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ommon Confusion between the Cairene Statue of Isma’il and the Alexandrian
One
The entangled contexts of the Cairene statue of Isma’il have led to a common mistake
in the historical chronicle, according to which many writers and journalists circulate
incorrect information represented in ascribing the statue of Isma’il which stands in
Tahrir Square to some Italian sculptors and have forgotten the role of the artist Musta-
fa Metwally. What is the secret of these complexities involved in documenting this
group of important and unlucky statues? How the construction of these statues is con-
fused with the construction of similar ones devoted to stand on other sites? How did
all these statues remain ill-fated even those which have been placed at their sites? To
answer these questions, we should begin with presenting an earlier project of erecting
a statue of Khedive Isma’il in Alexandria. The idea of this project was born and begun
to be implemented more than twenty years prior to the announcement of competition
for the project of constructing the statues of the three great squares in Cairo. National
Archives of Egypt preserves the original documents of His Majesty the King’s Diwan
in a file, among which there is a report of holding the celebrations on the occasion
of unveiling the statue of Khedive Isma’il. This file dates back to 1938/12/4 registered
with the archive code 002057-0071. Al-Ahram newspaper recorded a wide range of
details of the events accompanied the Alexandrian project from its beginning until
unveiling the statue of Khedive Isma’il in
a solemn ceremony whose preparation
was supervised by the Italian community
in Alexandria. It was the start of taking
the power, when King Farouk presented
the ceremony. This was what Al-Ahram
newspaper published, edition issued on
Monday, December 5th1938, at the main
headline saying «The King Unveils the
Statue of His Grandfather Isma’il-Day
of Isma’il the Great.» The article in Al-
Ahram newspaper described the details
of unveiling the statue of the grandfather
Isma’il by Farouk on December, 4th, 1938
in its original location in El-Mansheya
Square. From this, we knew that the
statue was in the heart of a magnificent
memorial specifically designed for it. The
statue remained for a long time at that Statue of Khedive Isma’il, bronze, double life-size,
1938, by Pietro Canonica, Alexandria. A photo was
place until it had been moved to stand taken of the statue standing on its modern marble
on a simple pedestal in its current site
in Khedive Isma’il Square in Alexandria. pedestal after transporting it from its original
That magnificent memorial is now location. There is a mismatch between the design
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in of the pedestal and the size of the statue and also
Alexandria. Then, we found that the it is not suitable to the surrounding urban space.
215
One
The entangled contexts of the Cairene statue of Isma’il have led to a common mistake
in the historical chronicle, according to which many writers and journalists circulate
incorrect information represented in ascribing the statue of Isma’il which stands in
Tahrir Square to some Italian sculptors and have forgotten the role of the artist Musta-
fa Metwally. What is the secret of these complexities involved in documenting this
group of important and unlucky statues? How the construction of these statues is con-
fused with the construction of similar ones devoted to stand on other sites? How did
all these statues remain ill-fated even those which have been placed at their sites? To
answer these questions, we should begin with presenting an earlier project of erecting
a statue of Khedive Isma’il in Alexandria. The idea of this project was born and begun
to be implemented more than twenty years prior to the announcement of competition
for the project of constructing the statues of the three great squares in Cairo. National
Archives of Egypt preserves the original documents of His Majesty the King’s Diwan
in a file, among which there is a report of holding the celebrations on the occasion
of unveiling the statue of Khedive Isma’il. This file dates back to 1938/12/4 registered
with the archive code 002057-0071. Al-Ahram newspaper recorded a wide range of
details of the events accompanied the Alexandrian project from its beginning until
unveiling the statue of Khedive Isma’il in
a solemn ceremony whose preparation
was supervised by the Italian community
in Alexandria. It was the start of taking
the power, when King Farouk presented
the ceremony. This was what Al-Ahram
newspaper published, edition issued on
Monday, December 5th1938, at the main
headline saying «The King Unveils the
Statue of His Grandfather Isma’il-Day
of Isma’il the Great.» The article in Al-
Ahram newspaper described the details
of unveiling the statue of the grandfather
Isma’il by Farouk on December, 4th, 1938
in its original location in El-Mansheya
Square. From this, we knew that the
statue was in the heart of a magnificent
memorial specifically designed for it. The
statue remained for a long time at that Statue of Khedive Isma’il, bronze, double life-size,
1938, by Pietro Canonica, Alexandria. A photo was
place until it had been moved to stand taken of the statue standing on its modern marble
on a simple pedestal in its current site
in Khedive Isma’il Square in Alexandria. pedestal after transporting it from its original
That magnificent memorial is now location. There is a mismatch between the design
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in of the pedestal and the size of the statue and also
Alexandria. Then, we found that the it is not suitable to the surrounding urban space.
215
