Watch out! If Atlas ever drops the heavens, Amsterdam too
will fall. Generations of Amsterdammers warned their children of this calamity.
The mighty Atlas must forever carry the sky upon his shoulders as a punishment
of the gods. Here in the Town Hall, nowadays Royal Palace, he illustrates how Amsterdammers saw
themselves as the centre of the universe. Atlas measures about 6 metres from
top to toe! Another version of this statue also stands outside, although that
one is cast in bronze.