The Problem With Statues Part I

Some people will be aghast when they read this two-part series. Some people may actually become very upset because I am here to say;

"I do not like statues!"

I will qualify that statement a little further. I do not like statues that are outdoors and on public grounds. Okay, so I can feel the roll of the eyes by many, but hear me out. Outdoor statues that have been turning green with deterioration and rot are creepy to me. This installment of my two part post will explain about my personal problem with statues and then the follow up piece will engage why outdoor public statues are bad for all of us.

So, as I said I do have a history with statues that I used for my Vocal Foggy Water’s Challenge, “The Truth About Gloria.” The story is fictional, but is based on a real statue in the Boston neighborhood where I grew up. Here is the link to the fictional story.

My experience with Gloria did involve my 1979 Ford Mercury that my parents gave me for a birthday present. I was 16 years old and had only recently gotten my license. Two of my friends, my brother and myself were in our high school musical, “The Sound of Music”. After a long night of rehearsal one of the two friends suggested we go to see the Statue of Gloria as she was known in our neighborhood. All four us decided to go. We all heard about this statue where many kids went to drink and smoke weed.

My friend Patty (not her real name) was the only one who knew the way to this statue as she was tucked away in woods a couple of miles behind a local hospital. Patty was also the one who had all the stories that the statue was cursed or would curse you if you looked right at her. The statue known as Gloria to us, was supposed to be a nurse that was raped and murdered. She had hurt many people especially teenagers who crossed her path. We were all expecting a small to medium size statue.

To make a long story short, the dirt road to Gloria was windy and up a hill. I was already nervous with my car and wanted to turn around, but quickly learned that the there was no way to do so as the road was too narrow. I remember being concerned as my tires were starting lose traction going up the windy hill. It happened quickly that we looked up and the movement of the trees up above revealed this stone white face.

She was very large and perched high on a pedestal. I was absolutely parallelized with fear. My friends and brother were also very scared. I had to keep driving towards her and we were all screaming the whole way. Some kept yelling to roll up the windows. We really thought there would be something coming after us and then there was something coming after us as head lights beamed on when we reached the top. I then became afraid that we were somewhere we were not supposed to be. I was able to turn the car around as this truck followed us back down the windy hill.

There was not a body of water as in the fictional story, thank God, as I’m sure I would have plunged in. I was scared and driving as fast as I could to get out of there. The truck with high beam headlights was right on our tail.

We did make out it out of there and really did not talk about that night again. Anytime I did speak of it with my brother he would just ask me to stop. I had to drive by the road she was located on every morning for school. I would sometimes look over to see if I could see her. In the months of November and early December, the outline of her sculpture was visible as the leaves had fallen off of the trees and I could see her in the distance.

I moved away from Boston many years ago. I did not think of Gloria at all, but when they started to take down statues, something woke inside me. Over the years, I had wondered if I had “automatonophobia”, which is the fear of human like figurines, but I don’t. For people who do have this diagnosis, it must be really traumatizing on a daily basis as there are more than 5,000 outdoor public statues in the United States alone and more 50,000 including private buildings and parks.

I just find most statues creepy and they leave me feeling uneasy especially when they are outdoors. I honestly did not recognize it before all the protesting started about certain figurines, which should have come down a long time ago. I thought about why I did not like theses plaster and bronze sculptures and I remembered.

I typed in Statue of Gloria through an online search engine as I said in the foggy waters entry and I found her. She was actually relocated from her previous setting on a private estate to Museum of Fine Arts in Boston as she is a priceless Roman Goddess called Juno. She is also the largest Roman statue in the US. She is not cursed, but she sure looked it when she was outside and exposed to the elements.

The Museum had to do a multi-year plan of restoration . Her nose had fallen off and her head was cracked. In fact, she was so large that they had to behead her in order to move to the museum. Her head and torso had to be molded back together.

There is actually a picture of her head on a forklift truck travelling down Storrow Drive, which is a main roadway through Boston. All I can say is "Thank God I was not travelling in Boston that day!" I would have freaked out to see that fractured stone face staring back at me again while at red light.

I was also further able to look up that the truck that followed us out that night. The driver not a security guard, but was actually the owner of the property. He would leave the gates open to the estate and he would put a mask on to scare teenagers and follow them closely in his truck as they sped out of there. He said he got a thrill out of it which was a bit disturbing, but added to my fictional account for my foggy water’s entry.

So, after I looked up Gloria who is actually a priceless Roman Goddess. I made plans to see her.

I wanted to put my fears to rest once and for all. If you are ever in Boston and get a chance to visit the Museum of Fine Arts, she is on the second floor to your right as you walk up the stairs. She has a room and sky dome all to herself. Here is a picture of her fully restored.

She is well taken care of and beautiful. She is safe from corrosion. People can admire her. I would encourage you to do an online search of Statue of Gloria in Boston and you will be able to see what she looked like in the woods where she was falling apart and why she scared teenagers. Here she is where she belongs. She is at peace.

My follow up and final installment of the Problem with Statues will be coming soon.

Thank you for reading.