{"id":4785,"date":"2013-06-04T11:12:14","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T19:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/?p=4785"},"modified":"2013-06-05T09:26:08","modified_gmt":"2013-06-05T17:26:08","slug":"was-a-shakespeare-expert-really-called-to-rule-on-the-genital-authenticity-of-a-statue-of-a-character-from-a-shakespeare-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2013\/06\/04\/was-a-shakespeare-expert-really-called-to-rule-on-the-genital-authenticity-of-a-statue-of-a-character-from-a-shakespeare-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Was a Shakespeare Expert Really Called in to Rule on the Genital Authenticity of a Statue of a Character from a Shakespeare Play?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends related to the world of sculpture and whether they are true or false. <\/p>\n<p><u><span style=\"font-weight: bold\">SCULPTURE URBAN LEGEND<\/span><\/u>: A Shakespeare expert was called to rule on the genital authenticity of a statue of a character from a Shakespeare play.<\/p>\n<p>Eric Gill was a widely respected designer of typefaces, and his work can still be seen on some Penguin books and some British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) programs. <\/p>\n<p>He was also a noted sculptor, and in 1931, he was commissioned by the BBC to do a sculpture outside of their offices in London. It seems as though Gill had a decent amount of freedom with his choice of subject, except that it was supposed to have something to do with culture (like based on a novel, a play, etc.). <\/p>\n<p>Gill decided to draw two characters from William Shakespeare&#8217;s play, The Tempest.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/shakespeare-the-tempest-lg.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><iframe src=\"http:\/\/rcm.amazon.com\/e\/cm?t=legenrevea-20&#038;o=1&#038;p=8&#038;l=as1&#038;asins=0743482832&#038;fc1=000000&#038;IS2=1&#038;lt1=_blank&#038;m=amazon&#038;lc1=0000FF&#038;bc1=000000&#038;bg1=FFFFFF&#038;f=ifr\" style=\"width:120px;height:240px;\" scrolling=\"no\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>He decided on the lead character from the play, the banished sorceror, Prospero, as well as the sprite, Ariel (Gill chose Ariel as a bit of a play on words, as the BBC delivered their radio content through <em>aerial<\/em> transmissions). Gill decided to depict the two almost like father and son.<\/p>\n<p>Here is the statue&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/ariel1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Well, there was a bit of a problem with Ariel&#8217;s, well, his penis.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nYou see, people felt that Gill had drawn the sprite&#8217;s penis too large.<\/p>\n<p>The Board of Governors of the BBC objected to the statue because of the penis size and they actually decided to consult with a Shakespearean scholar to get the &#8220;definitive&#8221; answer &#8211; was the penis too big?<\/p>\n<p>He judged that yes, it was too big, so Gill, somewhat surprisingly, gladly agreed to adjust the size of the character&#8217;s penis, and that&#8217;s what we have today&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/ariel2.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Gill was interesting in his ideas on the &#8220;rights&#8221; of artists regarding their work &#8211; he was basically of the mind that the artist did not control the work. He felt that the person who commissions the work should totally control the work.  It&#8217;s an opinion that not a lot of artists share. <\/p>\n<p>The legend is&#8230; <\/p>\n<p><u><span style=\"font-weight: bold\">STATUS<\/span><\/u>: True<\/p>\n<p>Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is bc&#114;&#x6f;&#x6e;&#x69;n&#64;l&#101;&#x67;&#x65;&#x6e;ds&#114;&#101;&#x76;&#x65;&#x61;le&#100;&#x2e;&#x63;&#x6f;m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends related to the world of sculpture and whether they are true or false. SCULPTURE URBAN LEGEND: A Shakespeare expert was called to rule on the genital authenticity of a statue of a character from a Shakespeare play. Eric Gill was a widely respected [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[28,29],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7MjBq-1fb","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4796,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2013\/06\/07\/did-michelangelo-have-a-prideful-response-to-people-doubting-his-creation-of-the-pieta\/","url_meta":{"origin":4785,"position":0},"title":"Did Michelangelo Have a Prideful Response to People Doubting his Creation of the Piet\u00e0?","date":"June 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends related to the world of sculpture and whether they are true or false. 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