Pro Patria

A veterans’ association commissioned the Pro Patria memorial in honour of the soldiers from southern Finland who lost their lives in World War II. The names of 300 fallen soldiers are engraved into the ‘Name Book’ and to this day the list is extended every time the remains of a missing soldier are re-patriated, blessed and buried in home soil.

‘The memorial is good precisely because the budget was so limited. The design needed to be streamlined.’

The stone memorial is highly simplified. It includes a small bronze relief of the unknown soldier whose face is replaced by a cross. The same image appears on the ‘Pro Patria’ medal that Eronen designed in 1999.

Eronen has also sculpted portraits of well-known Finnish figures, including the world-famous fighter pilot Ilmari Juutilainen, twice decorated with the Mannerheim Cross, and Väinö Albin Hämäläinen, another war hero, also decorated with the Mannerheim Cross. Both men are buried at the cemetery in Tuusula.

In all its simplicity, the Pro Patria memorial is very clearly defined. It contains powerful visual contrasts. The sombre polished black granite base sets off the lighter grey granite wall on which the names of the soldiers are recorded.

The discretion of the memorial successfully honours its deserving subjects:

‘The war heroes who lost their lives in action.’

The memorial stands in Hyrylä churchyard.

Bronze, grey and black granite.

About the artwork

Theme(s): History, Homeland, War
Material(s): Bronze, Granite
Art form(s): Sculpture

Details

Exhibit Number: 54
Date: 1999

Location

Back to the gallery

Related works of the art form: Sculpture