Is this the heaviest map ever? Marble model of Manhattan weighs in at a mighty two-and-a-half TONS

As far as maps go, this one definitely holds its weight.

A scaled model of Manhattan hand carved from a slab of marble tips the scales at an astounding two-and-a-half tons.

The miniature creation of America's most famous skyline, carved by Japanese artist Yataka Sone, has art enthusiasts at a New York City gallery awestruck.

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Astounding: Yutaka Sone's Little Manhattan marble sculpture, weighs as much as a Rolls-Royce Phantom VI

Astounding: Yutaka Sone's Little Manhattan marble sculpture, weighs as much as a Rolls-Royce Phantom VI

Precision: Mr Sone used photographic reproductions, imagery from Google Earth, and several helicopter rides to render Manhattan with its skyscrapers, streets, avenues, and the bridges to the east and west to scale

Precision: Mr Sone used photographic reproductions, imagery from Google Earth, and several helicopter rides to render Manhattan with its skyscrapers, streets, avenues, and the bridges to the east and west to scale

Recently put on display at the David Zwirner gallery in New York, Mr Sone used photographic reproductions, imagery from Google Earth, and several helicopter rides to render Manhattan with its Central Park, skyscrapers, streets, avenues, and the bridges to the east and west to scale.

Little Manhattan, carved between 2007 and 2009, measures 21 3/4 x 104 3/8 x 33 1/2 inches.


And it was the highlight of the exhibit when it opened on September 20, with passers-by noting the painstaking precision with which Mr Sone carved the city's every building and sloping street.

The exhibition marks Mr Sone's fifth solo showing since his first exhibition at the gallery in 1999. The current exhibition also includes other marble works and sculptures of trees made predominantly from rattan. 

Long haul: The scaled model took two years to carve

Long haul: The scaled model took two years to carve

On display: Yutaka Sone: Island at David Zwirner in New York opened earlier this month and runs until October 29

On display: Yutaka Sone: Island at David Zwirner in New York opened earlier this month and runs until October 29

Attention to detail: A tiny model of Manhattan's Central Park lies amongst miniature marble skyscrapers

Attention to detail: A tiny model of Manhattan's Central Park lies amongst miniature marble skyscrapers

Mr Sone was born in 1965 in Shizuoka, Japan.

He studied architecture at the Tokyo Geijutsu University. The artist predominantly works in sculpture, but also uses painting, drawing, photography, video, and performance as means of expression.

His work was shown in a number of group exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad,

Yutaka Sone: Island at David Zwirner in New York runs until October 29, 2011.

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