Unspecified/General

At the base of the celebrated stone steps leading up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art at the western end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the Rocky Statue is one of the most photographed pieces of public art in the city. The 8-foot 6-inch bronze sculpture, weighing approximately 2,000 pounds, was created by the Colorado-based sculptor A. Thomas Schomer and commissioned by the actor Sylvester Stallone for use in the 1982 film Rocky III, in which the heroic boxer raises a triumphal arm in front of an admiring crowd. The statue depicts the fictional Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa, played by Stallone in the original 1976 Rocky and its sequels, with the boxer's gloved arms raised in his iconic celebratory pose. The fictional character was inspired in part by the real-life Philadelphia heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, whose unlikely 1975 bout with Muhammad Ali went the full fifteen rounds and provided the storyline foundation for the Oscar-winning original film. The statue's history at its present location is complicated. After filming concluded, Stallone donated the statue to the city, with the intention that it would be permanently installed at the top of the Art Museum steps. The Philadelphia Museum of Art declined the gift on the grounds that the statue was a movie prop rather than a serious work of art and unsuited to the formal entrance of a major museum. The statue spent several decades shuttling between temporary locations including the Spectrum sports arena and the Philadelphia Convention Center before being permanently installed at its present location near the base of the museum steps in 2006, following a public campaign by Rocky enthusiasts and the city's Department of Recreation. The statue is one of the most visited free public attractions in the city, with the daily line of visitors waiting to pose for photographs alongside the bronze Rocky stretching down the sidewalk during the busiest summer days. The accompanying climb of the 72 stone Rocky Steps to the top of the museum's plaza, where Stallone famously danced in the original film, draws a continuous procession of joggers, tourists and weekend enthusiasts re-enacting the famous training-montage sequence. Free to access at any hour, the statue is a deliberate counterpoint to the elegant museum behind it.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Website: visitphilly.com/things-to-do/attractions/rocky-statue-and-the-rocky-steps

Opening Date: 01/01/1980