# Imperia (statue)

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***Imperia*** is a statue at the entrance of the harbour of [Konstanz](/source/Konstanz), [Germany](/source/Germany), commemorating the [Council of Constance](/source/Council_of_Constance) that took place there between 1414 and 1418. The concrete statue is 9 metres (30 ft) high, weighs 18 tonnes (18 long tons; 20 short tons), and stands on a pedestal that rotates around its axis once every four minutes. It was created by [Peter Lenk](/source/Peter_Lenk) and clandestinely erected in 1993. The erection of the statue caused controversy, but it was on the private property of a rail company that did not object to its presence. Eventually, it became a widely-known landmark of Konstanz.[1]

*Imperia* shows a woman holding two men on her hands. Although the two men resemble [Pope Martin V](/source/Pope_Martin_V) (elected during the council) and Emperor [Sigismund](/source/Sigismund,_Holy_Roman_Emperor) (who called the council), and they wear the [papal tiara](/source/Papal_tiara) and [imperial crown](/source/Crown_(headgear)), Lenk has stated that these figures "are not the Pope and not the Emperor, but [fools](/source/Jester) who have acquired the insignia of secular and spiritual power. And to what extent the real popes and emperors were also fools, I leave to the historical education of the viewer."[2]

The statue refers to a short story by [Balzac](/source/Balzac), "[La Belle Impéria](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Belle_Imp%C3%A9ria)". The story is a harsh satire of the Catholic clergy's morals, where Imperia seduces cardinals and princes at the Council of Constance and has power over them all. The [historical Imperia](/source/Imperia_Cognati) that served as the source material of Balzac's story was a well-educated Italian [courtesan](/source/Courtesan) who died in 1512, nearly 100 years after the council, and never visited Konstanz.[3]

## References

1. ["At first a local scandal, now a tourist attraction: The scultpture Imperia"](http://english.konstanz-magazin.de/magazine/Imperia.php), *Constance Magazine*, retrieved 2020-06-30

1. Peter Lenk, interviewt durch Jasmin Hummel: *20 Jahre Imperia. … und sie dreht sich immer noch.* In: Labhards Bodensee Magazin 2013, S. 44–45

1. [Franca Petrucci: *COGNATI, Imperia*, In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 26 (1982)](http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/imperia-cognati_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/)

## Further reading

- Helmut Weidhase: *Imperia. Konstanzer Hafenfigur*. Konstanz: Stadler 1997. ISBN 3-7977-0374-0

## External links

- ["Imperia im Hafen Konstanz"](http://www.peter-lenk.de/skulpturen/baden-wuerttemberg/konstanz/imperia-im-hafen.html) (in German). Peter Lenk (sculptor). Retrieved February 22, 2017.
- [Text of *Les contes drolatiques* by Balzac, including "La belle Impéria"](http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Les_Contes_drolatiques)
- [3D-model of *Imperia*](https://web.archive.org/web/20090418042132/http://www.inf.uni-konstanz.de/cgip/projects/surfac/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Imperia (statue)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperia_(statue)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperia_(statue)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.