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Fallen David is a marble replica of Michelangelo's David that was toppled at Forest Lawn in Cypress by the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake. Its broken pieces were donated to California State University, Fullerton, and displayed on the campus, dedicated in 1989.
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Fallen David
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Site-level location · 33.8829° N, 117.8853° W
FIELD GUIDE
The story
Most statues of David are meant to stand; this one lies in pieces on purpose. Fallen David is a white Carrara marble replica of Michelangelo's famous figure that stood at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California, until the Whittier Narrows earthquake of 1 October 1987 toppled it.
Forest Lawn donated the broken pieces to California State University, Fullerton, according to the university's campus sculpture listing, which records the work as dedicated in 1989 and gives its location as north of the Education Classroom Building. Cal State LA's earthquake exhibit says a studio art professor at Fullerton saw the fallen statue in a newspaper and proposed displaying the pieces on campus, hoping the symbolism of a "fallen hero" would encourage students to embrace challenges. It describes the work as a permanent public art piece near the campus library. The pieces were laid out roughly as they fell, according to SparkOC, the Orange County arts listing.
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WHAT TO EXPECT
An outdoor sculpture of broken marble pieces on the Cal State Fullerton campus, north of the Education Classroom Building and near the library. It sits on university grounds; the university's listing gives no hours or access rules.
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On the Cal State Fullerton campus, north of the Education Classroom Building, near the library, at 800 N State College Boulevard. It is on university grounds; the university gives no published hours or access rules for it.
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