Old Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier - Iraq

thingiverse

IN MEMORY OF RIFAT CHADIRJI The Monument to the Unknown Soldier in Baghdad's Firdos Square was a pioneering effort that predated its 1982 counterpart by over two decades. In 1959, an arched monument to honor the unknown soldier was unveiled in the same square, designed by renowned Iraqi architect Rifat Chadirji. This innovative structure drew inspiration from the iconic arch of Ctesiphon, once the capital of the Parthian Empire. Sketches discovered at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad reveal the creative process behind this design, which depicts a mother tenderly collecting her fallen child. Characterized as a minimalist and symbolic modernist masterpiece, comparisons between the original and its subsequent replacement demonstrate a marked shift towards abstraction and sophistication in Iraqi art during that era. The original monument was removed from Firdos Square to make way for a statue of Saddam Hussein in the early 1980s. The replacement monument met its demise at the hands of American forces after they seized Baghdad in 2003, as the world watched in real-time via television broadcasts. For many years, rumors circulated that Chadirji had been invited to redesign the monument, but no tangible progress was made. Unfortunately, Chadirji passed away on April 10, 2020, while living with his wife in England, where he had relocated after a long and distinguished career.