More on the Paterno Sculpture

We’ve had a few interesting responses to the Paterno Sculpture Quiz but nothing definitive. As I mentioned before, I don’t have the answers and so far neither does anybody else. Mike of Black Shoe Diaries recently published the quiz in his blog, so you might want to keep an eye on it to see if any insights emerge there. In the meanwhile, I have a little more sculpture information for you here.

While the names of the players and the reason they were chosen remain open questions, I shall now provide answers to the other question on my original quiz, to wit:

Where else on campus is there a similar bronze statue by the same sculptor and who or what is it depicting?

The other bronze statue by sculptor Angelo di Maria is located in the lobby of the All-Sports Museum, under the south stands at Beaver Stadium. It is a larger-than-life representation of our Nittany Lion mascot—the human one, not the feline one. He’s posed about the same as Joe, holding up a “We’re Number One” finger. Click on the thumbnail at left to see a larger picture. ??? ??? ????? ?? ????

A couple of gratuitous extras are in store for those who have read this far. Since I did such a great photojournalistic job capturing the essence of the Paterno sculpture, I though I would share a couple additional photos with you. ??? ????? ?? ???????

We all know about Joe’s black shoes and rolled up khakis, and sculptor di Maria did a great job of preserving that look for posterity, up to and including the brand name on the shoes, alas. (Nike, if you’re too lazy to look at the big picture.) And I think he’s even got some gum on the heel of his left shoe. As usual, click on the thumbnail for a larger photo.

Finally, I shall present some facial detail. ???? ??????? ??? ??? How gay does Joe look? In the 42 years I’ve been looking at Paterno’s face, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a facial expression like this. It appears as if an Alfred E. Neuman smile—albeit lacking the missing tooth—has been grafted onto Joe’s face. And those glasses! A couple of years ago the original eyeglasses were stolen from Paterno’s sculpted visage. I’m not sure but I think that the crack PSU purchasing department must have bought the replacement spectacles from a low bidder that turned out to be the late, great Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray’s estate sale. Click on the thumbnail if you dare to be haunted by Joe’s odd smile.