The Little Mermaid sculpture in Copenhagen Harbor (photo by Kenn Stearns)

This statue of The Little Mermaid sits on a rock in Langelinie, a park in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Sculptor Edvard Eriksen modeled the head after ballerina Ellen Price but because she would not pose nude the artist’s wife was a model for the body.

The iconic work in the harbor is a copy. Eriksen’s heirs keep the original at an undisclosed location. Other copies of the statue can be found in Solvang, CA; Kimballton, IA; Brasilia, Brazil; Piatra Neamt, Romania; Weihai, China; and on the grave of Danish-American entertainer Victor Borge.