Nicolaus Copernicus Monument, Warsaw

The Nicolaus Copernicus Monument in Warsaw is a prominent landmark in the Polish capital, located in front of the Staszic Palace, which serves as the headquarters of the Polish Academy of Sciences. This statue was designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen in 1822 and was completed in 1830. The original plaster model created by Thorvaldsen in 1822 and a smaller study from 1821 are both housed in the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen.

Nicolaus Copernicus, a renowned astronomer, is depicted in bronze in this statue, holding an armillary sphere and a compass. The monument was funded through public donations gathered under the leadership of philosopher and scientist Stanislaw Staszic.

The unveiling ceremony was presided over by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, who was a comrade of Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Interestingly, the Polish clergy chose not to participate in the ceremony, as a protest against the Holy Office's condemnation of Copernicus's book in 1616.

If you inspect the east face of the pedestal, you will find a Latin inscription. However, during the Nazi German occupation in 1939, both the Polish and Latin inscriptions were erased, and a German-language plaque was added. This plaque was later removed by Maciej Aleksy Dawidowski in 1942, and as a response, the statue of Jan Kilinski was relocated by the Germans to the National Museum of Warsaw.