The Apennine Colossus is a stone statue, approximately 11 metres (36 feet) tall, in the estate of Villa Demidoff (originally Villa di Pratolino) in Vaglia in Tuscany, Italy. A personification of the Apennine Mountains, the colossal figure was created by Giambologna, a Flemish-born Italian sculptor, in the late 1580s. The statue has the appearance of an elderly man crouched at the shore of a lake, squeezing the head of a sea monster through whose open mouth water originally emanated into the pond in front of the statue. The colossus is depicted naked, with stalactites in the thick beard and long hair to show the metamorphosis of man and mountain, blending his body with the surrounding nature. It is made of stone and plaster and the interior houses a series of chambers and caves on three levels. Initially, the back of the statue was protected by a structure resembling a cave, which was demolished around 1690 by the sculptor Giovanni Battista Foggini, who built a statue of a dragon to adorn the back of the colossus. The Italian sculptor Rinaldo Barbetti renovated the statue in 1876.Sculpture credit: Giambologna; photographed by Rhododendrites
Committed identity: 8f5f7886cf7e38b67048ac84ebb495202852448d8a2aa04ed7d1e8477312ddd77601ec2014058fa8a2a9f4fe9e826cfe5a8167eac254c8119b78bb8a7b9e8125 is a SHA-512commitment to this user's real-life identity.
Barnstars
The Invisible Barnstar
This is for the work you do to the various Wikiprojects you are involved in, which nobody really seems to recognize, for mastering the ridiculously complicated art of uploading images, and for being an expert on Coldplay. Hell, you're not actively destroying WP are you? That almost deserves a BS in its own right, Lord Spongefrog,(I am the Czar of all Russias!) 15:10, 12 September 2009 (UTC)
For all your hard work fighting vandals, I award you the Anti-Vandalism Barnstar. Enjoy! --[midnight comet][contribs] 02:01, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
The Socratic Barnstar
You never cease to impress me with your well thought-out arguments, which show a great deal of clue for a relatively new user. In particularly, your edit to Katerenka's RfA showed you aren't afraid to be bold, even at an RfA. I wish I could do that. If I did something like that, I'd probably end up retracting it and apologising if I've caused offence :). Keep it up. You're making progress, and you'll be an admin yourself someday, Lord Spongefrog,(I am the Czar of all Russias!) 18:35, 25 October 2009 (UTC)
The Purple Star
For all your good contributions to Wikipedia. If only more people knew better than to bite such a user as you.--TwilightHelryx 17:45, 23 November 2009 (UTC)
The Userpage Shield
Placed here to recognize work done protecting User talk:tide rolls. Many thanks. Tiderolls 00:51, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
The Resilient Barnstar
For being able to take all the criticism you had in the past, and using it to grow. I think you have improved quite a bit over the past few weeks. :) You deserve this barnstar. Cheers! :) --Meaghanthe vanilla twilight 02:12, 1 December 2009 (UTC)
I seem to recall you got one of these already, but that was quite a while ago :P Good job finally getting that GA done! Nikkimaria (talk) 04:54, 6 March 2010 (UTC)
The Submarine Barnstar
(Just pretend that's a blueprint for a Submarine) For finding a niché in Wikipedia and working prolifically to improve it; then getting countless DYK's/GA's in a relatively short period of time, Lord Spongefrog,(I am Czar of all Russias!) 21:16, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
The Resilient Barnstar
For going with your gut feeling and for having the bollocks to defend it, I award you this barnstar! HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 00:59, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
Wow, I'm impressed with the amount of DYKs you have (20+!) and all your GAs! You have improved a lot since when you've started. Keep up the amazing work! --Meaghan:) ≈ 01:51, 13 May 2010 (UTC)
The Epic Barnstar
The Epic Barnstar may be awarded to an editor who makes particularly fine History and Events- related contributions. I, Quinxorin, hereby present this barnstar to White Shadows for all his edits on military history. Quinxorin (talk) 01:02, 17 June 2010 (UTC)
The Helping Hand Barnstar
The theme of this barney doesn't really fit the ocassion, but I'd like to thank you for helping out on the topics that I was working on during my trip. Thank you endlessly. Buggie111 (talk) 03:02, 26 July 2010 (UTC)
The World War Barnstar
To White Shadows for your many Outstanding Contributions to military history on Wikipedia. Well done. Malke 2010 (talk) 19:20, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
Congratulations, White Shadows! It's my pleasure to award you November 6, 2009's Red Star for being hard working, kind to others, and for being an excellent user in general. A record of this award will always be kept at User:Meaghan/Shining Stars. Enjoy! Meaghanguess who :) 00:02, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
You could also receive the next higher up award, the Orange Star!
Repeat Red Star
Congratulations, White Shadows! The first nine Red Stars of each cycle will consist of repeats from the previous cycle. The repeats will be users who did not receive the Orange Star. It's my pleasure to give you another shot at receiving the Orange Star today, on December 9, 2009! Keep up the great work! A record of this award will always be kept at User:Meaghan/Shining Stars. Enjoy! Meaghanthe vanilla twilight 00:03, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
Orange Star
Congratulations, White Shadows! Within the past three days, you received the Red Star for being hard working, kind to others, and for being an excellent user in general. You've now been chosen to receive the next higher up award, the Orange Star. A record of this award will always be kept at User:Meaghan/Shining Stars. Enjoy! Meaghanthe vanilla twilight 00:04, 10 December 2009 (UTC)
You could also receive the next higher up award, the Yellow Star!
User:White Shadows has been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian,
and therefore, I've officially declared today as White Shadows' day!
For being such a beautiful person and great Wikipedian,
enjoy being the Star of the day, dear White Shadows!
White Shadows has been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian, so I've officially declared today as White Shadows's Day! For being a great person and awesome Wikipedian, enjoy being the star of the day, White Shadows!
Keep track of upcoming reviews. Just copy and paste {{WPMILHIST Review alerts}} to your user space
The Million Award
For your contributions to bring World War II (estimated annual readership: 13,803,000) to Good Article status, I hereby present you the Million Award. Congratulations on this rare accomplishment, and thanks for all you do for Wikipedia's readers. -- Khazar2 (talk) 01:50, 28 August 2013 (UTC)
Your ongoing efforts to improve the encyclopedia have not gone unnoticed: You have been selected as Editor of the Week in recognition of your outstanding contributions. (courtesy of the Wikipedia Editor Retention Project)
On behalf of the Military History Project, I am proud to present the The Milhist reviewing award (1 stripe) for October to December 2018 reviews. MilHistBot (talk) 01:06, 8 January 2019 (UTC)
Keep track of upcoming reviews. Just copy and paste {{WPMILHIST Review alerts}} to your user space
Impressive resume: over 50 DYKs, 43 Good Articles, 8 Good Article Topics, 1 Featured Article, and 2 Featured Article Lists.
Brought one of the most viewed articles on Wikipedia, World War II , to GA status. Among the few and privileged Million Award recipients. Dedicated and detailed research is a norm. Wikipedia needs more editors like White Shadows
Recognized for
membership in WikiProject Military history and WikiProject Ships