The Golden Boy (official name: Eternal Youth and the Spirit of Enterprise)Golden Boy fact sheet
" Government of Manitoba. is a northward-facing statue perched on the dome of the

Manitoba Legislative Building The Manitoba Legislative Building (french: Palais législatif du Manitoba), originally named the Manitoba Parliament Building, is the meeting place of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, located in central Winnipeg, as well as being the twelfth pr ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

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Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Arguably the province's best-known symbol, the statue was modeled after the Roman god Mercury (Greek:

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...

) and is meant to represent the prosperity and entrepreneurial spirit of Manitoba. The statue depicts a nude young man running forward carrying a torch in one hand and a bundle of wheat in the other. Weighing , it stands tall from the toe to the top of the torch, and from head to toe. When first installed, the tip of his torch—at above ground—was the tallest point in all of Winnipeg.Benedicston, Megan. 2019 November 19.
Eternal youth at 100: The Golden Boy who has watched over Manitoba for a century
" ''CTV News Winnipeg''. With the exception of several months in 2002 when the statue was lowered for restoration (including regilding), the Golden Boy has stood atop the Legislative Building since its opening.

History

Background

The Golden Boy was conceived during the backdrop of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

by British-born architect Frank Worthington Simon, who also designed the

that the figure would adorn. The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway began to open the West in the late-19th century, and as result, thousands of immigrants began settling in and near Winnipeg in 1881. By 1911, the population of Manitoba had increased over seven-fold, to 461,394. That year, as the province was rich in natural resources, and

(its capital) was a hub for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

, grain trade, and other enterprises, the

Government of Manitoba The powers and structure of the provincial Government of Manitoba (french: Gouvernement du Manitoba) are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. In modern Canadian use, the term "government" referred broadly to the cabinet of the day (formally ...

announced plans to construct a new legislature, which Manitoba politicians hoped to represent this emerging strength and vitality. Being judged as best reflecting this goal, Simon's designs intended to create a building of inspiration, and his 'crowning glory' would be the statue positioned at its highest point.

Creation

In the summer of 1915, Simon commissioned Parisian sculptor Georges Gardet to create the statue. Over the next 18 months or so, the men exchanged transatlantic letters and drawings regularly. These documents are now preserved at the Archives of Manitoba in Winnipeg. Simon prepared the shaft for statue to be built in two parts: the upper part, extending from the statue to the centre of the ball where it would fit into the coupling, was to be built in France. The lower part of the shaft would be built in Winnipeg, upon delivery of the statue. As both metals and

lathes A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to cr ...

were needed for the war effort, obtaining even basic materials for the statue was difficult; in a memo to the Manitoba Minister of Public Works in December 1917, Simon explained that it "was impossible to obtain he shafteither in England or in France owing to war conditions". Eventually the upper shaft was constructed in

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and shipped to France. Simon had also wished for the statue to be cast from one piece of material without any joints or seams. Given the metal shortage in France, however, several smaller pieces were used. Purchased by the Government of Manitoba from France, the statue was completed by Gardet in 1918, cast in bronze by the Barbedienne Foundry. The factory was bombed but the statue was not damaged.

Delivery

The statue was placed in the

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (ship), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called a Ferm ...

of a freight ship for transport to Canada. The ship was then commandeered for war service and directed to transport allied troops and supplies. The statue remained in the ship for the remainder of the War, making two trips across the Mediterranean and five

transatlantic crossings Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe or Africa and the Americas. The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between Western Europe and North America. Centuries ...

. The statue arrived in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, and was shipped by train to Winnipeg, where it was placed atop the Manitoba Legislative Building on 21 November 1919, in time for the official opening of the Legislative Building in 1920. Although made of bronze, the statue—originally and officially titled 'Eternal Youth and the Spirit of Enterprise'—was nicknamed 'Golden Boy' from the onset, as the new bronze figure shined and reflected the sun, making the figure appear to be made of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. The final cost of the Golden Boy—including expenses related to designing, creating, casting, transporting, and lifting the statue to the top of the Legislature dome—totalled

CA$ The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style g ...

13,240.73.

