Vigeland

Vigeland Sculpture Park

The Vigeland Park is the largest sculpture park made by one single artist in the world, and is open to visitors all year.

The unique sculpture park is Gustav Vigeland's lifework with more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and wrought iron. Vigeland was also in charge of the design and architechtural layout of the park. The Vigeland Park was mainly completed between 1939 and 1949.

Most of the sculptures are placed in five units along an 850 meter long axis: The Main gate, the Bridge with the Children's playground, the Fountain, the Monolith plateau and the Wheel of Life.

The BridgeThe 100 m long and 15 m wide bridge, lined with lanterns and sculptures on the granite parapets, is built on top of an old bridge constructed in 1914. Vigeland designed the new bridge and modelled in the years 1925 to 1933 the 58 sculptures in bronze. These include a rich variety of children, women and men in different ages, some alone, others in groups. Dominant motifs are the relationships between man and woman, adults and children.

The Fountain Originally designed to stand in front of Parliament, the Fountain was fabricated from bronze and adorned with 60 individual bronze reliefs. Portraying children and skeletons in the arms of giant trees, the Fountain suggests that from death comes new life. On the ground surrounding the Fountain lies an 1800 square meter mosaic laid in black and white granite

The Monolith The Monolith is the highest point of the park, on the Monolith Plateau, rise circular stairs towards the Monolith. The figural part, with 121 figures, is 14.12 m and the total height, including the plinth, is 17.3 m high. The Monolith was carved from one single granite block, hence the name (mono: one, litho: stone). Whereas the melancholy theme in the fountain is the eternal life cycle, the column gives room to a totally different interpretation: Man's longing and yearning for the spiritual and divine. Is the column to be understood as man's resurrection? The people are drawn towards heaven, not only characterised by sadness and controlled despair, but also delight and hope, next to a feeling of togetherness, carefully holding one another tight in this strange sense of salvation.