The Unknown Bureaucrat
 

Not long ago I visited Iceland for the Aurora Borealis at the Equinox. While there, in Reykjavik we came across this sculpture. It was originally placed at ground level, but has been elevated to a pedestal. Without any more exposition here are some links. I like it very much.

Óþekkti Embættismaðurinn
The Unknown Bureaucrat
1993
Magnús Tómasson

http://unusualplaces.org/monument-to...wn-bureaucrat/

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/W...ykjavk_Iceland

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Location...al_Region.html

Thank you, Allen. Hasn't sculpture improved lately. There are two wonderful ones (one of John Betjeman) in Saint Pancras Station and one outside the library in Canterbury celebrating Chaucer. All done in the last few years.

Painting's got better too. My daughter paints beautifully in an expressionist style. There's one on the front of my latest book, 'Joy in the Morning'.

Thank you, Allen. This is wonderful. At first I wasn't sure if this meant to be sympathetic or insulting. Maybe it's both although the information online seems to lean towards the sympathetic.

Historically, in their sagas and poems, Icelanders have been very laconic, droll, and tongue-in-cheek. While not as cold near the shore as its name suggests, until recently life has sometimes been very, very demanding because of limited wood supplies, and then there were those long isolated nights of winter that nourished irony and a needful sense of humor.