Press Releases
St. Florian Statue Back at the Higgins Armory Museum
May 20, 2002
Contact: Malory Truman
(508) 853-6015 ext. 26
A 600 year old statue of St. Florian will soon return to its rightful place in the Higgins Armory Museum collection. The valuable statue was badly damaged and was removed from its "home" last fall for some much-needed conservation. The right arm, the top of the hat, and part of the right foot were broken off; numerous cracks in the wood also needed repair. In addition, old repairs had not been done properly, areas had been painted over, and it needed a good cleaning due to centuries of dust & dirt.
The statue is Austrian, made in the second half of the 15th century. It is wooden, with fabric clothing, and some of its details are gilded in gold and silver paint. The survival of some of the silver leaf detail is rare. Gold is the usual material; when silver is used it generally oxidizes and disappears, due to tarnish. The St. Florian statue was purchased by the Museum's founder, John Woodman Higgins, in Vienna in 1930. He donated it to the Museum in 1947.
In late fall 2001, the statue was sent to local art restorer Paula Artal-Isbrand. Ms. Artal-Isbrand, who also works as Assistant Conservator at Worcester Art Museum, spent 62 hours over six months conserving the piece. She reattached the arm, hat, and foot, repaired the cracks, removed or fixed old restorations, and gave the statue an overall cleaning including repairing the losses of paint.
"This is the best this statue has looked in probably 200 years or more," says Higgins Armory Conservator Bill MacMillan, "The difference between when St. Florian left here & when it returned is outstanding. It has gone from a mediocre example of late 15th century sculpture to a wonderful one".
St. Florian was one of a number of Roman soldiers who, according to tradition, converted to Christianity and were later martyred for their faith. The miracle associated with the saint was an occasion when he is said to have extinguished a major fire with a single bucket of water. The cult of St. Florian has flourished since the Middle Ages and he is still popular today, especially in Austria and Bavaria. He is generally shown in art as he appears in this statue: an armored man with lance in one hand, pouring a bucket of water onto a burning structure with the other. Because of the miracle attributed to him, St. Florian is invoked as protection against fire, and is the patron of firefighters the world over.
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