Lantern Bearers — Emil Wikström
Emil Wikström · Helsinki Central Railway Station, Kaivokatu 1, Helsinki, Finland
Photo: Josefiina Alanen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, taken 13 September 2020 (camera date), the same photo as in the Street Art Utopia post. Full photograph shown.
Four granite giants hold globe lamps at the main entrance of Helsinki Central Station: Emil Wikström completed the Lantern Bearers there in 1914. HAM Helsinki Art Museum · Helsinki Day, 6 Jun 2025 Checked In August 2020, when Finland recommended face masks on public transport, the statues were given masks too. Yle News, 14 Aug 2020 · Josefiina Alanen / Wikimedia Commons, 13 Sep 2020 · Helsinki City Museum, 22 Sep 2020 Checked
4 things to know
- Bears were the first ideaIn Eliel Saarinen’s original plans the sculptures on the station facade were bears. In the end Saarinen commissioned Wikström to make four robust male figures. Helsinki Day, 6 Jun 2025 Checked
- A farmer posed for themAccording to Helsinki Day, the square-jawed tenant farmer Jalmari Lehtinen was the model for the statues. Helsinki Day, 6 Jun 2025 Reported
- One nose stayed bareThe masks carried the logo of the railway company VR. In Helsinki City Museum’s photo of 22 September 2020, the mask on the right-hand “stone man” is on wrong, leaving the statue’s nose uncovered. Helsinki City Museum, 22 Sep 2020 Checked
- A changing wardrobeThe statues, also known as the Stone Men after VR’s advertising campaign from 2002, have worn the Finnish ice hockey team’s jerseys and Käärijä’s bright green boleros. From 6 to 12 June 2025 they wore shirts for Helsinki’s 475th birthday. Helsinki Day, 6 Jun 2025 · Helsinki Day, 13 Jun 2025 Checked
Where it is
- 📍
- On both sides of the great arched main entrance of Helsinki Central Railway Station, two figures on each side. Helsinki Day, 6 Jun 2025 · Google Street View, Aug 2022 Checked
- 👀
- Look up: the figures stand high on the facade, above the canopy over the doors. Google Street View, Aug 2022 Checked
- 🗓️
- Outdoors on the station front and visible at any time. Google Street View, Aug 2022 Checked
Sightings
- 1914
Completed at the main entrance
- 202014 Aug
Masks on, Lehtikuva photo for Yle
- 202013 Sep
Our photo, by Josefiina Alanen
- 202022 Sep
Helsinki City Museum photo
- 2022Aug
Google Street View
- 20256–12 Jun
Helsinki birthday shirts
Every stamp links to its source. The amber stamps are written records: Helsinki Day’s history of the statues (completed in 1914) and its report on the birthday shirts worn from 6 to 12 June 2025. The green stamps are dated photographs or imagery of the statues: the Lehtikuva photo in Yle’s report of 14 August 2020, our photo (camera date 13 September 2020), Helsinki City Museum’s photo of 22 September 2020 and Google Street View from August 2022.
On the record
Positive commuter reaction to mask recommendation
“The ‘Lantern Carriers’ at Helsinki Central Railway Station were adorned with face masks on Friday morning.”
Photo caption; the photo is by Roni Rekomaa / Lehtikuva.
Koronapandemialta suojaaviin kasvomaskeihin puetut Lyhdynkantajat (Emil Wikström, 1914) Helsingin päärautatieaseman edustalla
In English: The Lantern Bearers (Emil Wikström, 1914) dressed in face masks against the coronavirus pandemic, in front of Helsinki Central Railway Station.
“Oikealla olevan “kivimiehen” maski on puettu väärin niin, että patsaan nenä jää paljaaksi.”
In English: The mask on the “stone man” on the right has been put on wrong, so that the statue’s nose is left bare.
Lyhdynkantajien ihmeellinen elämä
In English: The wonderful life of the Lantern Bearers.
