Hippopotamus, Bogatyr, Scarecrow: Paolo Trubetskoy’s Monument to Alexander III

by Greg King

It was derisively called “The Hippopotamus,” subject to widespread scorn as soon as it was unveiled in 1909.  Intended to commemorate the late Emperor Alexander III, the massive memorial sculpture that arose in St. Petersburg’s Znamenskaya Square pleased few and offended many.  In retrospect, as historian Richard Wortman noted, it seemed to symbolize “t…