Changing the colors of a Gtk::StatusBar

[Nigel <sparkynigel gmail com>]

I have been trying for a while to get the colors of the text and 
background of a Gtk::StatusBar to change. I changed the colors of a 
Gtk::Label easily enough using:

myLabel.modify_fg(Gtk::STATE_NORMAL, Gdk::Color("Red"));

but using the same method on a StatusBar had no effect. I tried containing 
the StatusBar in a Gtk::EventBox and calling modify_fg on the EventBox, 
but that was equally futile.

So I guess my question is, how can I change the text color and background 
color on a StatusBar?