“Koronaviruspandemian aikaan patsaatkin turvautuivat kasvomaskeihin.”
In English (from the page’s own English version): “During the COVID pandemic, they also wore face masks.”
The facts
- Title
- Lyhdynkantajat in Finnish; in English the Lantern Bearers (HAM uses Lantern Carriers). Also nicknamed the Stone Men (Kivimiehet). Helsinki Day, 6 Jun 2025 · HAM Helsinki Art Museum Checked
- Artist
- Emil Wikström, one of the most important sculptors of the Finnish Golden Age. Helsinki Day, 6 Jun 2025 · HAM Helsinki Art Museum · Helsinki City Museum, 22 Sep 2020 Checked
- Year
- 1914. HAM Helsinki Art Museum · Helsinki Day, 6 Jun 2025 · Helsinki City Museum, 22 Sep 2020 Checked
- Place
- Main entrance of Helsinki Central Railway Station, designed by Eliel Saarinen; the museum record gives the address as Kaivokatu 1, Kluuvi, Helsinki. Helsinki Day, 6 Jun 2025 · Helsinki City Museum, 22 Sep 2020 Checked
- Medium
- Granite. HAM Helsinki Art Museum · Wikipedia (Finnish): Lyhdynkantajat Checked
- Figures
- Four giant male figures holding globe lamps; their lower parts are decorated column elements. Helsinki Day, 6 Jun 2025 Checked
- Owner
- HAM says the sculpture is not part of the City of Helsinki’s art collection, which HAM manages. HAM Helsinki Art Museum Checked
- Masks
- Face masks with the VR logo, put on in August 2020 after the mask recommendation for public transport. Yle News, 14 Aug 2020 · Josefiina Alanen / Wikimedia Commons, 13 Sep 2020 · Helsinki City Museum, 22 Sep 2020 Checked
- Status
- Seen: Helsinki Day reported that the statues wore Helsinki shirts from 6 to 12 June 2025; the newest dated imagery we found, Google Street View from August 2022, shows them on the facade. Helsinki Day, 13 Jun 2025 · Google Street View, Aug 2022 Checked
- Our photo
- Josefiina Alanen, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, taken 13 September 2020 (camera date). Josefiina Alanen / Wikimedia Commons, 13 Sep 2020 Checked
Related
- Someone Dressed the Statue (9 Photos): the SAU collection with the masked Lantern Bearers and eight other dressed-up statues
All sources (9)
Official and museum
- Helsinki Day: “The wonderful life of The Lantern Bearers”, 6 June 2025 (Finnish original). Wikström, 1914, the four figures, the bears plan, the model, the Stone Men name, the masks and the costumes.
- Helsinki Day: “475-year-old Helsinki was celebrated with hundreds of events”, 13 June 2025. The statues wore Helsinki shirts from 6 to 12 June 2025.
- HAM Helsinki Art Museum: “Lyhdynkantajat / Lantern Carriers”. Emil Wikström, 1914, granite, part of the station facade.
- Helsinki City Museum via Finna: photo by Pekka Vyhtinen, 22 September 2020, CC BY 4.0. The masked statues, the VR logo and the bare nose.
Press
- Yle News: “Positive commuter reaction to mask recommendation”, 14 August 2020. Photo of the masked “Lantern Carriers” by Roni Rekomaa / Lehtikuva.
Photos and records
- Wikimedia Commons: “Helsinki Central station statues masks and Pride flag 2020-09-13.jpg”, Josefiina Alanen, CC BY-SA 4.0. Our photo.
- Google Street View, imagery dated August 2022. The eastern pair of figures on the facade.
- Wikipedia (Finnish): “Lyhdynkantajat”. Granite, 1914, coordinates.
Street Art Utopia
- Street Art Utopia: “Someone Dressed the Statue (9 Photos)”, 21 October 2026. The SAU post with this work.
Artwork File · Last checked 21 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files