The Cerne Abbas Giant practices social distancing
As "Russkaya Germaniya" notes, these days you can see masks not only on people but also on various objects and pets. And in the UK, a mask was even put on the huge figure of the Cerne Abbas Giant.
The Giant is located near the village of the same name in Dorset, southern England, and is a giant figure of a naked man with an erect penis carved into the slope of a steep hill. The Giant (55 meters high and 51 meters wide) is depicted with a 37-meter club in his hand. The unusual figure is best seen from the opposite side of the valley or from the air.
The origin of the figure and its age have not yet been precisely determined. Early researchers linked the image of the giant to a Saxon deity; later, scientists suggested that the figure depicts one of the deities of the Britons, but these versions have not been confirmed.
Some experts are convinced that the giant is an embodiment of the Roman Hercules, while others believe that the giant's image is composite.
Presumably, the giant received the unauthorized "addition" of a mask on April 24. And although the National Trust, which manages the protected site where the giant figure is located, stated that it does not encourage this artistic "act," local residents were more lenient and perceived the modification of their familiar figure as a reason to smile during the pandemic.
"Great to see the Cerne Abbas Giant practicing social distancing, wearing a mask and boosting the morale of the villagers," wrote local resident Kevin Knight on Twitter.
The Cerne Abbas Giant, colloquially known as the "Rude Man," is a geoglyph on a hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas north of Dorchester in Dorset, England.
The Cerne Abbas Giant has been modified before. Three years ago, pranksters turned the giant into an "athlete" in honor of the Wimbledon tournament. Then, a bookmaker's office worked on the cultural monument, turning his club into a tennis racket and drawing a ball on top. And a month before that, other wits wrote the name of the then British Prime Minister, Theresa May, right on the phallus. This was presumably a hint at the old Conservative slogan "Stand up for Britain."