The “Rocky Steps” in Philadelphia – the 72 stone steps leading to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art – have been iconic ever since Rocky was released in 1976. To this day, it remains a popular tourist attraction and photo opportunity.
But as you might know, a Rocky statue also makes its home in front of the museum, and though it’s also a popular photo spot, it’s had something of a long, complicated story within the city.
The Story of the Rocky Balboa Statue
We actually have Rocky III to thank for this one. Sylvester Stallone commissioned artist A. Thomas Schomberg to create the bronze statue for the filming of the 1982 movie. In fact, three two-ton, ten-foot-tall copies were cast, and were donated to the city after filming was completed.
The one at the top of the museum steps was left there as a gift to the city from Stallone, but it caused a real ruckus among cultural snobs who openly wondered whether something like this could truly qualify as “art,” let alone be the welcoming presence into the entire museum. It sparked quite the rabid debate in the city – with many critics deriding the statue as a “movie prop” – and it was ultimately decided by the city’s Art Commission that the statue should sit outside the Spectrum arena.
The debate raged once again in 1990 when the statue was placed on the stairs to promote the release of Rocky V, but it quickly went back to the Spectrum, where it sat until 2006, when the city finally moved the statue to the bottom of the museum steps, where it now permanently sits today. Now if Detroit could just follow Philadelphia’s lead and find a permanent home for the RoboCop statue…
The other statues have been on wild rides of their own. One of them was placed at the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum in San Diego until it closed in 2017. Stallone himself actually purchased that statue at an auction, probably to save it from art critics foaming at the mouth to destroy it.
As for the third statue, Schomberg cast it in bronze to prevent the mold from decaying any further, and it was put up for auction to raise money for the International Institute for Sport and Olympic History. Currently, it is being exhibited at the Schomberg Studios Gallery in Denver.
Despite the occasional hiccup in its location, and the animosity faced at times, Rocky Balboa is truly Philadelphia’s “favorite adopted son,” and it’s only right to see the statue at home where it belongs.
