Images in and on cathedrals have been used since medieval times to convey important stories. In the Middle Ages a significant percentage of the population was illiterate. Therefore art became necessary for teaching purposes. These traditions carry over to contemporary cathedrals. So it was that head carver Joseph Kincannon decided to honor Nelson Mandela with a carving. He assigned 24 year old Emmanuel Fourchet to carve the sculpture. A cornice on the southwest tower facing Harlem would be the destination. This linked Mandela and the Cathedral.
Mandela’s long 27 year imprisonment was coming to a close and he had gained international acclaim for his activism. He would later become the President of South Africa in 1994. The carving followed the Cathedral’s mission.
“The Cathedral was founded as ‘a center for intellectual light and leadership’. From the beginning, this has been a place for social and political activism, the exploration of ideas, and for the community in the widest sense. As times change, the conversations change.”
Cathedral St. John the Divine
Manu Fourchet was one of the first to come to the Cathedral in an exchange program with Les Compagnons du Devoir, the companions of duty. It is a French organization of craftsmen and artisans dating from the Middle Ages. Therefore it was an ancient apprentice program. He came as an accomplished banker mason with a great deal of letter cutting experience. His work shows that he was a natural carver. Mandela and the Cathedral carving was one of his first.
Emmanuel Fourchet Continues to Carve
Later, when Cathedral Stoneworks took on commercial work, he went to Pittsburgh and worked under Nicholas Fairplay. The project involved the intricate carvings for Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Fine Arts. This was one of the first Cathedral Stoneworks ventures into commercial work whose profits would keep the Cathedral building. The project combined traditional hand carving, and computer aided technology. After three years, this project completed and Manu returned to Lyon, France where he is an important leader in the field of stone carving and restoration.
In 2010 a gargoyle at the Cathedral St. Jean-Baptiste in Lyon needed replacing. Sculptor Emmanuel Fourchet was given the task of designing and producing a suitable replacement. Fourchet continued an age-old tradition, modeling the head on his friend and longtime colleague Ahmed Benzizine (pictured with gargoyle). Benzizine was the foreman responsible for the renovation of the cathedral for the last three decades. Fourchet hoped to keep his tribute a secret, but it leaked out. Benzizine shaved off his moustache so that he would no longer resemble the new gargoyle. Unperturbed, Fourchet simply chiseled the stone moustache off.
Watch this site for a special edition next week – An Interview with James Parks Morton by Robert F. Rodriguez, Memories of the Stoneyard.