The Legislative Library Statuary

There are sixteen architectural alcoves along the top of the outer facade of what was originally called the Provincial Library, currently the Legislative Library in Victoria, British Columbia, on the traditional unceded territory of the Lekwungen speaking peoples, the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations. In those sixteen alcoves there are fourteen statues.

The fourteen statues were commissioned by Provincial Librarian E.O.S. Scholefield in 1913-1914 as part of the construction of the Library building, designed as an addition to the Legislature by its architect Francis M. Rattenbury.  The statues were created by Vancouver-based sculptor Charles Marega from historical subjects chosen by Scholefield. Marega created 3-foot tall maquettes, and Marega’s studio assistant Bernard Carrier helped carved the 2.74 metre (9-feet) full scale sculptures from Haddington Island stone - the same stone that was used in the construction of the 1898 Legislature buildings.

The fourteen statues are of men that relate to the history of the territory that came to be called British Columbia in 1858. Predominately, they are of individuals related to European colonial expansion and early corporate and governmental administration, and are part of a sculptural program for the Library that also includes six medallions depicting historical male European literary figures, as well as four statues of women symbolizing Music, Sculpture, Painting and Architecture. 

The fourteen historical statues traverse the library block from east to west, and depict in order: Nuu-chah-nulth Chief Maquinna, Captain George Vancouver, Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie, Dr. John McLoughlin, Hon. John Sebastian Helmcken, Captain James Cook, Sir James Douglas, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Simon Fraser, Lord Lytton, Sir Anthony Musgrave, David Thompson, and Colonel R.C. Moody.

The Two Empty Alcoves

Mysteriously, on the northern side of the Library, facing the Legislature building, there are two empty alcoves where it appears two sculptures could still be placed. There are suggestions that there were more than fourteen commissioned monuments, however nothing substantive in the historical record confirms this. 

In considering this mystery, The Polygon Gallery has commissioned two contemporary artists to create sculptures that are digitally scanned and “placed” in a virtual recreation of the Legislative Library’s empty alcoves. Akin to the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London, this virtual commission seeks to provide an opportunity–perhaps one day in actuality–for an artist to add to the sculptural legacy first initiated by E.O.S. Scholfield at the dawn of the 20th Century.