Marjatta

Sakari Tohka’s bronze sculpture Marjatta was erected in 1954 in City Hall Park, from which it was moved in 2015 to Alatori, where it was placed in the centre of Jan-Erik Andersson’s pergola piece. Tohka’s sculpture was inspired by a story in the Kalevala in which Marjatta picks a lingonberry that makes her pregnant, and she soon gives birth to a son, the King of Karelia. Marjatta can thus be seen as a Finnish national romantic embodiment of the Virgin Mary.

The sculpture depicts a nude young woman standing with a lingonberry twig in her right hand, while her left hand rests on her collarbone. Her downcast eyes, delicately held twig and carefully composed and graceful stance give the work a lyrical fragility that recalls the poetic roots of the sculpture.

Artwork on the map

In Alatori park, in the centre of Jan-Erik Andersson’s pergola piece. – Marolankatu 4, Lahti.
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