The Tomb of William Thomas Manning

The tomb of William Thomas Manning (1866-1949) seldom fails to catch the eye of visitors to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It is the work of sculptor Constantin Antonovici, completed in 1954. Manning was the 10th Bishop of New York, 1921-1946.

The Tomb

The only black-and-white object of any size in the cathedral, the tomb contrasts sharply with the radiant color in the windows above it and the monochrome limestone around it. The tomb’s simplicity is even more striking when compared to the extravagant sarcophagus of cathedral founder Horatio Potter behind the high altar, or that of his successor, Henry Codman Potter, in St. James’s Chapel. 

The recumbent figure of the bishop, of milky Carrara marble, rests atop a rectangular prism of black marble, lightly streaked. His head rests on one cushion while another braces his feet. He wears the classic episcopal vestments of miter, stole, alb and cope while his folded hands display the ring of his office. The crozier by his side, tucked in by his arm, symbolizes the authority he wielded forcefully, often imperiously, and sometimes controversially during the 25 years he oversaw the diocese. 

As much a general as he was a shepherd, Manning was Napoleonic in both temperament and stature (five feet, four-and-a-half inches). The figure is effectively life-size, with a total length of seventy inches including ten inches for the miter. Because the sculptor had never seen the bishop in life, he required a model. A young, slightly built Japanese-American priest was assigned to report to the artist’s studio in the crypt and lie on a table while Antonovici roughed out the figure. (This I learned this from the priest’s widow when, decades later, she popped into the cathedral asking to see the sculpture for which her late husband had posed.)

The figure’s face, which the sculptor would have modeled from photographs, comports with an eyewitness description of the bishop written in 1936 and quoted in the New York Times obituary:
“His square-jawed, thin face, his dome-like forehead, his piercing eyes, his peaked nose and his small thin-lipped mouth accentuate an austere spiritual nature which no amount of cordiality can conceal.”

The Site

Significantly, the tomb of William Thomas Manning sits in the nave. When Manning became the bishop in 1921, there was no nave. Construction of the cathedral had been stalled for ten years. Twenty years later, on November 30, 1941, he presided at the nave’s consecration. He had overseen its design and construction and raised the millions of dollars to pay for it.

Within the nave, the tomb sits in the Historical & Patriotic Societies Bay (now often referred to as the American History Bay). An immigrant from England’s Northampshire, Manning became a passionate partisan of his adopted country. He cultivated relationships with societies honoring the heritage of the United States such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of the same, the St. Nicholas Society, the Huguenot Society and many others. At the ceremony for the tomb’s unveiling, representatives of patriotic societies walked in the procession behind an honor guard of the Veterans Corps of Artillery of the State of New York.

Equally significant is the tomb’s placement directly across from the Armed Forces Bay. Manning was an ardent supporter of the military. In 1916, while serving as rector of Trinity Church, he called for the United States to end its neutrality and enter the conflict then raging in Europe. He preached: “Our Lord Jesus Christ does not stand for peace at any price. He stands for righteousness at any cost… Every true American would rather see this land face war than see her flag lowered in disgrace.” After the United States entered the war, he served as a chaplain at Camp Upton on Long Island. Here draftees trained prior to transport to France. 

War in Europe broke out in 1939. Manning bucked a nationwide tide of isolationism to advocate for U.S. support for Britain and her allies. In 1942, two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was co-speaker on a panel with British Ambassador Lord Halifax. His biographer recounts: “The statesman gave the sermon; the bishop gave the call to arms.” 

Manning’s brand of sanctified nationalism would not be appreciated in the Episcopal Church of the 21^st century. It should be considered in the context of the fascism and militarism rampant in Europe during Manning’s own time. Even as the nave of St. John the Divine was nearing completion, bombs were striking the churches and cathedrals of Manning’s native England. Though his legacy may be problematic, it is fitting that his final resting place should be inside his most enduring achievement – the cathedral’s majestic, soaring nave.

