Artist clarifies viral claim of Jesus statue surviving wildfire

Social media videos have circulated claiming a wooden Jesus statue miraculously survived a destructive wildfire, remaining unscathed while olive trees around it burned. However, this narrative is false. The artist, Davide Gelso, intentionally removed the statue from his father's field before the summer's fires out of concern for its safety.

Gelso, an Italian sculptor, created the statue in 2025 using one of 16 olive trees in his father's field that had died from a plant disease. He initially planned to leave it there but moved it in April 2025 due to wildfire fears. Two months later, a fire swept through the field, destroying 15 of the remaining trees. Gelso stated that if the wooden statue had remained, it too would have been consumed by the flames.

He named the work 'Il Salvatore Salvato,' meaning 'the saved savior.' Gelso has since shared videos of the statue in various settings, including his studio, churches, and exhibition spaces. This year, with Italy again facing severe wildfires, Gelso decided to create a video of the statue placed back in its original field. This video, however, has been misinterpreted online, with many believing the statue was present during the recent fires. Gelso clarified that the online narrative distorts the truth, emphasizing that he is simply a sculptor who saw Christ in a dead tree and brought it to life.