Petrus Canisius

English translation

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Description

Introduction

STATUE on PLINTH of Petrus Canisius in the Hunnerpark to the northeast of Nijmegen city centre. The statue still stands on its original location on an artificially raised mound, facing the Jorisstraat. It is located within the nationally protected historic townscape of Nijmegen. The statue was cast in 1927 to a design from 1926 by sculptor TOON DUPUIS (1877-1937), by the FONDERIE NATIONAL DES BRONZES in St.Gilles-Bruxelles and stands on a plinth that in its form corresponds with Art Deco. The monument was erected on the occasion of the canonisation and elevation to church doctor on 21 May 1925 of the first Dutch Jesuit Petrus Canisius (1521-1579). He was a son of Nijmegen's mayor Jacob Canis and would play a major role through his writings and sermons during the Counter-Reformation. Since his beatification in 1864 he was venerated in Nijmegen. His canonisation marked a pinnacle in this devotion. The nineteen-twenties were a flourishing period in the Catholic past of the city of Nijmegen, which is reflected in the great number of cloisters and seminaries built at this time and the foundation of the Catholic university. TOON DUPUIS comes from a family of sculptors, received his training from his father and at the Antwerp academy. His oeuvre consists largely of portraits of official figures and artists and a large number of medals.

Description

On a rectangular groundplate stands a two-metre-high PLINTH with a semi-circular groundform, built up from red granite in rustic blocks, which tapers at the bottom at a slant and very broadly. The sloping top of this part of the plinth is smoothly polished and contrasts with the rustically worked surface of the rest of the plinth. At the front of the plinth runs a narrow frieze with the name 'ST.PETRUS CANISIUS', while in the rear a stone is set with the text: 'GEBOREN TE NIJMEGEN 8 MEI 1521/ GESTORVEN TE FREIBURG 21 DECEMBER 1597/HEILIG VERKLAARD EN TOT KERKLERAAR VERHEVEN 21 MEI 1925'. The STATUE shows Canisius as teacher. The more than three-metre-high bronze likeness of Petrus Canisius stands in front of a Roman chair and leans with the left hand on the armrest, while the right arm is bent in front of the body with the fingers in a blessing gesture. It is a heroic figure, dressed in Jesuit robes with mantle, with short beard and stiff facial expression, typical of sculpture from the nineteen-twenties. At the bottom left of the chair is the name of the foundry: 'Fonderie nat.le des bronzes/ anc.ne firme J.Petermann/St.Gilles-Bruxelles'. At the bottom right the name of the sculptor and the year 1926.

Valuation

STATUE with PLINTH of Petrus Canisius, cast in 1927 to a design by Toon Dupuis by the Fonderie National des Bronzes

-Of art historical importance as a good and intact example of a statue from the second half of the nineteen-twenties, which stands out for the high aesthetic qualities of the statue in connection with the monumental, Art-Deco-like plinth.

-Of urban design value as a characteristic component of the Hunnerpark. The statue stands on its original location, on a mound in the park and is thereby image-defining from the approach and access road to the Waalbrug and from the Sint Jorisstraat.

-Of cultural historical value as a particularly eloquent expression of the Catholic past of the Netherlands, as a monument for a sixteenth-century resident of Nijmegen who was canonised in an important period of the emancipation of the Catholic part of the population.