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Charles Francis Summers & Professor Benzoni - Flight From Pompeii
Botanic Gardens, BALLARAT VIC 3350 - Property No B7190

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B7190 Flight from Pompeii

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Statement of Significance
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Statement of Significance

The Pavilion and its statues were unveiled in 1888 by Premier Duncan Gillies, a former colleague of James Russell Thompson whose bequest to the City enabled the purchase, in Italy, of the statues. The Flight from Pompeii and the four accompanying statues are housed in the Statuary Pavilion in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens. The Flight from Pompeii, in the centre, was designed by Professor Carlo Benzoni and carved by Charles Francis Summers while the four accompanying statues were all designed and carved by Charles Francis Summers. The octagonal Pavilion was specially designed by T.E. Molloy in 1887 to house the statuary.
The five statues and Pavilion are believed to be unique in Australia. The Flight from Pompeii, Modesty, Rebekah, Ruth and Susannah are aesthetically significant as they are a group of statues, which are a fine example of the design of Professor G.M. Benzoni [Flight from Pompeii] and the design and carving of Charles Francis Summers. The carving of the Flight from Pompeii is both sensitive and finely done and both the design and carving of Modesty, Rebekah, Ruth and Susannah is sensitive and delicate with great attention to detail.
The group is historically important as it epitomises the 'beautification' of the city in the 1880s by men who made their money from gold and who wished to give to the city money for projects such the statuary Pavilion and its contents. The Flight from Pompeii group is located in the Botanical Gardens, which were then also being developed in the Victorian style. This also illustrates the social feeling of the time in which the wealthy had made their money and were wanting to develop in a most substantial way, as well as to 'beautify' the city in which they lived.
The Pavilion, designed by the major Ballarat architect T.E. Molloy, is unusual for its top-lit central lantern and curved roofs. The statues are seen to their best advantage because of the provision of all-round and top natural lighting.
Classified: 03/03/2003

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