The Three Smiths Statue is a sculpture by

Felix Nylund Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

, situated in Helsinki, Finland, in Three Smiths Square at the intersection of

Aleksanterinkatu Aleksanterinkatu ( sv, Alexandersgatan; "Alexander Street") is a street in Kluuvi, the commercial centre of Helsinki, Finland. In the city plan by Carl Ludvig Engel, it was the ''Decumanus Maximus'', the main east–west street in the city, cross ...

and Mannerheimintie. This realistic statue, unveiled in 1932, depicts three naked smiths hammering on an

anvil An anvil is a metalworking tool consisting of a large block of metal (usually forged or cast steel), with a flattened top surface, upon which another object is struck (or "worked"). Anvils are as massive as practical, because the higher th ...

. Felix Nylund submitted a design for a smith statue for a memorial for Johan Vilhelm Snellman in 1913. In 1919 he designed a monumental statue with three smiths located on top of a stone pillar ten metres high. Neither of these designs was actually made into a statue, but Nylund took advantage of his previous designs when sculpting the Three Smiths Statue. Of the three smiths depicted in the statue, one is a master smith holding the iron on an anvil. The other two smiths are hammering on the iron. Nylund used wrestlers from the gymnastics and sports club Jyry as models for the smiths' bodies. The master smith has the face of poet

Arvid Mörne Arvid Mörne (6 May 1876 – 15 June 1946) was a Finnish author and poet. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Life Mörne was born in Kuopio. He obtained a master's degree in literature and history at the University of ...

, the smith holding his hammer up has Nylund's own face, and the smith holding his hammer down has the face of sculptor Aku Nuutinen. It is said that mason Paavo Koskinen and police officer Sundström posed as models for the bodies. The top part of the

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

statue's granite base is encircled by the Latin text MONUMENTUM – CURAVIT – LEGATUM – J. TALLBERGIANUM – PRO HELSINGFORS A.D. MCMXXXII ("The statue was erected with the help of a donation from J. Tallberg by Pro Helsingfors in the year 1932"). The statue was donated to the city of Helsinki by the Pro Helsingfors foundation, which had acquired it with the help of a monetary donation by the businessman

Julius Tallberg The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the ...

. Tallberg's commerce house is situated at the northern end of the Three Smiths Square. The statue was damaged in a bombing during the Continuation War in 1944. Marks of the damage can still be seen in the base of the statue, and the anvil has a hole caused by a bomb shrapnel. The Three Smiths Square is a popular meeting place. There is a heating system underneath Aleksanterinkatu keeping the street free from snow and ice even in temperatures of -10 degrees Celsius. The heat comes from warm water flowing from the nearby buildings. Thus people can sit at the statue even in wintertime. Upon close investigation of the statue, it can be seen that the positions of the smiths are more artistic than realistic: the smiths are standing so close to each other that if they were to actually hammer, they would hit each other on the head instead of the anvil. The original gypsum models of the statue have been located in the library of the Finnish Workers' Academy in Kauniainen. Nowadays the statue is annually capped with Santa Claus hats at the end of November at the ''Wappujoulu'' event of the University of Helsinki student organisation Limes. In spring 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic

surgical mask A surgical mask, also known by other names such as a medical face mask or procedure mask, is a personal protective equipment used by healthcare professionals that serves as a mechanical barrier that interferes with direct airflow in and out of re ...

s were placed on the smiths and an effigy of the

Coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

was placed on the anvil so it looked like the smiths were hammering down on the virus.

Derived works

The Linnanmäki amusement park in Helsinki hosts a 2014 sculpture ''Kolme seppää tauolla'' ("Three smiths on a break") by the English sculptor

Nick Farmer Nick Farmer is a science fiction writer and linguist based in Oakland, California, United States. He is a polyglot able to speak in 14 languages. He had created 3 constructed languages for science fiction television series: Belter Creole for ''The ...

, where the smiths have left their tools behind and are eating ice cream.KINGI JOHDATTAA LINNANMÄEN KESÄN KOHTI KORKEUKSIA
Children's Day Foundation / Linnanmäki. Accessed on 27 July 2021.

References

External links

{{Helsinki Cityscape Statues and sculptures in Helsinki 1932 sculptures Kluuvi Nude sculptures in Finland Bronze sculptures in Finland Outdoor sculptures in Finland 1932 establishments in Finland Sculptures of men