“Mother Armenia”
«The “Mother Armenia” monument was built in 1975 in Gyumri. The sculptor is Ara Sargsyan.”This monument was built for immortality in the Great Patriotic War for the sake of the fallen heros from Leninakan of our Great Motherland.”In 1975, these lines were engraved on the pedestal of the “Mother Armenia” memorial complex in Gyumri.By its nature, the monument is a version of Yerevan Victory Monument and has a double meaning.It is meant to honor the victory with monumental means of architecture and sculpture, to perpetuate the memory of the fallen, as well as to praise the work. Made of bent copper, the monument depicts a young woman in a quietly epic pose.
Initially, there was some hesitation regarding the installation of a statue in Leninakan featuring an exposed chest, but in the end the statue was installed.The palm branch held in the outstretched hand of the bare-breasted woman symbolizes peace, and in the other hand the head of the Zvartnots Cathedral, the Armenian creative power. In fact, it depicts Nemesis, the winged goddess of revenge and just retribution in Greek mythology, who punished those who violated moral and social norms.Ara Sargsyan was a member of the “Nemesis” group, created in 1919, they started talking about it more openly only after the independence of Armenia. Ara Sargsyan helped this group a lot. However, when he came to Soviet Armenia, he hid this fact as much as possible, but there are hidden messages in all his sculptures.
Source: 1
Source: 1