Explore the abstract of this artwork, Statue of Ashurbanipal (San Francisco).
Ashurbanipal, also known as the Ashurbanipal Monument or the Statue of Ashurbanipal, is a bronze sculpture by Fred Parhad, an artist of Assyrian descent. It is located in the Civic Center of San Francisco, California, in the United States. The 15-foot (4.6 m) statue depicting the Assyrian king of the same name was commissioned by the Assyrian Foundation for the Arts and presented to the City of San Francisco in 1988 as a gift from the Assyrian people. The sculpture reportedly cost $100,000 and was the first "sizable" bronze statue of Ashurbanipal. It is administered by the City and County of San Francisco and the San Francisco Arts Commission.
Parhad's work was met with some criticism by local Assyrians, who argued it was inaccurate to portray Ashurbanipal holding a clay tablet and a lion, or wearing a skirt. The critics thought the statue looked more like the Sumerian king Gilgamesh; Maureen Gallery Kovacs, a Yale Ph.D. who has translated The Epic of Gilgamesh (Stanford U.P., 1989), believed the sculpture depicted neither figure, but rather a Mesopotamian "protective figure". Parhad defended the accuracy of his work, while also admitting that he took artistic liberties.
Fred Parhad Gilgamesh San Francisco Arts Commission clay tablet Ashurbanipal Mesopotamia Sumer Assyria Assyrian Statue bronze sculpture Epic of Gilgamesh Civic Center bronze California San Francisco skirt statue king of the same name artistic liberties Assyrian people