'It's shocking': Restoration of baby Jesus statue results in hideous hobgoblin head

A local artist's attempt at restoring a statue of baby Jesus at a church in Canada has been met with shock and amusement, with some comparing it to a cake left in the rain.

The statue restoration

The statue restoration Source: Marina von Stackelberg/CBC

The handmade terracotta restoration of baby Jesus' head, on a statue outside the St Anne des Pins Catholic church in Ontario, has shocked parishioners and led to criticism of its creator, local artist Heather Wise.

The church’s priest, Gérard Lajeunesse, said the new head shocked parishioners when unveiled two weeks ago. 

“It really is shocking to the eyes because of the big contrast in colour,” he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Website Sudbury.com reported that Ms Wise took it upon herself to answer the call of the church to repair the statue, after vandals stole the original head a year earlier.

“I was so sad,” she said, describing her feeling after seeing the damaged statue.

“My feelings were hurt when I saw it, because I thought, ‘Who would do that?’ It’s just not a positive feeling to see that. I said ‘I’m an artist, I would like to fix it.’”

Ms Wise, who learned to sculpt in college, said the alterations were only temporary and she planned to create a permanent head made of stone later this year.

“To do a statue of baby Jesus for a church is like an honour of my entire art career,” she said.

“I knocked on the door, talked to the priest and we’ve been getting this together, because we had to find out a way of doing it.”

Despite understanding the concerns of his parishioners, Mr Lajeunesse praised Ms Wise for her eagerness to help.

“It’s a first try. It’s a first go. And hopefully what is done at the end will please everyone,” he said.

“She did this out of the goodness of her heart.”

When confronted by how to handle the fallout from the situation, Mr Lajeunesse admitted “I wasn’t trained for this in seminary”.

The statue has been met with a mixed response on social media.

Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: SBS News


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world