The sculpture was damaged during the night of 26–27 January this year. Vandals tore off the swan’s brass neck along with its head. Perhaps frightened by someone, they left the detached fragment at the site and fled.
The specialist company “Brązart” from Pleszew undertook the repair of the sculpture. Its employees cast replicas of the damaged elements and restored the swan’s original appearance. Let us recall that earlier, in July 2006, vandals twisted off and stole the swan’s head. Recreating it faithfully took the specialists considerable time.
The original model of the sculpture “Boy with a Swan” was created in 1834 by Teodor Kalide, the most distinguished Silesian sculptor of the nineteenth century, in Gliwice. Along with “The Vigilant Lion” and “The Sleeping Lion”, this fountain sculpture is among his best-known works.
The depiction of “Boy with a Swan” became very popular in this part of Europe. During the interwar period, one replica adorned Stryjski Park in Lviv, while another can still be admired in the garden of the Wilanów Palace. The sculpture arrived in Legnica at the end of the nineteenth century, originally intended for the Municipal Park and later moved to the Town Hall.
In 2010, this Legnica fountain sculpture served as a model for Wrocław artist Grzegorz Łagowski, who copied it for the reconstruction of the former Merchants’ Association Garden, today’s Kopernik Park in the area of Teatralna and Podwale streets.
UM Legnica/ii