Valued image set: The Bronze Horseman

	This is a valued image set on Wikimedia Commons. The image has been assessed under the valued image criteria and is considered the most valued image set on Commons within the scope: The Bronze Horseman You can see its nomination at Commons:Valued image candidates/The Bronze Horseman.
Side view (facing SW) Front view (facing SE) Rear view (facing NW) Side view (facing NE)
The Bronze Horseman (Медный всадник). Located in Saint Petersburg’s Senate Square (Сенатская площадь), the statue is a tribute to Peter the Great. Commissioned by Catherine the Great, French sculptor Étienne Maurice Falconet was retained in 1766, and casting began in 1775. The Tsar’s face is the work of Falconet’s apprentice Marie-Anne Collot, who modeled it on several portraits and the death mask of Peter the Great. The inscription, in both Latin and Russian, reads: “Catherine the Second to Peter the First, 1782.” The base of the statue, known as the Thunder Stone (Камень-Гром) is reported to weigh roughly 1,500 tonnes (1,500,000 kilograms, or 3,306,900 pounds). It is thought to be the “largest stone ever moved by man,” and took 400 men 9 months to move the stone. It is so named for a legend that says the stone was once split by thunder.