Renovation and restoration

In the 1940s, the bronze statue was painted gold. This would be followed in 1951 by its first gilding with 50,000 square inches of 23.5- carat gold leaf, measuring 3.25 square inches per sheet. In 1966, the Government of Manitoba had an electric

lamp Lamp, Lamps or LAMP may refer to: Lighting * Oil lamp, using an oil-based fuel source * Kerosene lamp, using kerosene as a fuel * Electric lamp, or light bulb, a replaceable component that produces light from electricity * Light fixture, or li ...

installed atop the torch of the statue, which was first lit on 31 December 1966 to mark Canada's centennial celebrations in 1967. In 2002, the statue required repair because rust was accumulating on the inside of its hollow core and its

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

supports were eroding away; Alpha Masonry, the general contractor for the restoration project, lowered the statue to the ground for a complete overhaul and regilding. On 9 February 2002, the Golden Boy returned to the ground in a custom-made

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

cage after almost 83 years in place. In August 2002, the statue was regilded with a micro-thin coat of 23.75-karat gold leaf in a climate-controlled enclosure in full view of the public. During the restoration, the statue was also placed on public display at the

Manitoba Museum The Manitoba Museum, previously the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, is a human and natural history museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as well as the province's largest, not-for-profit centre for heritage and science education. Located close to City ...

and at the Forks National Historic Site. Prepared by

Bristol Aerospace Bristol Aerospace is a Canadian aerospace firm located in Winnipeg, Manitoba and is an operating division of Magellan Aerospace. Today it is the only remaining and surviving subsidiary of Bristol Aeroplane Company. History Bristol Aerospace ...

with a custom-manufactured paint from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the statue was regilded using 4,000 sheets of extra-heavy gold leaf. A new steel support post was installed by ISIS Canada, accompanied by a

structural health monitoring Structural health monitoring (SHM) involves the observation and analysis of a system over time using periodically sampled response measurements to monitor changes to the material and geometric properties of engineering structures such as bridges an ...

system—monitors and gauges for measuring vibrations and strain as well as for

wind stress In physical oceanography and fluid dynamics, the wind stress is the shear stress exerted by the wind on the surface of large bodies of water – such as oceans, seas, estuaries and lakes. Stress is the quantity that describes the magnitude of a f ...

and temperature effect on the statue and support structure. The Golden Boy was returned to the Legislative Building and re-installed on the dome on 5 September 2002. It was rededicated by Queen Elizabeth II,

Queen of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional Canadian federalism, federal structure and Westminster system, Westminster-style Parliamentar ...

, during her 2002 Golden Jubilee tour of Canada the following month. The restoration cost a total of

1.1 million. The regilding cost $34,000, with the gold-leaf costing $5,600. The new gilding is expected to last about 25 to 30 years. Since its restoration, the Golden Boy's torch is no longer lit because its electrical cord had been one of the causes for the rust found in 2002. Instead, it is lit at night by

floodlights A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are often used as a stage ...

Symbolism

The Golden Boy was modelled by Giovanni da Bologna after the 16th-century sculpture of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

messenger god of trade, profit and commerce, Mercury.Web Gallery of Art, image collection, virtual museum, searchable database of European fine arts (1100-1850)
/ref> The

sheaf Sheaf may refer to: * Sheaf (agriculture), a bundle of harvested cereal stems * Sheaf (mathematics), a mathematical tool * Sheaf toss, a Scottish sport * River Sheaf, a tributary of River Don in England * ''The Sheaf'', a student-run newspaper se ...

of wheat in the statue' left arm represents the fruits of labour, while the torch in its right hand represents a call to youth to join his eternal pursuit of a more prosperous future. The statue faces in a north direction, pointing towards the Manitoba region to symbolize its importance as a provider of important natural resources and economic opportunity. "Manitoba Golden Boy" is a traditional fiddle tune in the statue's honour. The chorus includes the following:

References

External links

The Golden Boy
— online tour of the Manitoba Legislative Building, includes image {{Links to related articles, list1={{Canada capitals Buildings and structures in downtown Winnipeg Monuments and memorials in Manitoba Statues in Canada 1918 sculptures Outdoor sculptures in Canada Bronze sculptures in Canada Sculptures of men in Canada Nude art