Amsterdams Lieverdje

A small bronze boy stands in the middle of the Spui square, hands deep in his pockets, leaning casually against a lamp post. Sculptor Carel Kneulman created this figure in nineteen sixty to represent the street urchins of Amsterdam. The statue serves as a gathering point for the Provo movement, an activist group that used the bronze boy as a stage for their anti-establishment speeches during the sixties. A local newspaper sponsored the installation, gifting the statue to the city residents.