Described as one of the worlds greatest neoclassical buildings, St Georges Hall stands out for its grandeur and beauty even in a world heritage city. <\/p>\n
But a controversial history lies in the empty, triangular pediment which once housed a stone sculpture - visible above the south entrance of the building when it opened in 1854.<\/p>\n
One summer's afternoon in August 1950, large chunks of stone - some weighing around 50lb - fell more than 100ft from the sculpture to the ground below.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, nobody was hurt and steeplejacks were called in from other work across the city to make the area safe. <\/p>\n
The original plan was to have the sculpture restored in time for the Festival of Britain the following year but was not to be.<\/p>\n
The stonework was found to be in such a state of decay after years of exposure to the elements that it was deemed beyond restoration while still situated at the top of the building.<\/p>\n
The sculpture was removed with the intention of repairing the damage before being installed back in place.<\/p>\n
Later inspections of the piece, however, judged it to be irreparable and the classical frieze was broken up and used as hardcore road-fill - a decision which has since been deemed an unforgivable act of sacrilege.<\/p>\n
In 2005, Fred O'Brien, a trustee of the Merseyside Forum for Sculpture, Painting & Allied Crafts said: \"St George's Hall is simply incomplete without it.\"<\/p>\n
The pediment, or tympanum as it was referred to in records from the 1950s, showed Britannia seated with a lion at her side and the Mersey at her feet. <\/p>\n
She was surrounded by figures symbolising America, Europe, Africa and the gods Mercury, Bacchus and Apollo. It bore a Latin inscription meaning: \"Freemen have established a place for arts, laws and councils.\"<\/p>\n
Over the years, attempts have been made to replace the sculpture, designed by Prof Charles Cockerell, although these have all failed, mainly for financial reasons.<\/p>\n
However, in the 1990s, it was the representation of the subject matter of the piece itself that was deemed controversial when arguments for recreating the original piece were again made.<\/p>\n
Anti-racist groups said one of the figures depicted in the original design was a black slave kneeling before Britannia, and claimed Liverpools black community would be offended if it was ever recreated.<\/p>\n
At the time, John Haymes Hogg, one of three members of the Merseyside Sculptors Guild who wanted to replace the pediment, argued that the frieze represented the abolition of slavery.<\/p>\n
He said: \"The figure on his knees is giving thanks to Britannia for his liberty because of the decision by Britain to abolish the horror of the slave trade.\"<\/p>\n
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A later campaign to recreate the carving was taken up by Terance McGunigle, the then executive manager of the Merseyside Forum for Sculpture, Painting & Allied Crafts.<\/p>\n
A story in the Liverpool Daily Post in 2005 documenting the history of the sculpture, reported on Terances project to create a redesigned version of the original carving after consulting representatives of Liverpools black community.<\/p>\n
A new design was submitted and a fundraising campaign started to raise the 3m needed to create the new frieze.<\/p>\n
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Despite attempts to raise the capital needed, funding was never formally agreed and put in place with Liverpool City Council and the project failed and soon forgotten. <\/p>\n
This week, to discover any plans for reinstalling a sculpture in the south side pediment of St George's Hall, the ECHO spoke to Terance about his history, trying to get a new sculpture put in place years after the original was destroyed.<\/p>\n
Terance McGunigle, 57, is a classically trained artist and sculptor from Hunts Cross who has worked for The Pope on sculptures in the Vatican City. <\/p>\n
He showed us an image of the design he and fellow sculptor, Terry Macdonald, created in the 1990s to replace the controversial original.<\/p>\n
Terance argued that the original figure central to the sculpture may never have been Britannia but Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, arts, trade, and strategy.<\/p>\n
He said: \"Was it Minerva or was it Britannia? There was a lion there but the actual symbolism of Britannia wasn't there. There was no shield.\"<\/p>\n
A statue of Minerva already sits at the top of down at Liverpool Town Hall and has gazed down on the city streets since 1799. <\/p>\n
Terance said after a conversation he had with representatives from the black community at the time they were happy with the inclusion of a figure being emancipated from slavery.<\/p>\n
He said: They were happy if we took the chains off him. Ironically, the original chains were broken. The figure wasn't shackled.<\/p>\n
Asked if he was given the opportunity again to create a new sculpture for the pediment, Terance said he would jump at the chance, adding: I would do it next week.<\/p>\n
The ECHO approached Liverpool City Council to ask if there are any plans to commission a new sculpture to be put in place, but they said: As it stands currently, the city council has no plans in place to replace the frieze.<\/p>\n
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'Unforgivable act of sacrilege' on St George's Hall 70 years ago - Liverpool Echo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Described as one of the worlds greatest neoclassical buildings, St Georges Hall stands out for its grandeur and beauty even in a world heritage city. Continue reading