Focus on this artwork and discuss the Controversy.
The sculpture was included in the exhibition of the Canadian War Memorial Fund collection in London, and was widely publicized before the exhibition opened. It was reproduced in more than one British newspaper, notably the Daily Mail. The exhibition, at Burlington House, London, was due to open in January 1919, just before the signing of the Treaty of Versailles and Canadian Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden requested further investigation into the veracity of the story. At this time the German government formally requested that the Canadian government publicly acknowledge that the story of the crucified soldier was untrue, or else provide evidence. The official Canadian response to the Germans was that they had sufficient evidence to believe that the account was true, but when the Germans demanded a part in the investigation, the sculpture was withdrawn from the exhibition. It was not shown again until the 1990s.A de facto government ban on exhibiting or even photographing the sculpture was in effect as late as 1989, when a request by Maria Tippett to include a photograph of it in an exhibition was denied. The statue was finally displayed again in 1992 in a Canadian War Museum exhibition, "Peace Is the Dream". The sculpture was also displayed in 2000 at an exhibition entitled "Under the Sign of the Cross: Creative Expressions of Christianity in Canada" at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in 2000, when the controversy was again commented upon.
Canada Canadian War Museum Robert Borden Burlington House Treaty of Versailles Sir Robert Borden Maria Tippett Canadian Museum of Civilization