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The bomb that destroyed a city

This terrifying-looking bomb is a replica of “Fat Man”, the atomic bomb that was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. It marked the begin of the end of World War II.

This terrifying-looking bomb is a replica of  “Fat Man”, the atomic bomb that was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. The Americans used this, and the first atomic bomb, “Little Boy”, which was dropped on Hiroshima three days earlier, to finally bring the Second World War to an end. But the bomb also ended the lives of 110,000 Japanese citizens, including many children.

“Fat Man” was made by Breda-based artist Antoine Stemerding. He produced the sculpture in 2002 in response to the American invasion of Afghanistan. The work is intended to induce the viewer to take a critical look at the unleashing of the destructive power of such a terrible device. He chose “Fat Man” because its form is recognisable to everyone as the archetype of a bomb.