”The large mermaid” – The large sea maiden – was erected in 2006 at Langelinie pier in Copenhagen, near ”The little mermaid” – inspired by HC Andersen's fairy tale.
But in 2018, the local population condemned the 14-ton sculpture, 4 x 6 meters. It was called ”the false and vulgar mermaid” and was moved to Dragør's fortress. In March, the Danish castle and cultural authority demanded that it be removed from public space, as it is not considered to be in line with the cultural heritage that the historic landmark from 1910 represents.
”Ugly and pornographic”
Art critic Mathias Kryger from Politiken has called the statue ”ugly and pornographic”. Sorine Gotfredsen, priest and journalist, wrote in the newspaper Berlingske: ”To erect a statue of a man's hot dream of how a woman should look like hardly promotes women's acceptance of their own bodies.”
Aminata Corr Thrane, debate editor at Berlingske, believes, on the other hand, that the reactions are comparable to body shaming.
”Must naked female breasts have a specific academic shape and size to be displayed publicly?” she wrote.
”Larger breasts are the problem”
She noted that ”The large sea maiden” is ”possibly a little less naked” than its famous counterpart. Corr Thrane added: ”On the other hand, she has larger breasts, and that is probably where the problem lies.”
The artist Peter Bech, who is behind the sculpture, does not understand the criticism and believes that the stone figure's breasts are ”proportional to its scale”. Bech created the statue in response to tourists' comments that The little mermaid was too small. He now hopes to find a way to keep ”The large mermaid” in the city.
