Agnete and the Merman, Bronze sculpture in Slotsholm Canal, Denmark
Agnete and the Merman is a bronze group sculpture lying beneath the water surface of Slotsholm Canal near Højbro Bridge. The work shows a merman with several figures reaching upward through the water from below.
Artist Suste Bonnén created this bronze sculpture in 1992, drawing inspiration from an ancient Danish ballad about love between humans and sea creatures. The work was placed in the canal to create a lasting connection between the city and this classic story.
The figures tell an old Danish folk tale in which a woman leaves her underwater family behind. You can read the story in the postures of the bronze figures themselves, which reach upward from the seabed.
You can best observe the submerged figures from Højbro Bridge by looking over the railing. At dusk and with artificial lighting, the bronze figures become more visible and light reflects off the water.
The figures are deliberately placed below the water surface, so visitors can only see them as shadowy forms rather than in full detail. This submersion makes the sculpture something of a mystery and underscores the story of two worlds that cannot truly meet.
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