirror. This is a work of art, showing the statue in the mirror. It is located in a museum near Kopenhagen.]] '''''The Little Mermaid''''' ({{lang-da|Den lille Havfrue}}) is a [[statue]] in [[Copenhagen]], [[Denmark]]. It sits on a rock in the harbor. It was [[wikt:inspire|inspired]] by a performance of a ballet based on the [[fairy tale]] ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'' by [[Hans Christian Andersen]]. It is {{Convert|1.25|m|ft}} tall.<ref name=denmark.net>[http://www.denmark.net/denmark-guide/attractions-denmark/little-mermaid-copenhagen.html Little Mermaid Copenhagen] - ''denmark.net''. Retrieved 29 January 2012.</ref> [[Sculptor]] Edvard Eriksen created the [[bronze]] statue. It was presented to the public on 23 August 1913. The statue was the idea of Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of [[Carlsberg]]. He asked [[ballerina]], Ellen Price of Copenhagen's Royal Theatre, to pose for the statue. Only the statue's head was modelled on Price. She did not agree to pose in the nude, so the sculptor's wife, Eline Eriksen, posed for the body.<ref name=Cphp>{{cite web|url=http://www.copenhagenpictures.dk/mermaid.html|title=The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen Harbor|accessdate=2008-08-17|work=Copenhagen Pictures|archive-date=1999-11-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991128173940/http://copenhagenpictures.dk/mermaid.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Little Mermaid has been the victim of [[vandalism]] many times since the 1960s. Her head has been cut off, and she has had paint poured over her several times. In September 2003, the statue was knocked off its base with [[explosive]]s.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3103906.stm Little Mermaid's unexpected swim], BBC News, 12 September 2003</ref> The statue has always been repaired after such acts. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Other websites== * {{official|http://www.mermaidsculpture.dk/}} * [http://www.panoramas.dk/the-little-mermaid/the_little_mermaid.html The Little Mermaid] {{Webarchive|url=http