It was during an inspection of the University Main Building’s facade that the National Property Board of Sweden discovered that the building’s four sphinxes were in such poor condition that they needed to be taken down and recast, a process that has just been completed.
The Main University Building, designed by Helgo Zettervall, was inaugurated in 1882 with two cast-concrete sphinxes crowning the facade. The original sphinxes were taken down in 1959 and replaced by replicas in 1993. Those remained in place for almost 30 years, before SFV decided to take them down to cast new ones. The original sphinxes lasted 77 years, but by 1959 they were in such bad condition that they had to be removed. After that, the frontage was made to do without sphinxes for 34 years.
The Main University Building has been without its sphinxes since 2021. The new sphinxes have been manufactured by Stuco Maestro and weigh just over 2,500 kilos.
The original sphinxes were used as a template for the new ones.
The new sphinxes were ordered by the National Property Board of Sweden, who own the Main University Building. The cost of manufacturing the new sphinxes is just over SEK 4 million.