Divine Stone

After Bishop Manning (1921-1946) opened the completed nave and the renovated choir, the start of the U.S. involvement in WWII effectively ended construction. So many workers enlisted in the military. This left the west front towers and the transepts uncompleted. Additionally, there remained unfinished much of the carving embellishments on the west front of the Cathedral.

Manning’s successor, Bishop Charles K. Gilbert (1947-1950) was in an environment where people’s attention moved from the war to the domestic scene. From the Laymen’s Club history we have this… “At the end of the Second World War, thousands of young veterans came home to settle down and bring up families, most of them moved to the suburbs. For the Episcopal Diocese of New York the prevailing changes meant growing suburban congregations and new suburban parishes, as well as shrinking city congregations, together with closing and consolidating city parishes.

The Cathedral’s Changing Neighborhood

“By the 1950s, the urban church found itself involved in mission-type work at every level. At the same time, the funding formerly from wealthy urban parishioners was now centered in the suburbs.” In 1950 upon the death of Bishop Gilbert, Bishop Horace W. B. Donegan (1950-1972) became the head of the diocese. He stated that the Cathedral would…

… not be built until the stresses of our city be ceased.

– Bishop Donegan

Nevertheless, during the Donegan years, certain additions were made. One of these was a four-and-a-half ton granite cross at the apex of the front gable over the central portal of the west front.

The cross is 14 feet tall and it was cut from an eight ton block of granite. It was cut and carved by the New York firm of Rochette and Parzini. They were a sculpting, sculptural enlargement, stone carving and modeling firm founded in 1904.

The Diocesan Coat of Arms

At the time the cross was made, Rochette and Parzini was engaged to carve the Diocesan Coat of Arms. The Indiana limestone slab was placed on the Cathedral in 1924. Mario Tommasi, one of the few stone workers remaining in the city in the 1960s, is shown carving the Arms of the See of New York. Eighty feet above Amsterdam Avenue, the carving took two months. It is between the shields of the city of New York and the Cathedral Church.

Mr. Tommasi, a stocky 59 year old at the time of the carving, is a native of Carrara in northern Italy. Stone carving has been a Tommasi family trade. He began his work in his father’s shop at 15 in the Tuscan town famed for the quality of its marble. He speaks of marble with reverence. When Mr. Tommasi came to this country in 1926 he was one of six stone carvers, working for the Piccirilli Brothers, who worked on the marble statue of Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

On the scaffold with him is a full size plaster cast, eight feet tall by six feet wide. The cast was made from a clay model at Rochette & Parzini from a drawing provided by Canon Edward Nason West.

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• Strangers & Pilgrim’s, A Centennial History of the Laymen’s Club, Francis J. Sypher, Jr.
• The New York Times, November 27, 1964, Stone Carver’s Perch is 80 feet Aloft at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine,Page 30
• The New York Times, Donegan Dedicates Granite Cross, August 26, 1964 Page 41

(Boasting – Shadows on the Stones is the second installment in Robert F. Rodriguez’s Stories Behind The Stones)

The early afternoon sun casts oblique shadows on many of the stacked stones by the Biblical Garden, allowing the boasting patterns on the ashlar blocks to stand out. The boasting pattern, a series of broad chisel cuts on the stone’s exterior face, allows the surface to weather better over the years. The boasting is also decorative and adds depth and texture to the smooth external faces of finished stones. 

From my years photographing the stonecutters at the Cathedral Stoneyard I could tell the blocks were cut by a variety of cutters. The boasting on one stone was neat and tight in a diagonal angle, the chisel marks clear and well defined. Another stone was boasted in a much tighter pattern while a third ashlar was cut almost straight up and down on the stone’s face.

Traditional and Individual

Master Mason Chris Hannaway brought his considerable stonecutting knowledge to the Stoneyard and the original five apprentices. He came from Liverpool Cathedral, where he worked restoring the church that was damaged by German bombings during World War II. Boasting was one of the first things taught by Hannaway – something that linked every cutter and every stone from then on.

Years ago in the Cathedral’s stonecutting shed apprentices like Timothy Smith, Arlene “Poni” Baptiste, Eddie Pizarro, Niles Poole, Angel Escobar, José Tapia and many others used broad steel chisels with apple wood mallets to cut their distinctive pattern into the limestone blocks. Each mason had an individual style and rhythm and the trained eye could tell which cutter boasted which stone.

Eddie Pizzaro on Boasting

Former stonecutter Eddie Pizarro, 63, who started at the Stoneyard around 1982, says “boasting is the signature of a stonecutter’s work – every mason has his own style. But the pattern for us was the same diagonal angle.”

Eddie adds “every stonecutter learned this as an apprentice and (eventually) you develop your own comfort zone. Over time you feel how much pressure to apply to the chisel with your mallet – the harder the strike, the deeper the boasting pattern looks. After many months of practice you develop your signature boasting pattern – which you apply to every finished stone you cut.”

The apprentices also learned from each other.

