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All Ireland Dublin Statue of Oscar Wilde

Statue of Oscar Wilde

The comedy and tragedy of Oscar Wilde is preserved in a Dublin park, captured in a sculpture of colorful stone.

Dublin, Ireland

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kjmoore12
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Oscar Wilde Statue in Merrion Square Park, across the street from his childhood home   Eoin Gardiner on Flickr
The stone Oscar Wilde, in sculptured repose…   Bea on Flickr
… and Wilde in similar repose (and similar jacket) in 1882   Napolean Sarony, Library of Congress
Statue of Wilde is flanked by two smaller bronzes, one depicting his wife Constance…   Janet McKnight on Flickr
… the other a male torso, the sculptor’s nod to Dionysus, god of wine and theatre   Kathleen Tyler Conklin on Flickr
The sculptor wanted to capture two sides of Wilde, his joy and sadness   nschouterden on Flickr
  clboru / Atlas Obscura User
  clboru / Atlas Obscura User
This flamboyant statue fits the man it depicts. Statue is also close to the Oscar Wilde house.   spadaadjusting / Atlas Obscura User
Another legend from Ireland.   Julius Spada / Atlas Obscura User
  peachycalico / Atlas Obscura User
  antonioj / Atlas Obscura User
  https://www.flickr.com/photos/lazzo13/
Statue of Oscar Wilde +   Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
Oscar Wilde’s boyhood home   Mark Mones / Atlas Obscura User
Some of Oscars Wilde’s quotes   Water weasel / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Merrion Square in central Dublin is not far from Trinity College. One of Dublin’s famous blocks of Georgian homes, Merrion Square was once the stomping grounds of many prominent Irishmen, including the poet W.B. Yeats at No. 82, and straight across, at No. 1, the childhood home of Oscar Wilde. Wilde now lounges just inside the park, on a boulder of white quartz, sculpted from a colorful assemblage of polished granite and semi-precious stones. 

The sculpture of Wilde was commissioned in 1997 by the Guinness Ireland Group (yes, that Guinness) to commemorate one of Ireland’s most famous sons. A site in Merrion Square Park was chosen, and now the stone Wilde, in relaxed repose, looks straight out at his boyhood home where he grew up the son of the renowned surgeon and Irish folklorist Sir William Wilde.

The colors and textures of the statue come as a bit of a surprise, with a jacket carved from deep green nephrite jade, collared in bright pink Norwegian thulite. His trousers are fashioned from sparkling blue pearl granite, with shoes that seem to be spit-shined from polished black granite. His face might seem a bit of a puzzle until you consider the intention of the sculptor, Danny Osborne, whose goal was to capture what he sees as the dual nature of Wilde – at once joyous and somber, both comedy and tragedy – looks that are captured on opposite sides of the face. The life-size statue of Wilde is flanked by two smaller bronzes, both atop polished granite plinths engraved with quotes from Wilde’s work. The first bronze is Osborne’s image of Wilde’s pregnant wife, Constance, and the second is his interpretation of Dionysus, the Greek god of the vine and the theater, by means of a simple male torso.

Wilde lived most of his adult life in England, and he died and is buried in Paris – but he is one in a long and storied line of writers whose spirits are deeply rooted in Ireland. Here, in the center of Dublin, he can rest at home.    

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Statues Parks Memorials

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Statue is at the northwest corner of the Park, across the street from #1 Merrion Square

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Added By

kjmoore12

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TravelTourist, clboru, Water weasel, Collector of Experiences...

  • TravelTourist
  • clboru
  • Water weasel
  • Collector of Experiences
  • Mark Mones
  • peachycalico
  • spadaadjusting
  • antonioj
  • Julius Spada

Published

January 7, 2016

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Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrion_Square
  • http://www.dublincity.ie/DublinArtInParks/English
  • http://www.artandarchitecture-sf.com/oscar-wilde.html
Statue of Oscar Wilde
Merrion Square Park
Dublin
Ireland
53.340847, -6.25062
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Nearby Places

The Oscar Wilde House

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Natural History Building, National Museum of Ireland

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