The Sculptor

Constantin Antonovici was born in Romania in 1911. His early training was at his homeland’s Academy of Fine Arts in Iasi. This was followed by study with Ivan Mestrovici in Zagreb and Fritz Behn in Vienna. He came into his own as a sculptor during the four years he spent in Paris working in the atelier of Constantin Brancusi (1947-1951). Antonovici adopted the style of the great Romanian modernist, reducing objects to their essence in sleek, sinuous forms rendered in marble, bronze, and wood. From Paris he emigrated to Montreal in 1951 and finally to New York in 1953.

Shortly after arriving in New York, he learned that the cathedral had announced a competition for designing the tomb of William Thomas Manning, the late Bishop. According to his own account, the jury selected his design by a unanimous vote. The cathedral authorities offered him a fee of $50,000. A small advance paid for the start with the balance to be paid in installments as the work progressed. His account continues:

“I worked on this statue for one entire year. The work on the sculpture took place in an unused spot in the cathedral that was removed from public view. I asked for the balance of payment after the sculpture was completed. They kept postponing honoring the payment. Years passed by and the same lame excuses kept coming in. I came to the realization that I had been robbed by English thieves.”

There is surely another side to the story, but the details are unavailable. Nevertheless, the cathedral allowed Antonovici to continue to work rent-free in the crypt for many years. Perhaps they considered the unique space to be adequate compensation for his work on the tomb. 

Twenty years after the disagreement over his fee for the Manning tomb, in his preface to the 1975 book Constantin Antonovici: Sculptor of Owls, Antonovici expressed sentiments markedly different from his earlier harsh remarks:

Gratefully I thank the staff of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for providing me with the studio in which I have created more than 80 percent of my works, and I express my respect for the Cathedral management, who have demonstrated the interest of that institution in the promotion and appreciation of art. The setting for my work inspires me in much the same way that Michelangelo, Chagall, and other great artists who worked in the immense quietness and divine atmosphere of great temples and cathedrals were inspired.

– Constantin Antonovici

In the crypt Antonovici created the works for which he is best known – his extraordinary owls of bronze, marble, and wood. Owls fascinated him as a child. Whether it was the gloom of the crypt that reawakened his interest in these nocturnal creatures, or Brancusi’s abstractions of birds in flight, owls inspired some of his best work.

Antonovici died in 2002. Poor health, financial difficulties and deteriorating mental faculties plagued his final years. The artist who sculpted a refined tomb for a bishop now lies in Flushing Cemetery in the borough of Queens. His carved gravestone reflects one of his signature owls.

You can see more of Antonovici’s owls and other works at the following sites: https://www.westwoodgallery.com/exhibitions/constantin-antonovici-mythical-modernism 

https://antonovici.webnode.page/

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Sources:

• Constantin Antonovici: Sculptor of Owls (Cleveland: Educational Research Council of America, 1975)
• Doina Uricariu & Vladimir Bulat, Antonovici 1911-2002 Sculptor on Two Continents (Bucharest:Universalia Publishers, 2011).
• Stephan J. Benedict, Constantin Antonovici (1911-2002): A Great Brancusi Disciple. http://www.bit2006.org/SJB_Antonovici_4411.pdf
• W.D.F. Hughes, Prudently with Power: William Thomas Manning, Tenth Bishop of New York (New York: Holy Cross Publications, 1969).
• James E. Lindsay, This planted vine A Narrative History of the Episcopal Diocese of New York (New York: Harper & Row, 1984).
• Philip Jenkins, The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade (New York: HarperOne, 2014).
• “Bishop Manning, 83, dies in retirement,” New York Times, November 19, 1949.
• “Manning to rest in cathedral tomb,” New York Times, January 30, 1950.
• “Manning chantry open,” New York Times, November 22, 1954
• “The Source of Courage,” The Living Church, December 5, 1954.