STATUE OF JESUS CHRIST
1988(a) Tall, hollow. plaster cast statue of full-length figure of Jesus Christ. Clad in long cream and red painted robes, chipped in four places at front, with gold trimming. Standing on a cream and peach painted plaster hemisphere. Long brown hair and short beard (scratched in several places) with painted facial features (unmarked). Inscribed on the base is 'E.V. Dwyer./Sydney/Brisbane'.
(b) Right arm for plaster cast statue of Jesus Christ clad in long cream and red robes. The arm is detachable. The hand has various digits damaged showing the metal structure within.
(c) Left arm for plaster cast statue of Jesus Christ clad in long cream and red robes. The arm is detachable. The hand has various digits damaged showing the metal structure within.
This statue was displayed in the Roman Catholic Chapel at Fremantle Prison, to the right of the altar, until the January 1988 riot. It formed a pair with a statue of the Virgin Mary (see 1988.20). It sustained damage during the riot and was removed from the Catholic Chapel and given to the Fremantle Prison Museum.
Details
Details
(a) 'E.V. Dwyer./Sydney/Brisbane'
Initially there was no provision for a Catholic Chapel within Fremantle Prison, as the majority of the colony's population was Anglican or Protestant. In 1857, a request was put to Henry Labouchere, the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London, when the Catholic community requested the building of a separate chapel at the Convict Establishment. Labouchere replied, “I can find no precedent in any part of the Queen's dominions for undertaking to supply prisons with separate chapels for those belonging to different religious persuasions - I think, therefore, that they must continue to be accommodated, as hitherto, with a separate apartment for the present purpose.” Despite this initial rejection, continued pressure from both catholic prisoners and colonists resulted in the upper floor of the northern Association Ward in the Main Cell Block being converted into a Catholic Chapel in 1861. Further improvements were made in 1862 when a doorway was created, allowing access directly from the Main Cell Block into the Catholic Chapel. Previously the Chapel could only be accessed by using a circular staircase located on the outside of the building.
In the 20th century, the chapel was furnished with catholic imagery, and these plaster statues of Jesus and Mary stood on plinths on either side of the altar. On the 4th of January 1988 inmates at Fremantle Prison began to riot. At lock up time, prisoners in 3 Division yard stormed into the Main Cell Bock and attacked the Officers. Using anything that came to hand, including boiling water, five Prison Officers were taken hostage. Prisoners then lit spot fires inside some of the cells and on the landings, which were encouraged to burn with the use of newspapers, magazines and fuel from the Prison’s lawnmower, which the prisoners had secretly been stockpiling in preparation for the riot. The top floor cells were opened, and wooden tables and stools were smashed and set alight. Mattresses and other combustibles were added until the flames reached the 130 year old jarrah roof of the Main Cell Block, which soon caught alight. The fire in the roof spread, and caused the collapse of the ceiling above the Catholic Chapel. As a result the Jesus and Mary statues, which had been on display either side of the altar, where knocked off their plinths, sustaining the damage which is still evident on these objects today. The riot lasted through the night and into the next day before the Prison was bought back under control. The repair work carried out on the Main Cell Block to fix the damage cost $1.8 million.
