The iconic figure of Rocky Balboa<\/a>, arms raised in victory, clad in boxing trunks and boots, has become a point of pilgrimage for people around the world.<\/p>\n For decades, the museum maintained an uncomfortable distance from this kind of devotion. Now, it is embracing it \u2014 and inviting Rocky in.<\/p>\n Opening this weekend, \u201cRising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments\u201d delves into how a fictional fighter transformed into a real-world symbol, placing the statue within the sweep of art history and Philadelphia\u2019s identity. The exhibition is the brainchild of guest curator Paul Farber, who spent years exploring the meaning of the statue and public monuments \u2014 including through his NPR<\/a> podcasts \u2014 before bringing the conversation into the museum.<\/p>\n Spanning over 2,000 years of boxing imagery, the exhibition traces a thread of human struggle that Louis Marchesano, the museum\u2019s deputy director of curatorial affairs and conservation, said helps explain Rocky\u2019s enduring pull.<\/p>\n \u201cThe common theme that runs throughout 2,000 years of boxing imagery is that people respond to the body under struggle, a conflict in much the same way today as they did 2,500 years ago,\u201d Marchesano said. \u201cIt\u2019s not simply about watching two people beat each other up \u2014 it\u2019s about endurance, internal fortitude and internal struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n When the bronze statue was left on the steps after filming the \u201cRocky\u201d movies, the museum fought to have it removed. It was eventually relocated to South Philadelphia before returning to the bottom of the steps in 2006. It was welcomed back, but never fully embraced. The city owns the spot where the statue sits \u2014 not the museum.<\/p>\n \u201cThe museum has had \u2014 and I hate to say this, no pun intended \u2014 a rocky relationship with the statue,\u201d Marchesano said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt took us decades to come to terms with it,\u201d he added. \u201cBut I\u2019m glad that we did.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the Philadelphia Visitor Center, about 4 million people visit the steps each year \u2014 rivaling the nearby Liberty Bell in annual foot traffic.<\/p>\n David Muller, a wrestling coach from France<\/a> who recently brought his students to the steps, said he thinks Balboa\u2019s trials and travails are \u201cgood for the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe movie \u2018Rocky\u2019 is important for the mind of sport and the mind of life,\u201d Muller said, after running with them up the steps as they raised their hands at the top, smiling and punching the air like boxers.<\/p>\n Kate Tarchalska traveled from Poland<\/a> with family and made the statue one of their stops.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was my hero when I was younger,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd now I am so glad I could be in the same spot as him.\u201d<\/p>\n Suraj Kumar, visiting his aunt in Philadelphia from St. Louis, made a point to photograph the statue to share with his father, who first introduced him to the films when he was growing up in Bengaluru, India.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I got to know this statue is here, I was like, I really have to come down here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n One gallery places Rocky in the global boxing fever of the 1970s, featuring works by Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol<\/a> \u2014 all created during a time when boxing had the world\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the 1970s, we knew minute by minute who the heavyweight champion of the world was,\u201d Marchesano said. \u201cThe artists in this gallery are responding to that global frenzy. Sylvester Stallone<\/a>, in \u2018Rocky,\u2019 was doing the same \u2014 thinking about internal and external struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n Another gallery turns to Philadelphia itself, presenting photographs of the Blue Horizon boxing gym and a section on Joe Frazier<\/a>, whose real-life story at least partially inspired Rocky.<\/p>\n![\"Banners](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777223176_781_download-1.jpg\")
Banners for the “Rising Up: Rocky” exhibition hang outside of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (AP)<\/p>\n![\"Visitors](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Rocky_Statue_Exhibition_39625.jpg\")
Visitors pose in front of the Rocky statue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (AP)<\/p>\n