Ferdowsi’s Head Sculpture
Ferdowsi’s Head Sculpture
A Head Sculpture of Ferdowsi, which was commissioned to the French sculptor "Lorenzi" on the occasion of Ferdowsi's millennium celebration in Iran in 1313 AD (1934), with the help of Iranian students, was installed in front of the Faculty of Literature of Tehran University (currently Negarestan Garden) on 15th June 1936 AD.
Construction process
In 1934, during Ferdowsi's millennium celebration in Iran, lovers of Iranian culture and literature held many celebrations in different countries of the world, including in France and Germany. In France, 410 Iranian students put together a few Francs each and made a statue of Ferdowsi and sent it to Iran. They wanted to participate in the commemoration of this Iranian epic poet on the occasion of Ferdowsi's millenium celebration. Even though the education expenses were very expensive for them, everyone put some money in their share to provide the amount that the French sculptor "Lorenz" requested for the construction of Ferdowsi's statue. Lorenzi did not know Ferdowsi, and in order to visualize an image of Ferdowsi in his mind, he asked the students to read Ferdowsi's poems to him. In this way, several students translated some of the Shahnameh every day and read it to Lorenzi in French, and this is how he succeeded in creating a statue based on the concepts of Ferdowsi's poems, which is installed in Negarestan Garden today.
Historical and cultural value
One of the issues that cause the historical and cultural value of this statue is that this work is a symbol of the culture of friendship and national pride of many Iranian students in Europe. This work shows how much the students were sensitive to the culture and cultural movements inside the country and considered themselves obliged to participate in them. The difference between this statue and other statues of Ferdowsi is that the French sculptor did not have an image of Ferdowsi, and after listening to the poems of Shahnameh, he created and painted the image of Ferdowsi. This statue was sent to Iran two years after its completion and on 18th June 1936, it was placed in front of the Faculty of Literature of Tehran University (currently Negarestan Garden).
