Rocky's rise: from bronze icon to museum mainstay

For decades, the bronze silhouette of Rocky Balboa has stood sentinel at the foot of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a testament to underdog grit and the enduring power of a fictional tale. Now, the museum—which once maintained a certain distance from this fervent devotion—is formally embracing its most unlikely landmark with 'Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments,' a sweeping exhibition examining the statue's unlikely journey from movie prop to global pilgrimage site.

A sculpted symbol of struggle

The exhibition, spearheaded by guest curator Paul Farber, meticulously traces the statue's evolution, placing it within a 2,000-year continuum of boxing imagery. Farber’s research, initially explored through his NPR podcasts, reveals a profound connection between the human fascination with struggle and the enduring appeal of Balboa’s perseverance. As Louis Marchesano, the museum’s deputy director of curatorial affairs and conservation, observes, “People respond to the body under struggle, a conflict in much the same way today as they did 2,500 years ago. It's not simply about watching two people beat each other up; it's about endurance, internal fortitude, and internal struggle.”

The narrative isn’t without its irony. When the statue first appeared on the museum steps after filming wrapped on the original Rocky movies, the institution actively sought its removal. A protracted battle ensued before the statue found a temporary home in South Philadelphia, eventually returning to its iconic perch in 2006 – a homecoming that, despite widespread public enthusiasm, was never fully sanctioned by the museum itself. “The museum has had—and I hate to say this, no pun intended—a rocky relationship with the statue,” Marchesano admits, acknowledging the decades-long internal debate.

The sheer volume of visitors underscores the statue's undeniable cultural weight. Approximately 4 million people ascend and descend those steps annually, a number that rivals the nearby Liberty Bell, a far more traditionally venerated symbol of American history. David Muller, a wrestling coach from France, exemplified the statue's global reach, bringing his students to Philadelphia to experience the embodiment of athletic determination firsthand. “The movie Rocky is important for the mind of sport and the mind of life,” he stated, his students mimicking Balboa’s victorious stance atop the steps.

The exhibition cleverly contextualizes Rocky within the artistic fervor of the 1970s, showcasing works by Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Andy Warhol—artists captivated by the decade’s boxing mania. The connection to Philadelphia’s own Joe Frazier is also explored, with Marchesano asserting,