Crucified
PC zealots are blasted for banishing biblical carving from library after 40 years – in case it upsets children
A STRIKING work of art is at the centre of a ‘censorship’ row after it was removed from public display after 40 years amid claims that it distresses children. The Crucifixion Of Mankind, by sculptor Connor Barrett, has adorned a wall in a library in Colchester, hester, Essex, since the 1980s, but has now been put in storage.
The mahogany carving depicts the crucifixion of Christ alongside a Pan-like figure, and also includes a scene of a soldier spearing a baby, echoing the biblical massacre of the innocents by Herod.
Essex County Council said the powerful artwork, which was completed in 1961 and given to the library by the artist, had been taken down because of the ‘graphic depiction of a baby impaled on a sword which has distressed parents and children’.
But last night the council was accused of censorship, political correctness and an ‘ignorance of the nation’s Christian heritage’.
The town’s former Liberal Democrat MP, Sir Bob Russell, who now holds the honorary position of Colchester High Steward, said: ‘The excuse that some people do not like it is not a reason for its removal. This is censorship, which is bad enough anywhere but not in a public building.’
Canon David Banting, an Essex vicar and member of the Church of England’s General Synod, said: ‘What has been acceptable and understood for over a generation needs to be explained to a new generation.’
Bryan Whiteley, chairman of the Colchester Art Society, also questioned the decision, saying: ‘It does seem strange that after so many years, a piece of artwork that was a gift should be removed because it is considered offensive.
‘In typical fashion, the person who made the decision cannot be identified. What is certain is that a small, vociferous minority have got their way again because a council is unwilling to defend slightly contentious works of art instead of explaining the meaning behind the ideas expressed.’
And Andrea Minichiello Williams, of the pressure group Christian Concern, added: ‘The decision to remove The work features a scene of a child being impaled, circled this piece of art which depicts the Christian story demonstrates an ignorance of history and our nation’s Christian cultural heritage.’
Council officials said the bas-relief had been removed a couple of months ago while work was being carried out at the library.
They also pledged to put it back on public display when a ‘suitable location’ had been found.
The council said: ‘Before temporarily taking the work down, we made extensive enquiries about the town to see if there was anywhere else that the work could be displayed, where it could still be available for public view, without any success.’
Connor Barrett was born in London in 1908 but grew up in Colchester before emigrating to the United States in 1940. He lived again in Colchester after returning to Britain in the 1960s, and eventually retired to Wales, where he died in 1987.
His nephew Mark Barrett, a university professor who lives in Colchester, said: ‘I don’t remember being frightened of this artwork as a child. My own children probably never noticed it in the library.’
The removal of the artwork was also criticised on Facebook. Glen Hook, of Colchester, posted: ‘This doesn’t surprise me at all. Some people just look for things to be offended by.’
But others defended the decision to remove the carving. Matthew Norman posted: ‘I’m 42 with a ten-year-old. Torture of a child depicted in a public library has always struck me as bizarre and upsetting.’
Tracey Luff-Johnson added: ‘I agree it was the wrong place for it.’