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Patrons Vandalize Christ Figure as Lucifer Looks OnTwo visitors to Boston Public Library’s main library were caught on security camera September 12 toppling and breaking into several pieces a 160-year-old marble bust of Jesus Christ. Sculpted by Horatio Greenough around 1845, the bust had graced the library’s staircase landing since 1895, and was shielded by a railing. Library patrons reported hearing a crash around 2:30 p.m. The surveillance video shows a woman accompanied by a man throwing an object at the statue and sending it crashing down the staircase, the Boston Globe reported September 20. The vandals fled from the library and managed to evade police pursuit. The Christ statue was also attacked in the 1970s, though it suffered no damage, thanks to a circulation-desk staffer who tackled the would-be vandal just in time. A matching bust depicting Lucifer, also by Greenough, was untouched in both incidents. The library intends to repair Christ, and both statues have been removed until officials can devise a more secure way to display them. BPL Communications Manager Mary Bender was undecided on Lucifer’s role in the vandalism. “He also works in mysterious ways, I suppose,” she said. “Who knows what goes through someone’s head when they do something like this.” Posted September 21, 2007. |
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