Mark Zuckerberg’s Giant Statue of His Wife: A Quest for Rome’s Golden Era?
Mark Zuckerberg, the Meta CEO, has taken his love for Rome to a new level. He has commissioned a giant sculpture of his wife, Priscilla Chan, which has left the internet buzzing. But does this “Roman-inspired” gesture truly follow in the footsteps of ancient Rome?
The statue, created by Daniel Arsham, features Chan midstride in green, draped in a flowing silver cloak. While the artwork is undoubtedly stunning, it strays far from the typical Roman style. Roman sculptures often showcased coins and statues as symbols of devotion, not massive monuments of personal romantic relationships.
Augustus, Zuckerberg’s proclaimed role model, did not commission statues of his wife, Livia Drusilla, unlike popular opinion suggests. His statues mostly honored his family, reign, values, and monuments, not his personal relationships.
The question remains: does anyone like it? Chan seemingly does, responding with a heart emoji, “The more of me, the better?” to the news. The internet also appears to have taken to the gesture, with many praising the effort.
As Mashable’s Leah Greenberg pointed out, “I’m not a Zuckerberg fan for many reasons, but it is kind of hilarious that a set of billionaires are steadily twitter-poisoning themselves into heretofore unknown levels of Divorced Guy Syndrome, and meanwhile he’s bopping along commissioning statues of his wife.”