Sculpture entitled 'Mercy for the Fallen'
Maker and role
Johanna Domke-Guyot: Artist
Production date
2015-2016
Audio tour
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Details
Description
Mercy for the Fallen - a bronze artistic sculpture, dated 2016, depicting a nurse attending to a wounded soldier. Created by artist Johanna Domje-Guyot, this realistic bronze sculpture of a distinctly classical persuasion, depicts a wounded soldier being attended to be a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse, emblematic of the vital role many such nurses played in helping countless wounded soldiers throughout the First World War. Entitled “Mercy For The Fallen”, the artwork positions a typical soldier, adorned in standard military garb, lying on the ground, whilst propped up against his carer’s knee. Additionally, the soldier in question appears to be blindfolded, perhaps representative of his relative helplessness and his subsequent reliance on the nurse who is attending to him. The nurse herself appears to be dressed in a traditional VAD nursing uniform, complete with what appears to be a high collar and standard VAD nursing apron, as she watches over the soldier attentively. In creating this particular artwork, the sculptor is reported to have created both of the figures separately, before arranging to have them displayed together as a single combined piece.
As someone who was particularly drawn towards the Red Cross’s history of service throughout the series of conflicts that comprised the First World War, “Mercy For The Fallen” proved to be too tempting an item to resist. Not only is the sculpture immensely arresting on a visual level, I also appreciated its wider symbolism in relation to the tireless work that field nurses played throughout many such destructive conflicts, and the numerous victims of warfare they ultimately helped.
Audio recording by Daniel McNaughton (Volunteer), Edinburgh.
As someone who was particularly drawn towards the Red Cross’s history of service throughout the series of conflicts that comprised the First World War, “Mercy For The Fallen” proved to be too tempting an item to resist. Not only is the sculpture immensely arresting on a visual level, I also appreciated its wider symbolism in relation to the tireless work that field nurses played throughout many such destructive conflicts, and the numerous victims of warfare they ultimately helped.
Audio recording by Daniel McNaughton (Volunteer), Edinburgh.
Collection Type
Objects
Media/Materials
History
The sculpture was commissioned by the British Red Cross to commemorate 100 years since the First World War.
Catalogue Number
3175/1
Maker
Subject auto tags
Object Types
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