Gustav Vigeland was born in 1869 in the south-coast town of Mandal in Norway. Vigeland's artistic talents were first revealed in his drawings and woodcarvings and at the age of fifteen, his father took him to Oslo to apprentice him to a master. The death of his father only two years later forced Vigeland to return to Mandal and relinquish all hopes of becoming a sculptor. In 1888, Vigeland was again back in the capital, this time taking with him a bundle of sketches for statues, groups and reliefs, their motifs mostly deriving from Greek mythology and the Bible. The sculptor, Brynjulf Bergslien, impressed by his drawings, took him into his studio and gave him his first practical training.

The work of Auguste Rodin, seen by Vigeland on visits to the artist's studio in Paris, made a perceptible impact. Rodin's intimate treatment of his relationship between man and woman was also influential in Vigeland's life-long development of this theme.

"I was a sculptor before I was born. I was driven and lashed onward by powerful forces outside myself. There was no other path, and no matter how hard I might have tried to find one, I would have been forced back again."

The Monolith

The column, 14.12 meters (46 feet) high carved out of a single block of stone, consists of 121 figures. Modeled by Vigeland in the years 1924-25, it took three stone carvers from 1929 to 1943 to complete the Monolith, just shortly before Vigeland died. The column is completely covered by human figures in relief, singly or in groups. At the bottom there are seemingly inert bodies. Above them figures ascent in a spiral, the movement halting midway and then rising at a fast pace towards the summit which is covered by small children. Various interpretations of the Monolith have been suggested: Man's resurrection, the struggle for existence, Man's yearning for for spiritual spheres, the transcendence of everyday life and cyclic repetition.

The Monolith Plateau

Surrounding the Monolith are 36 groups in granite depicting the cycle of life. Every sculpture includes at least two figures depicting Man in a variety of typical human situations and relationships. A man and woman sit facing one another with a little child between them. Children play, young men and women dream and embrace. Old age is represented in several groups. The groups show a certain variation in composition and form. Initially, Vigeland wanted to retain the volume of the granite block. The figures from this early period are broad and simple with a minimal of detail. Later, however, he introduced greater differentiation of composition and figure style and more space was allowed between figures. Although a skilled carver himself, Vigeland did not sculpt directly in granite. He modeled the groups in full size and employed professional artisans to do the time-consuming work of transferring the original models into stone.   http://go.to/Vigeland/