Timothy Smith, 77, one of the original apprentices, says “I got good at boasting but learned from José (Tapia) and Eddie (Pizarro).”

Timothy also remembers José (who passed away two years ago) as “by far the best stonecutter. He could cut the most complicated templates way before any of us early apprentices.”

Treese Robb, 66, a stonecutter who spent five years at the Stoneyard, agrees with Timothy Smith’s assessment. “I think José Tapia had the most distinctive (boasting) pattern. His style was rhythmic and identifiable with an even pattern.”  She also calls tower supervisor Stephen Boyle a “master” (boaster).

As far as boasting styles, Eddie felt that “Angel Escobar had the best boasting pattern – very neat – all his finished stones looked the same. He always had a steady hand for boasting the stone.”

Angel Escobar, 63, who arrived at the Stoneyard in 1980, says his boasting pattern was inspired by Ruben Gibson’s work. Ruben worked almost every job in the Stoneyard from sawyer to cutter and later became lead carver in the carving shed until his death in 1988.

“Ruben had the neatest pattern on the face of the stone,” says Angel. “Though everybody had their own unique style, Ruben’s stood out the most.” Angel preferred a wide 2-inch chisel because it was easier to control and allowed him to complete the boasting faster.

Stonecutter Joseph Chifriller, 69, credits two colleagues for his boasting skills.

“It was José Tapia how taught us all how to boast a stone,” says Joseph. “And while he introduced us to the technical aspects (‘don’t get too close to the edge or you’ll chip it’!), it turned out that his cousin Angel (Escobar) was the one to watch!)” Joseph recalls that Angel had an “effortless move-and-strike motion” as he went across the face of the stone. He also mentions that Angel, “quietly led by example.”

“In any setting, they would have made great instructors,” says Joseph. “It was only years later, looking back, that I fully appreciated their patience, grace and style.”

The sun has shifted in the time I have spent studying the stacks of stones on the south side of the Cathedral, and a comment from Eddie Pizarro comes to mind.

“Boasting on the stones,” Eddie says, “also plays a role with sunlight. These shadows on the stones reflect different shades throughout the day.

How true, as I watch the boasting patterns fade as the sun passes behind the brick wall.

But the beauty of the stones and the play of light can be seen by anyone passing by.

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Some years ago, a story appeared in the New Yorker. It told of a boy, around nine at the time, who had not spoken a word. Some manner of developmental issue was assumed. His parents had taken to regularly playing a record for him. The recording was of bird songs followed by a narrator naming the bird and information about it. One day, walking in a wooded area, the boy stopped and pointed up in a tree and told his surprised dad the name of the bird who had just sung. This story inspired Chris Pellettieri to carve a narrative sculpture – The boy, the man and the bird.

Chris was an apprentice stone carver in the Cathedral stone yard working on the Southwest Tower. After that construction closed down he continued to carve stone and became an artist-in-residence at the Cathedral.

We caught up with Chris as he was finishing up a stone carving class on Governor’s Island. Students from Stephen T. Mather Building Arts & Craftsmanship High School, located in Hell’s Kitchen, make up the class. The National Park Service is a partner with the school. It is a career and technical educational (CTE) school. Its goal is to prepare students for careers in fields like historic preservation, landscape management, archeology, masonry and carpentry. One of this class’ projects was a roman arch, carving the pieces from templates.

Chris told us the story of the origin of the red sandstone sculpture, about four feet tall and he spoke of his affinity for narrative carvings.

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• Watch Chris Pellettieri’s recent lecture at Columbia titled Carving Architecture and Careers with The Pellettieri Stone Carving Academy here

As you enter the North Tower doors and step into the narthex, turn around and look up. There you will see the sculptural frieze above. John Angel sculpted it. The carver is not known, but a good chance it was the Ardolino’s. They did much of John Angel’s work in the 1930’s. This area is currently not available to the public. Thanks to Tom Fedorek, Senior Guide, for paving the way for photo journalist Robert F. Rodriguez to take these detailed images of the John Angel friezes in the narthex.

Many of these are historical figures from the crusades. Tom Fedorek has noted Godfrey de Bouillon, Richard I, “The Lionhearted”, leader of the Third Crusade who reconquered Jerusalem, and Peter the Hermit.

Inside the South Portal

Just inside the south portal in the narthex is a second frieze sculpted by John Angel. Turn and look up. This one is drawn from pilgrims in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The installation date was 1931.

Here again Tom Fedorek pointed out the Wife of Bath and some of the other pilgrims based on how Chaucer describes them in the Canterbury Tales. We have noted throughout Angel’s sculpture at the Cathedral that the historical and liturgical accuracy of his work is well informed.

This intricate work truly adds to the fact that John Angel was a gifted sculptor. If we can ever attribute these works definitively to the carver or carvers we will add that to this blog post.

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• Many thanks to the combined efforts of Tom Fedorek, Senior Guide, and Robert F. Rodriguez, Photo Journalist and photo chronicler of the Cathedral for showcasing the John Angel friezes in the narthex.