John Angel sculpting clay model for the trumeau of the South Portal – Saint Paul
John Angel’s statue of St. Paul was done in his traditional process. First, an armature is created from a small model, then a full size clay model is sculpted. From this clay model a plaster cast was made and brought to the site for the stone carver to copy. The carver of this particular work is unknown to us at this time. This statue is one of the last sculptural additions to the South Portal in this period.
John Angel Sculpting book held by St. Paul on the clay model for the statue.
In 1928, Angel had executed the large Nativity group in the tympanum. The installation of this trumeau statue occurred on November 24, 1953. It may have been the last of the Angel sculptures on the West Front of the Cathedral. Angel may have completed the modeling of St. Paul much earlier, in the 1930’s. All these works span 25 years and marked a commitment to the Cathedral from the Baptistry statues to the many sculptures on the West Front. The Statues at the Martyrs’ Portal, the trumeau of St. John at the main portal and this work on the South Portal are among the many works from John Angel. The Ardolino brothers and cousins carved many of these works.
St. Paul centered in the south portal with the Nativity carving above. Empty niches reserved for statues
The Preachers Portal
The “Preachers’ Portal” is the name for this portal in the 1928 guide to the Cathedral. In addition to Saint Paul, there is a plan for eight more statues: “On the left side, west to east: Saints Francis of Assisi, Bernard, Boniface and Chrysostom. On the right side, west to east: Saints Dominick, Gregory, Patrick and Athanasius.” We look forward to the eventual sculptural additions to the South Portal involving these eight statues.
(There are many urban legends involving the Cathedral. The article above is an example. Curious about the arch and hoping to locate it, I turned to the Cathedral’s Senior Guide and Historian – Tom Fedorek. Here is the story, or should we say, the corrected story, about the unfinished arch – Roger)
Here is the arch in question as it appears today. It is one of the four broad arches that line each side of the Great Choir and bear the load of the chambers housing the organ pipes above (they are not “decorative”). This arch, the last one on the north side, is the only one with floral carving on its voussoirs, beginning on the right side but petering out as reaches the peak. Its left side is unadorned, as are all of the other Great Choir arches. The capitals are likewise unfinished.
Area of the Choir showing the partially carved arch and the incomplete capitals – Image Tom Fedorek
What Might Have Happened
It is December 7, 1941. We imagine the stonecarver standing on a scaffold in the Great Choir. We see the concentration on his face as he carefully shapes the stone. A radio is playing softly in the background. Suddenly an announcer breaks in with the news of the attack. It is a moment he’ll never forget. Shaken, he quickly packs up and heads home to his family. The next day he’s not there. Perhaps he’s joined the thousands of men lining up to enlist. The carving on the arch is never finished. It remains to this day as a testament to a heart-stopping moment in American history.
The “Pearl Harbor Arch” is a compelling story. I have heard it recounted by innumerable sightseeing guides and a few of our own cathedral guides. When I took a television crew through the place some years ago, the first thing they wanted to shoot was the Pearl Harbor Arch.
None of it is true.
Closer View of “unfinished” Arch and Capitals – Image Tom Fedorek
Some Important Facts
Let’s think about this. December 7, 1941 was a Sunday. Does it seem likely that the cathedral would have had a stonecarver working on a Sunday, hammering on stone and scattering dust and debris around the main worship space? Especially on this particular Sunday – the grand finale of the eight-day celebration of the consecration of the building’s full length that began on November 30?
More to the point — archival photographs dating back many years prior to 1941 show the arch looking exactly as it does today. This one is from 1929, but I have seen the unfinished carving in photos from 1913 in the cathedral archives. The only way the arch could be the “Pearl Harbor Arch” would be if the Second World War had preceded the First.
Library of Congress image, 1929 – provided by Tom Fedorek
Many mysteries remain. Whose idea was it to gussy up Heins & La Farge’s powerful, Richardsonian arches? Who executed the work? And why was it never finished?
When facts are lacking, fiction may fill the vaccuum. The Pearl Harbor Arch is just one of the urban legends that have attached themselves to the cathedral like barnacles to the bottom of a ship.
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Many thanks to Tom Fedorek, Cathedral Historian and Senior Guide for this blog
Above the bronze doors at the central Portal of Paradise and above and behind the trumeau of St. John is the Pilgrims’ Frieze. The design is by Canon Edward Nason West in 1964. The Laymen’s Club was financially instrumental in the commissioning of the frieze.
The Pilgrims’ Frieze Full Length
Model for the Pilgrims’ Frieze by Canon West – Image courtesy of the Cathedral Archives, Wayne Kempton
It is speculated that the firm of Rochette & Parzini executed the plaster cast and the carving. They had completed the Gable Cross, the Diocesan Coat of Arms and the Christ in Majesty. All of these just preceded the Pilgrims’ Frieze and all were embellishments to the center of the west front. Likewise, Rochette & Parzini’s main carver, Mario Tommasi, is thought to have done the carving.
The liturgical inspiration for Canon West’s design is found in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 7.
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands…
– Book of Revelation
Left portion of the Pilgrims’ Frieze model – Image courtesy of the Cathedral Archives, Wayne Kempton
Right portion of the Pilgrims’ Frieze model – image courtesy of the Cathedral Archives, Wayne Kempton
All the 33 figures in the frieze are carrying a large branch of palm. All ages and ethnicities are present in a procession of pilgrimage. They represent the varied ethnic composition of the people who attend services at the Cathedral.
Canon West
The Reverend Canon Edward Nason West, OBE, STD, DD
Truly a Renaissance man, he studied architecture at Boston University before turning to theology. Ordained a deacon in 1934 and a priest in 1935, West came to the Cathedral in 1941 and became Canon Sacrist in 1943 and named Sub Dean of the Cathedral in 1966. He retired in 1981 as Canon Sacrist and Sub Dean but continued as Master of Ceremonies; he served as Master of Ceremonies for more than 40 years.
Not only was he a theologian, he was also an author, an internationally known iconographer, an expert in the design of church furnishings and an authority on liturgical art. A leading authority on liturgical celebrations, as Canon Sacrist, he was in charge of preparations for all services at St. John the Divine.
Among his many contributions, he designed the Compass Rose of the Anglican Communion, the Diocesan seal as well as the Pilgrims’ Frieze.
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Our thanks to the Cathedral Archives and Wayne Kempton for the contributions to this story
The New York Times, Edward West, Retired Canon and Author, 80, Jan 5, 1990, section B, page 4
Strangers and Pilgrims, A centennial History of the Laymen’s Club of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Francis B. Sypher 2012, pages 73-74
