Month: November 2022

Where John Angel left off in 1940, Simon Verity finishes in 1996. On the left in the above image we see the anteater-like carving on the periphery of the Portal of Paradise by the sculptor John Angel. On the right, looking at the curious grotesque, we see the dog carved by Simon Verity. This intersection of carvings, some 50 years apart, calls out the difference in style between these two. Angel used the Renaissance technique of creating clay models for the carvers, then carving final details where needed. Verity, trained in the Gothic tradition, used no models. He carved directly into the stone working from sketches and drawings. This little corner of the Portal of Paradise leads us from John Angel to Simon Verity.

There is more to the story. Let’s look at a little larger view of this area.

The statue of Noah by Simon Verity is part of the Portal of Paradise statues. The face of Noah is that of James Parks Morton, Cathedral Dean. Verity used many Cathedral and neighborhood people as models. The dog is Dean Morton’s beloved Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Pepe.

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• Tom Fedorek’s Video Series the Portal of paradise – Episode 4
• American Gargoyles – Spirits In Stone, Darlene Tree Crist, Photography by Robert Llewellyn

A reredos is a decorative screen above and behind the high altar. The reredos was structurally separate from the altar ( as compared to retables, a similar paneled, decorative screen attached to the altar back). Highly carved stone or wood panels provide niches for statues and the religious iconography. We are going to explore the evolution of the Cathedral reredos and look into the question of where did the reredos go.

The image below shows the reredos under construction in June of 1909. This was a period that involved the many decorative elements of the interior of the Choir and the Chancel. Architect George Lewis Heins had died in 1907 and his partner Christopher Grant LaFarge was still supervising work on the Cathedral. Their contract, however, ended with the death of one of the partners.

Limestone, cut and carved for the screen, came from The Pierre de Lens quarry in Mouleon, France. This creamy white Oolitic limestone has a fine compact grain structure very suitable for carving and sculpture.

Sculpted Clay Models

Carl Bitter modeled the sculpture of Christ. Leo Lentelli of Barr, Thaw & Fraser carved it. Otto Jahnsen modeled the other figures. They were all carved by Barr, Thaw & Fraser. Following are images of those models:

The completed reredos is part of the 1911 consecration of the partial Cathedral.

The New Architect Weighs In

The altar screen was perhaps a little underwhelming in the context of the Heins & LaFarge era Choir and Sanctuary. We know that Ralph Adams Cram, the successor consulting architect, praised those in Seville. In a letter to Bishop Manning in 1935, Cram wrote –

“Having lived in the shadow, so to speak, of the Seville reredos, I realize its incomparable majesty and its unique place in the sphere of religious art. I thought I could visualize the cathedral, when once the choir is reconstructed and the great screen taken down, with this great area of smoldering gold drawing the whole thing together”

– Ralph Adams Cram

Perhaps the best example of reredos is in St. Thomas Church in Manhattan. The church was designed by the partnership of Cram and Goodhue. Architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue and sculptor Lee Lawrie designed the reredos. It was carved by the Ardolino Brothers. The church opened in 1913.

Bishop Manning Presides over Removal of the Reredos

On October 14, 1945, a special service marked the new appearance of the high alter and sanctuary. Bishop Manning, clerical members, trustees and staff gathered on the steps leading to the sanctuary. A curtain hid the altar area while the altar screen was being razed. The curtain was removed to reveal an unobstructed view from the great western entrance to the eastern window at the back of the chapel of St. Saviour.

Closing the ceremony, Bishop Manning said:

The altar now stands out clearly and dominantly, as it should…those majestic columns around the apse have now come into their own. They were partly hidden and rendered ineffective by the reredos.

– Bishop William T. Manning

In closing, the Bishop expressed appreciation to Canon Edward N. West for the part he played in suggesting this important change and working with the architects to make it happen.

The Senior Guide tells us the rest of the story

Some months ago, I asked Tom Fedorek, Senior Guide and Cathedral historian, what may have happened to the carvings. As I read the words “razed” and “demolished” in various articles I feared the worse. Tom told me that there were remains and he would fill me in. He told me the cross below, now in the Bishops Green was originally atop the reredos.

The One-Hundred Year old statues are in the Crypt

In the Crypt, Tom has identified all but two of the nine statues that made up the reredos.

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• New York Public Library, Digital Collections
• Museum of the City of New York
• Special thanks to Tom Fedorek for his knowledge of the Cathedral