Three historic stone figures have been reinstated at the summit of Oxford’s Clarendon Building following an absence of nearly three years while restoration work took place elsewhere.
The sculptures, dating from the 18th century, have watched over Broad Street for three centuries.
Specialist lifting equipment returned them to their positions on Saturday, September 5, after they had departed from their interim location at the Weston Library the previous day.
The statues had occupied Blackwell Hall since November 2023, following the conclusion of a comprehensive four-year conservation programme.
First positioned in 1717, the pieces represent the nine daughters of Zeus collectively termed the muses, crafted by English artist Sir James Thornhill.
Only seven of the original nine sculptures remain in existence today.
Euterpe, representing music and lyric poetry, and Melpomene, embodying tragedy, both met their end after toppling from the structure and being crushed during the early 1800s.
Substitute versions crafted from fibreglass were installed in their place in 1974.
Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, had already tumbled from the building by 1780 and proved impossible to salvage.
The figure now gracing the rooftop constitutes a lead replica of the initial sculpture.
Among the surviving authentic lead pieces, Clio, associated with history, and Polyhymnia, representing sacred poetry and rhetoric, have just received minor conservation attention.
The homecoming of these historical artworks signals another milestone in safeguarding one of Oxford’s most distinctive buildings, reuniting the familiar silhouettes with the city’s horizon after prolonged preservation efforts.