Canada's Golgotha
Canada's Golgotha is a bronze sculpture created in 1918 by the British sculptor Francis Derwent Wood. It is 81 centimetres high and depicts a Canadian soldier crucified to a barn door, surrounded by mocking German soldiers. The work was made in connection with the Canadian War Memorials Fund, an initiative of Lord Beaverbrook, which commissioned artists to document the war. The sculpture is based on reports of the alleged crucifixion of a Canadian soldier during the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915, though the accounts were never conclusively verified. First shown in London in 1919, it was later withdrawn and not publicly displayed for decades. Since 1992, it has been in the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
1918 © Francis Derwent Wood 1918 · Public domain
© Whanganui Chronicle · Public domain
1917 © Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided · Public domain
1918 © Francis Derwent Wood · CC BY 2.0
1917 © Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided · Public domain
Identification | |
| Title | Canada's Golgotha |
| Type | Bronze sculpture |
| Original title | Kanadas Golgatha |
Historical context | |
| Historical period depicted | World War I |
| Historical context | Wartime propaganda or legend surrounding an alleged crucifixion in the First World War |
| Later identification claim | In 2002, British documentary filmmaker Iain Overton claimed to have found evidence identifying the soldier as Sergeant Harry Band |
| Authenticity status | Never definitively confirmed; later testimony was disputed because the relevant front sectors were never occupied by German troops |
| Witness claims | Several soldiers claimed to have seen the body, including two English soldiers who said they saw it fastened with bayonets to a barn door |
| Subject basis | Reports of an alleged crucifixion of a Canadian soldier during the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915 |
| Creation context | Created for the Canadian War Memorials Fund, an initiative of Lord Beaverbrook to commission artists to document the war artistically |
| Additional identification from testimony | A Victoria Cross holder attached the name "Sergeant Brant" to the victim |
| Date created | 1918 |
Creator | |
| Artist | Francis Derwent Wood |
| Artist nationality | British |
Physical characteristics | |
| Medium | Bronze |
| Height | 81 centimeters |
Iconography and meaning | |
| Reference in title | Calvary, the site of the Crucifixion of Jesus in scripture |
| Subject | The alleged crucifixion of a Canadian soldier during World War I |
| Depiction | A Canadian soldier crucified on a barn door and surrounded by mocking German soldiers |
Location and ownership | |
| Current location | Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
History and restoration | |
| 1989 request denied | Maria Tippett's request to include a photograph of it in an exhibition was denied |
| Controversy comment | The controversy was again commented upon in 2000 |
| Further exhibition | Under the Sign of the Cross: Creative Expressions of Christianity in Canada at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in 2000 |
| 1992 exhibition | Peace Is the Dream at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa |
| Public re-display | 1992 |
| Planned exhibition opening | January 1919 |
| Display history | Not shown publicly for decades; a de facto government ban on exhibiting or photographing it was in effect as late as 1989 |
| Withdrawal from exhibition | The sculpture was withdrawn when Germany demanded to take part in the investigation |
| Canada's response | Canada said it had sufficient evidence |
| German government reaction | Before the opening, the German government asked Canada either to publicly state that the story was false or to provide proof |
| First exhibition | Canadian War Memorial Fund exhibition at Burlington House, London, Royal Academy |
| First public presentation | 1919 |
| Publicity before exhibition | Widely publicized before the exhibition opened and reproduced in more than one British newspaper, notably the Daily Mail |