Warsaw mermaid

Let's visualise a mermaid. What probably comes to your mind is Disney's Ariel. No? ;-) You're not a child of pop-culture like me, then. At least some other version of Andersen's little mermaid character?  frail, sweet, dreamy...

If you're reading this blog, though, you might already know about connection between Warsaw and a mermaid. A maiden of the sea appears on the city's coat of arms. By no means a girly cute figure! Warsaw's mermaid is a belligerent type. She doesn't pine for a prince, hell, no. Instead she holds a sword and a shield. Sure, she can be pretty and curvy, but at the same time she's strong and she takes no bull**it. She's protective of the town – and she's succeseful in the feat, as the many centruries have shown.

If you walk around the city you will find a multitude of representations of the mermaid. One of the most iconic figures is located in the Old Town. Dating back to 1850s, her shape bears some premonitions of the secession movement to my eye, when you look at her tail and waves around her.

Another emblematic figure is to be found by the river, of course! Where else, this is where she came from ;-) 

This statue was erected in 1939, not long before the war. Somehow she managed to survive the troubled times. You can tell from her face and Mona Lisa's smile that there's confidence and stability in this representation. Interesting to know that a model for this figure was a young girl-scout and a poetess, whose poems supported the young in their fight for freedom; she herself died in the Warsaw uprising.

One of my favourites is this one, fabulously Art Nouveau in style, from the beginning of the 20^th century.

An interesting historic collection of Warsaw's mermaids are to be seen on the gate to the Old Town Cathedral. 

 You can see here that the mermaid did not always look the same. Initially she reminded more of a woman-bird creature that Ulysses met on his journey. Gradually she turned into the beautiful figure we know now.

Then... many many other mermaids all around the city. All art styles, all periods represented.

 I'm on a quest for new ones – I present them in a collection onFacebook page.