article for September 20, 2019

Article of the day for September 20, 2019 is Sutton Hoo Helmet (sculpture).
Sutton Hoo Helmet is a 2002 sculpture by the English artist Rick Kirby. A representation of the Anglo-Saxon helmet of the same name found in the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, it was commissioned by the National Trust to hang outside the Sutton Hoo visitor centre. Together with the centre, the sculpture was unveiled by Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney on 13 March 2002. Weighing 900 kg (2,000 lb), it is 1.8 m (5.9 ft) high, 1.2 m (3.9 ft) wide and 1.6 m (5.2 ft) deep. It is made of mild steel plates that are coloured red. Designed to have a "fierce presence", it is inspired by the fragmentary appearance of the reconstructed helmet rather than the glistening replica made by the Royal Armouries. Steel is Kirby's favoured medium, allowing the sense of scale and dramatic impact found in Sutton Hoo Helmet. The sculpture is illustrative of Kirby's largely figural body of work, and its mask-like quality has been repeated in subsequent pieces.