Talk:Statue of Leif Erikson (Boston)

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Name

The three academic sources currently cited name this Anne Whitney artwork Leif Eriksson (note the double S in the patronym). This article should be moved, but what is the best way to disambiguate it? Jonathunder (talk) 15:10, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Jonathunder, We can add the artwork title to the lead/infobox, but Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Visual arts says, "For portrait sculptures of individuals in public places the forms "Statue of Fred Foo" "Equestrian statue of Fred Foo" or "Bust of Fred Foo" is recommended, unless a form such as "Fred Foo Memorial" or "Monument to Fred Foo" is the WP:COMMONNAME. If further disambiguation is needed, because there is more than one sculpture of the same person with an article, then disambiguation by location rather than the sculptor is usually better. This may be done as either "Statue of Fred Foo (Chicago)" (typically preferred for North America) or "Statue of Fred Foo, Glasgow" (typically preferred elsewhere). If the sculpture has a distinct common name, like the Bronze Horseman, that should be used." User:Ham II may have thoughts. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 15:40, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I have no problem with that, but it's odd to spell the name differently than the artist did and the best sources on this work do. Jonathunder (talk) 15:44, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Jonathunder, I get it, but Leif Erikson is the parent article and the way most people would spell his name. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 15:46, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I'm torn on this one. MOS:ART doesn't say anything about which variation to use when there are multiple spellings or other variations of a subject's name. The main case like this I know of is Statue of Mahatma Gandhi (San Francisco), where there was debate over whether to go with "Mahatma Gandhi" or "Mohandas K. Gandhi", which was inscribed on the statue's pedestal. The case for "Mohandas K. Gandhi" being the statue's "real name", as was claimed, was weak – it was based on the inscription alone, and wasn't backed up by any of the reliable sources cited in the article. The article title ended up using "Mahatma Gandhi" for consistency with the parent article, and so that there could also be a consistent style across Category:Statues of Mahatma Gandhi.

In the case of this work, more of the online sources cited use "Leif Eriksson" for the statue than was the case with "Mohandas K. Gandhi" – three of the five I can access (I can't get the Google Books link to work). They are as follows:

Eriksson: Greis 2004 (article by museum director), Headley 2003 (academic journal article), Smithsonian (online catalogue entry)
Erikson: McCleary 2015 (newspaper article), Encyclopedia Americana 1920 (with the rather dubious-looking spelling "Lief Erikson")

Of course, there could be an even split if the Olmsted book uses "Erikson".

The one other statue of the subject with an article is Leif, the Discoverer (Whitney), so the question of spelling "Eriks(s)on" consistently across the statues' article titles doesn't arise. We don't try to "fix" the title of Boadicea and Her Daughters to be consistent with Boudica, but then that is more of an actual artwork title like Leif, the Discoverer, and unlike "Statue of Leif Erikson". Johnbod, any thoughts? Ham II (talk) 09:20, 27 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, and now I see Another Believer's link below which spells it "Erikson", so it's 3-all. Ham II (talk) 09:22, 27 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Remarkable how the statue manages to name him twice without giving his second name in English! I'm pretty sure the original name would have had "ss" (as modern Scandinavian spellings do), but one "s" seems the current official American spelling, as in Leif Erikson Day and his stamp. Our bio doesn't even mention a "ss" spelling in English, which it surely should. So I suppose "s" has it. Per our new policy, should we not merge the copy at Leif, the Discoverer (Whitney)? That also avoids a second name in English. Johnbod (talk) 17:07, 27 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Source

https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2019/10/09/why-is-there-a-statue-of-leif-erikson-on-commonwealth-avenue

---Another Believer _(Talk) 21:30, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

That article names Leif the discoverer several times but never names the artwork itself, as appears to be the case with the Olmsted book. (It uses "Ericsson" for his patronym.) As for the Thorkild Kjærgaard piece, does this link work for you? Jonathunder (talk) 13:05, 1 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]