Black Jack is coming back.
An exciting project in Cirencester is coming closer to fruition. Project Black Jack is the name of the project which aims to restore two statues to the Church tower of St John the Baptist in Cirencester.
The twelfth century statues were taken down and “lost” about fifty years ago, but now a new artist has been chosen to create to two new ones. Rodney Munday, an artist with an international reputation, won a national competition to create the designs for two statues. These designs were submitted to the Diocese of Gloucester which has approved them. The Diocese commented that the statues broke from the artistic convention of still and motionless figures traditionally associated with church statuary but communicate the Christian message in a contemporary manner. Both statues will be cast in bronze and patinated.
The project is still at an early stage and the finished statues are not likely to be placed in the tower until late spring 2021. However, Mr Munday has produced two bronze resin maquettes which can be seen in the Trinity Chapel of Cirencester Parish church.
Canon Graham Morris, vicar of Cirencester said, “I am so excited by this project. Getting the Diocesan approval and seeing the maquettes is wonderful. As we move forward to the next stage of the project we want to focus on community involvement as Black Jack was an iconic image for Cirencester and these statues really show how we can link church and community in the 21st century and beyond”.