This photo shows an Italian artist’s sculpture, not a mythical giant’s skeleton
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on May 5, 2021 at 18:01
- 3 min read
- By Amanuel NEGUEDE
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The post, published on Facebook on February 12, 2021, has been shared more than 600 times since.
The meme, written in Sinhala, translates in part to English as: “Skeletal remains of the giant named Bulatha who lived when Kings reigned (...) the skeleton of the Bulatha giant, held by NASA in Area 51 to conduct secret research, has now been opened for public viewing”.
“Area 51” refers to a secretive US military base in the Nevada desert, which has long been the subject of UFO conspiracy theories.
According to the Sri Lankan newspaper Sunday Observer, Bulatha was a mythical giant who is said to have built the ancient reservoir of Sorabora Wewa in Mahiyangana, in central Sri Lanka. The legend states that Bulatha constructed the ancient tank during the reign of King Dutugemunu (161-137 BC).
However, the photo does not show the giant’s remains.
What the image shows
Using TinEye, AFP Fact Check ran a reverse image search and found the same image was published on a Flickr account back in 2007.
The caption reads “Calamita Cosmica” and tags the Wikipedia entry for the Italian artist Gino de Dominicis.
A search of the artist’s work reveals that this photo shows his sculpture “Calamita Cosmica”, known as “Cosmic Magnet” in English, as displayed in Milan’s Royal Palace during a temporary exhibit in 2007 (see Spanish-language news report from the time here).
Images of Milan’s Royal Palace on Google Maps Street View reveal details that match the photo, including a double-arched doorway and markings on the ground.
De Dominicis’s gigantic sculpture features a bird’s beak instead of a nose as well as a golden rod attached to one of its hands.
The "Cosmic Magnet" has also been exhibited in Versailles and at the grand opening of Maxxi, Italy's first national museum of contemporary art.
This image has repeatedly been used by conspiracy theorists over the years, including in a post that AFP Fact Check debunked in French claiming it showed the remains of the biblical figure Goliath.
Today, the sculpture can be found in the Italian Center of Contemporary Art inside the church of the Holy Trinity in Umbria, Italy.
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