The Ardolinos

Many of the cathedral’s stone carvings were produced by the Ardolinos who immigrated from Torre La Nocelle, Campania, Italy late in the 19th Century . The Ardolino brothers, Eduardo and Clamanzio Celestino joined at times by their cousins Raffaele and Dominico, also brothers, worked for years at the cathedral, often carrying out the designs of sculptor John Angel.

Ermalindo Eduardo Ardolino

Known as Edward Ardolino, he was an Italian born American stone carver and architectural sculptor of the early twentieth century. He is the most well known member of the Ardolino family of stone carvers. He worked with leading architects and sculptors, including architect Bertram Goodhue and sculptors Lee Lawrie and John Angel. The Ardolinos participated in carvings at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine as the building progressed as evidenced in photos and clerk-of-works reports from 1909 into the 1930’s. The Ardolino’s work is in the nave, baptistery, multiple west front carvings and includes carvers Ralph (Raffaelle) and his son Arthur. They worked under architects Heins & LaFarge and Ralph Adams Cram.

Edward Ardolino was born into a long line of stone carvers in Torre Le Nocelle, Province of Avellino, Italy. On his 1898 immigration, when he was 14, he identified himself as a sculptor. He was joining his older brother Charles (Clamanzio Celestino) Ardolino who was a stone carver in Boston. Together they formed Ardolino Brothers. They contracted others, including cousin Ralph (Angelo Raffaelle) Ardolino to assist in fulfilling their commissions. Later, Charles retained Ardolino Brothers and Eduardo created Edward Ardolino, Inc. In 1907, Edward Ardolino married Nicolina de Cristofaro. The Cristofaro’s were another stone carving family originating from Torre Le Nocelle.

Collectively, the Ardolinos worked on sculptural carvings on hundreds of buildings in the U.S. and Canada. They employed as many as 32 carvers at one time. Outstanding among them are the Los Angeles Public Library, the Nebraska State Capitol and four buildings in the Federal Triangle of Washington, D.C. Most of the Goodhue/Lawrie collaborations fulfilled in conjunction with Ardolino were invited into historic registers or achieved landmark status.

A Famous Photograph

A much circulated photo “working on an angel” is of an Ardolino carver taken in 1909. This photo is of the carving of a capital atop the monumental columns in the chancel area of the cathedral. The capital is the design of the architect George B. Post.

It seems that of all the Ardolinos involved in the work at the cathedral, based on their ages and photos that this is Charles (Clamanzio Celestino) Ardolino above.

Those capitals, modeled by Mr. Post, were carved in-situ from clay models, working 60 feet above the altar floor.

Raffaelle Ardolino

Ralph (Raffaelle) Ardolino emigrated to the United States in 1888. He had apprenticed under his stone carver father in Torre Le Nocelle, Campania, Italy. He later studied at a fine arts academy in Florence. By the time he was 18 years old he had mastered the art of sculpting and was adept at every phase of working in stone. He also learned the blacksmith’s trade, as many carvers did, to be able to forge, repair and sharpen their own tools.

Ralph came to live in the Boston area where his cousins owned the carving firm, Ardolino Brothers. When the cousins moved to New York, Ralph did not follow them; instead, he eventually moved to Tampa. In Tampa he operated a monument business and executed several sculpting commissions. By 1918 he had moved his family to Brooklyn.

Although Ralph worked extensively for Edward Ardolino Inc. he also had commissions of his own as a freelance sculptor. As well, he worked on the Lincoln Memorial, employed by the Piccirilli Brothers, and in addition to carving did much of the lettering at the monument. Ralph and his son Arthur worked on many projects at the Cathedral. He traveled to worksites throughout the country but always returned to the brownstone he owned at 240 Bergen Street in Brooklyn, New York.

Trips to the Jersey Shore

The New York community of Italian carvers and sculptors would regularly take weekend trips on the excursion boat, Mary Patton, to the Jersey Shore.

The boat would leave Friday night and come back Sunday night. Anyway, one weekend when he was down here he decided that maybe the place to be was Long Branch. He would stay here reading magazines containing carving and sculpting bids, and send off estimates to companies around the country. Then the business began to drop off, and by 1928 there were only 86 carvers in the New York union. There was less stone being used in building and less carving.

Ralph Ardolino, Jr.

So Ralph Sr. went looking and found an old monument shop in West Long Branch, put all his savings into it and brought all the Ardolinos to New Jersey. By the time the business was established in 1929, all of his sons had completed their apprenticeship in the trade. Dan handled drafting and sales, Ralph Jr. took care of the business end and Arthur and Carl took care of the stone carving work in the shop.

In 1980, the Ardolino sons were all in their seventies and they closed their doors. One further generation of Ardolinos remained in Long Branch. Richard Ardolino cuts letters for cemetery monuments as of an account in 2009.

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• A Socioeconomic Study Exploring the Immigration of Artisan Stone Carvers from Italy to the United States of America circa 1830-1920, Russ Joseph Morris, The College of Staten Island.
• The Amazing Monument Men of Monmouth County, Monmouthtimeline.org
• ABOUT NEW JERSEY Tombstone Artisans: A Family Affair, New York Times, January 8, 1978
• Correspondence between Gail Iamello Deninger and Wayne Kempton, Cathedral archivist
• The Genealogy of Torre le Nocelle, Italy,