A statue is a three-dimensional sculpture of a person, animal, or anthropomorphized object. Statues can be comprised of practically any substantial material. One of the most famous statues is the Statue of Liberty, which was given by France to the United States in 1886. On the Statue of Liberty's centennial birthday, New York City threw a 12 million person party for this great American symbol. When a statue depicts only someone's head, it's known as a "bust." One of the most recognized busts is a carved stone sculpture of the great German composer, Ludwig von Beethoven. On Yale University's Old Campus in New Haven, Connecticut, the statue of Nathan Hale, one of the major patriots of the American Revolution, sits in the middle of the freshman dorms. Nathan Hale was known for his famously defiant last words, "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country." Statues can connote great political power. The American military invasion of Iraq in the spring of 2002 for all intents and purposes ended when a Baghdad statue of the loathsome dictator, Saddam Hussein, was toppled by Iraqis. Images of the Hussein statue being dragged through the streets by liberated Iraqis swept the world within a matter of minutes. Statues can also serve purely decorative purposes. Many aristocratic homeowners build gardens around replicas of Greek statues. Works of statue art, like Michelangelo's "David" and prominent sculptures by his contemporary, Italian virtuoso Leonardo da Vinci, have for centuries been studied as truly perfect pieces.
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