Johno Verity visits the Portal of Paradise, one of his father’s major works
Wearing his trademark pink wool hat, Johno Verity tells his TikTok followers that he is biking through Central Park at 5:45 a.m. “My first stop on this trip to New York City,” he says, “was to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine to view a piece of sculpture that took my father, Simon Verity, 13 years** to finish — the Portal of Paradise.”
Taking in the 32 carved limestone biblical figures based on iconography developed by Cathedral architect Ralph Adams Cram and Bishop William Manning in 1925, Johno exclaims, “Look at this thing – it is massive. Wallop!” Some details, including adding a number of biblical women, were finalized by Dean James Park Morton and a committee before actual work started in 1988.
This is Johno’s first visit to New York and to the Cathedral since his father, Master Sculptor Simon Verity, passed away last year. “It’s just amazing to come back here and to see it. It reminds me of being in my late teens, my early 20s and then also of my dad who died last year of dementia.” Link to obit Simon Verity – Master Sculptor (1945-2024) – Divine Stone
Johno Verity is a videographer with a TikTok page that focuses on offbeat London history for his 32,000+ followers. He recalls, “I first came to visit my father in New York back in 1989 when I was 13. I would return each year and watch its (the Portal of Paradise) progress as well as the team he’d built to work on it. The thing I loved the most were the elements of his life that he immortalized in stone. He had local people and friends pose for the carvings.”
As a teenager visiting his father, Johno admits he was more interested in skateboarding down the railings in front of the Cathedral than in his father’s work. He was also an avid BMX biker from age 15 and his father introduced Johno to photographer Martha Cooper, who would go around the city with him to various skate parks and ramps to photograph Johno on his Motorcross bike – a small bike used for short bursts of speed and performing stunts.
Surveying the completed Portal of Paradise, Johno says, “He had quite a few people that were assisting him carving this and he gave these lower pieces (the pedestals) to the assistants (Cathedral apprentice and journeymen carvers) to put their mark on.”
One pedestal that stands out to Johno is Joseph Kincannon’s “depiction of New York as the New Babylon the Great, illustrating the end of days. Though it was carved in the 90s, years before 9/11 (Sept. 11, 2001), there’s been some controversy over it because it’s depicting what looks like it’s celebrating the fall of the towers, although obviously there’s no way it could have been.”
A Cathedral visitor’s guide clarifies that Joseph Kincannon’s carving shows New York City, including the Twin Towers, portrayed under a mushroom cloud, interpreting the modern day destruction of Jerusalem. The Gothic arches represent the rebuilding of the “cathedral,” a symbol of hope after chaos.
On the south side of the Portal, Johno points up to “the lady in the green dress,” the upper-rank figure of Esther. The same Cathedral brochure explains that Esther, a beautiful Jewish woman, was chosen by the Persian king Ahasuerus to be his wife. Esther overhears an evil court official, Haman, plotting to kill the King and massacre the Jews. Esther and her cousin Mordecai warned the King, thus thwarting his assassination. The Feast of Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jews.
But, Johno’s story goes beyond the historical.
The woman who posed for Simon’s carving of Esther is Jessica (Johno can’t recall her last name) and “she’s got a dog called Cooper.” The dog walked into some of Simon’s photos while he was preparing some modeling and drapery studies. Johno adds, “that dog was an absolute nightmare, it loved Jessica but was freaked out by everyone else.”
At that time Martha Cooper, a New York City photojournalist and author, was photographing the work on the portal so, as a nod to Cooper the dog and Cooper the photographer, Simon carved the dog with a camera around its neck.
Another canine of note on the Portal appears with the far right upper-rank figure on the north side. The figure of Noah is carved as the seventh Dean of the Cathedral, The Very Rev. James Parks Morton, who was a life-long student of architecture and led the Cathedral’s third building phase. Dean Morton faces toward the Cathedral while holding the unfinished ark. His Welsh Corgi, Pepe, is seen at his feet, seemingly interacting with a small carved dragon on a nearby ledge.
Another nearby upper-rank carving depicts the biblical figure Deborah, a prophetess and judge. As a judge, she dispensed wisdom and resolved legal and political disputes. Deborah joined with Barak, the military leader, to overthrow the tyrant Sisera. Forty years of peace followed. Pamela Morton, wife of Dean Morton, known for her patience and good judgment, served as the model for this sculpture.
Johno, observing the colorful upper-rank figures, says, “I find it interesting that he chose to paint them. Most people didn’t realize it was a practice they did a thousand years ago. It could seem like sacrilege to change the natural color of the stone.”
Only the figures in the top level of the Portal were painted, the colors coming from metallic oxides ground to a fine powder. The base of the paint is casein, a protein that derives from milk and is very much in line with the medieval tradition, when all the church sculptures were painted, according to Tom Fedorek, a Cathedral docent.
Seated on the steps below the Portal, Johno reflects on his visit and his father’s illness.
“I think because he died of dementia,” Johno thinks back, “those last couple of years I found him incredibly difficult because I saw him changing from the man he once was and that’s so difficult to deal with. And I was really worried that I would forget the memory of what he was like when he was fine.”
Because of the disease “he stopped being the person he once was and coming here it just reminds me of how he was back then. He was brilliant, he was fun, he was cheeky, he had a sparkle in his eye, really, and it’s great to be here to witness that again.”
Pausing to look up the carvings, Johno says, “I see (the work) in a different light now to how I used to observe. When he was alive it was just a piece of his work; it was something he had done. I guess it really didn’t conjure up any real emotions; whereas now, since he’s died, it definitely brings these emotions of missing him. And also, what’s really important for me is it brings back a time in his life when he was completely fine.”
Johno adds, “What’s changed now from what it was is that it’s now a memory of him — because he died. It used to be just a piece of his work — this is a kind of lasting memory of mine.”
NOTE: According to Cathedral records, the Portal of Paradise was carved between 1988 and 1997.
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Sources: Johno Verity, Johno Verity (@johnoverity) | TikTok
Portal of Paradise: A Guide to the Sculptures, Cathedral of St. John the Divine