Monument to Johannes Hevelius

Technique: granite plinth, figure cast in bronze, brass lettering

Dimensions: 310 cm (H of the entire statue), 80 cm × 180 × 131 cm (max. dimensions of the plinth), 230 cm × 160 cm × 131 cm (max dimensions of the figure)

Object: Monument dedicated to Johannes Hevelius, Gdańsk-born astronomer, mathematician, inventor and engraver, placed in the original location of the first monument. The statue depicts Hevelius seated with a book on his lap and an astrolabe in his left hand. The figure is shown is a realistic fashion, in historical costume inspired by Hevelius’s portrayal in an engraving by Jeremias Falck. In the front (eastern) part of the monument, the plinth bears the inscription “Johannes Hevelius”, while the back part of the figure features the signature of the monument’s author: “Jan Szczypka 2003” and the “BRONZE MADE BY ARTPRODUCT Studio Szymanowo” trademark. In front of the monument, from the eastern side, set directly in the pavement at ground level, there is a plaque with the following inscription: “Johannes Hevelius. Eminent scientist and astronomer. Creator of the sky atlas. Discoverer of numerous comets and constellations. Genius constructor and inventor. Famous Gdańsk brewer”. The sculpture fits in with the late Baroque style.

Place: Heweliusza Square, Korzenna Street, opposite the Old Town Hall.

Before World War II, the Old Town Hall formed part of dense Old Town architecture. Its façade, like that of the Main Town Hall (Ratusz Głównomiejski), faced the façades of the tenements forming the frontage of the street – in the case of the Old Town Hall, today’s Korzenna Street.

The municipal square in front of the main façade of the Old Town Hall was created in the course of post-war reconstruction of the city, when the authorities decided not to rebuild the tenements that used to stand opposite it. The square was given a clear compositional axis linked to the symmetrical façade of the Town Hall. On this axis were located: the statue of Johannes Hevelius, the sundial and the Hevelius fountain. Contemporary urban development around the Old Town Hall makes it possible to see it as the central object of an almost square space, cut by the carefully enclosed Radunia Channel, on which the old city mills are built.

Information about the author: Jan Szczypka (b. 11 February 1962) in Jordanów is a sculptor and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. He is the author of numerous medals and statuettes for Pomeranian institutions.

Condition of the object: good

Owner/guardian: Gdańsk Road and Greenery Authority

Author of the entry: inventory made by the Gdańsk University of Technology team, description of the place: Jacek Dominiczak, additional information: Małgorzata Paszylka-Glaza