The beautiful bronze statue of the goddess Circe has left her Park Square perch to be restored at the city’s art gallery. In a few weeks the painstaking process of restoring her will start in full public view within the art gallery so visitors can witness the work of the conservators.
She will then take up permanent residence in either the gallery or the new city museum opening later this year.
“Circe is a major work of art and we must conserve her in the best possible way for now and for future generations,” said Cllr John Procter, executive member for Leisure at Leeds City Council. “Not only will she be restored and displayed much more in keeping with original plans, she will also gain the protection such a prominent statue deserves.”
Much-loved but badly-weathered and damaged, the statue was originally commissioned from sculptor Alfred Drury for the gallery in 1894. It is based on the Circe of Homer’s Odyssey, the beguiling goddess who lured Odysseus’ men and turned them into swine with a cup of poison.
She was unceremoniously shifted to an ugly modern brick plinth in Park Square in the 1950s when Victorian sculpture fell out of fashion.
Circe is expected to occupy a pivotal position in either the art gallery or new museum (due to open in August this year), alongside details of how she was brought to the city by Colonel Walter Harding, who was also instrumental in setting up the art gallery itself.
A less valuable sculpture called Mercury will replace Circe in Castle Square. The bronze statue is not an original but one of several late 19th century bronze casts of the original Renaissance statue by Giambologna.
Circe’s restoration, is being funded and co-ordinated by the Henry Moore Institute, who, in collaboration with Leeds Art Gallery, maintain and develop the city’s sculpture collection.
