1 reply on “More John Angel Videos”
I may be able to shed some light here.
As for the relief sculptures in video 1, the first one depicts Christ before Pilate (the bald guy). It is in the north portal. The Nativity shown in the film is more elaborate than the one Angel did for the south portal. It may be an earlier version of it, or perhaps a piece he did for a different project altogether.
The figure above St Lawrence seen in the video 2 is the sibyl Cimmeria. Sibyls were oracles, priestesses of Apollo who prophesied at holy sites around the ancient Greek-speaking world. Some of their prophecies were preserved and gathered into books. Christian scholars who studied the Sibylline Books during the revival of classical antiquity in the Renaissance imagined they had discovered prophecies of the New Testament in these pre-Christian writings, just as they found foreshadowings of the New Testament in the writings of the Hebrew prophets. Sibyls appear in Renaissance art, often accompanying the Hebrew prophets, most famously in Michelangelo’s frescoes for the Sistine Chapel.
The upper rank of the north portal depicts eight of the twelve sibyls, identified below by their names and attributes and listed in order beginning with the panel above St Thomas Becket and proceeding clockwise to the panel above St Denis:
Cumaea (sponge) – Jesus given a sponge filled with vinegar while on the cross
Europa (sword) – Herod’s slaughter of the innocents
Agrippa (scourge) – the scourging of Jesus by Roman soldiers
Libyica (torch) – Christ the light of the world
Cimmeria (horn) – Jesus nursed by Mary (the horn was the baby bottle of the ancient world)
Hellespontica (cross) – the crucifixion
Phrygia (banner) – the resurrection
Persica (dragon) – Christ’s victory over Satan, sin and death
Some of John Angel’s sibyls appear with the books of their prophecies.
Not depicted in the north portal: Erythraea, Samia, Tiburtina, Delphica.
Tom Fedorek
2 replies on “Vintage Drawing Discovered”
The thing that attracts me the most to this layout by Heins and LaFarge lies at the corner of Cathedral Parkway (110th St) and Morningside Drive. It is a dramatic stairway leading from that corner to what would have become the South Transept entrance to the Cathedral. The idea was first floated that people strolling in the northern area of Central Park would look west and see the cathedral. They would then promenade down Cathedral Parkway and up the staircase, creating a natural connection between the two.
Kudos to Steve Boyle for his sharp eye and his generosity in donating this valuable artifact to the cathedral archives. It is quite intriguing to see where H&L planned to put the auxiliary buildings. Synod House eventually wound up in the opposite corner of the Close. The Deaconesses Institute (the current Diocesan House) also moved from the north side to the south.
Most interesting is the grand staircase rising from the SE corner of the Close to the south transept. I’d guess that H&L anticipated that most visitors would travel to the cathedral via the 110th St station of the 9th Ave elevated train, one short block away. The el was the only mass transit serving the area in 1903; the Broadway IRT would not open until the following year and the 8th Ave IND until 1940, when the el was demolished. The staircase may also be a vestige of H&L’s 1891 design, which had the cathedral on a north-south axis with the main entrance on Cathedral Parkway.
1 reply on “John Angel, Sculptor”
Roger,
I don’t know if you’ve gotten my past comments, so forgive me if I’m being redundant.
I wrote a while back to say I was employed at St. John from 1990-92. I am currently a full time fine-art sculptor. My Grandfather, Leopold de Christopher (de Christofaro) was a stonecutter from Italy who ended up in Philadelphia. He was from the same town as Eduardo Ardolino, Torre le Nocelle. It turns out I am cousins with Eduardo.
One reply on “Recent Comments of Note”
Fascinating history, thanks to all who participated and currently participate