Orphan girl and boy (Weesmeisje en-jongetje)

About this artwork.

At the gate of the Rode Weeshuis (Red Orphanage) complex (a housing complex in Rode Weeshuisstraat) you can see a sandstone orphan girl and boy. The gate itself is decorated with volutes (curly column decorations), angels and an obelisk. 
 
The statues of the orphan girl and the orphan boy date from 1627, as does the gate itself. This makes them the oldest sculptures in the public space of the city of Groningen. 
 
The boy is depicted with a hat in one hand and a book in the other. The girl is holding an unclear object in her hands. 
 
The two figures refer to the former function of the building. From 1599 to 1961, there was an orphanage on this spot, where the so-called “citizen orphans” were housed. These were children of parents who had civil rights (in the cities, the city-dwellers, also called gatekeepers, used to have more rights than people who came from elsewhere). To distinguish them from the poor orphans, the citizen orphans were dressed in "sangen" (reddish), and the poor orphans in green. In popular speech, therefore, there was reference to a red and a green orphanage. 
 
The gate with the sculptures was donated to the orphanage by the "tsamlick guilds" in 1627. The creator of the orphan girl and the orphan boy is unknown.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  maker onbekend

• District
  Centrum

• Year of creation
  1627

• Art type
  Art in / on a building

• Material
  Sandstone

• Dimensions
  h 6,00 m (poort)