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Stories Behind the Stones

The Stones That Were Left Behind

In early 1988, Amy Brier, recently arrived to the Cathedral as a stone carver, set about creating a figure for one of the many carved finial stones for the south tower. Starting with a pencil sketch, then a clay model, the figure of an Old Testament rabbi started to emerge from the limestone block on Amy’s banker. This is the first of the stories behind the stones.

Thirty-five years later, the completed stone, a gablet apex finial, does not look down from a lofty niche above Amsterdam Avenue. Instead, it sits in a heap among numerous stones that never made it to their intended spots on the south tower when the uncompleted project ended in the early 1990s, hence these stories.

Abandoned Stones — This gablet apex finial stone of an Old Testament rabbi was carved by Amy Brier in1988. It sits amid a pile of blocks on April 2, 2023 that never were placed on the tower when operation ceased in the early 1990s. Image – Robert F. Rodriguez

The stones are stored primarily in two areas on the south side of the Cathedral. The majority of the stones are tucked alongside a brick wall and a buttress pier near the tranquil Biblical Garden. Another area is fenced off, sharing space with some discarded, unused or unwanted objects. Some of the stones are chipped from being carelessly moved or not properly stacked while others are developing a greenish patina on the edges from moisture. The images below were taken on April 2, 2023 by Robert F. Rodriguez.

Amy’s Stone in 2023

This is where Amy’s stone rests, among a pile of blocks and debris. Her carving of the rabbi includes details of a kippah or yarmulke for the head covering, tallit for the prayer shawl, and tefillin, the two leather boxes holding passages from the Torah and worn on the bicep and forehead. She recalls that her family did not like her interpretation of the rabbi’s face. They claim the rabbi has a large nose and felt it stereotyped Jews. (Amy is Jewish.)

Amy's Rabbi Carving — This gablet apex finial stone of an Old Testament rabbi was carved by Amy Brier in 1988. It sits amid a pile of blocks on April 2, 2023 that never were placed on the tower when operation ceased in the early 1990s. Image – Robert F. Rodriguez

Amy, now 63, teaches stone carving and sculpting among other disciplines as Chair of the Fine Arts department at Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, Indiana.

Amy Brier is seen in an October 2022 photo at the Bybee Stone Co., Ellettsville, Indiana. She is carving details in a panel for a renovation of the former Swine Barn, now Fall Creek Pavillon at the Indiana State Fair. There are four panels, 6’x6′. She modeled them in clay at half size, then they were scanned and the CNC machine roughed them out full size – Image courtesy Amy Brier

Why wasn’t this stone up on the South Tower?

Stephen Boyle speculates the reason for Amy’s stone not being set on the tower. He said that the carving was probably destined for the South or West elevations atop a gablet apex stone. Some of these stones were not carved in time and therefore not set in place. Amy’s finial carving (topmost stone) did not have the base on which it would rest.

When asked her feelings about her rabbi carving not being set on the tower, Amy reflected on her six years at the Cathedral. She credits the Stoneyard program with guiding her career path in stone work and teaching. “I never would have had that without the Cathedral,” she said.

Amy added, “Part of what I learned there was none of these (the stones) were mine. You finished it and it was done. The work was for a greater cause.”

She feels sad for all the stones on the ground and all the work that went into them. “I can’t cry over one piece,” she said, “if it’s down on the ground, maybe it’s better.”

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Our thanks to Photo Journalist Robert F. Rodriguez for this series of stories about the origin of the stones in the cutting and carving operations, who worked on the stone and where some of them have been waiting.

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The Boy, the Man and the Bird

Post author By Roger Murphy
Post date April 10, 2023

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

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The John Angel Friezes in the Narthex

Post author By Roger Murphy
Post date April 1, 2023

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

The John Angel Friezes in the Narthex - Chaucers Pilgrims Frieze — Chaucer’s Pilgrims inside the South Portal – Image Robert F. Rodriguez

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.

John Angel's Friezes in the Narthex — Pilgrims Frieze Left Side – Image Robert F. Rodriguez

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.

Pilgrims Frieze, Right Side — Pilgrims Frieze from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Right Side – Image Robert F. Rodriguez

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.

Center Image Chaucer's Pilgrims — Detail Center Image, Pilgrims from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. – Image Robert F. Rodriguez

The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian churches consisting of the entrance/vestibule . Traditionally, the narthex was a part of the church building but not considered part of the church proper.

The narthex is an enclosed space before arriving at the main worship place (the nave). Penitents and catechumens were not permitted to worship with other christians in the main worship space until they had completed orientation or reorientation to christian life. Today, this gathering place functions as an interface between the church and the world, a space for welcoming.

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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.

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Everybody Helped – Constructing the Nave

Post author By Roger Murphy
Post date March 22, 2023
1 Comment on Everybody Helped – Constructing the Nave

Several groups helped in the building of the nave in addition to the efforts of Bishop Manning’s massive fundraising campaign. These groups asked what they could do, and came up with some specific projects that warrant recognition. Following are three efforts that show how everybody helped with constructing the nave.

The Pilgrims Pavement

The Laymen’s Club, founded in 1908, made many impressive contributions to the construction and operations of the Cathedral. They ushered, took up collections and organized the publication of materials about the cathedral in the early stages of construction. In February of 1926 the group announced a campaign to raise $100,000 to finance the slate pavement of the nave. To understand the large amount of that, a copy of the New York Times in 1926 cost 2 cents.

The Laymen’s Club members gave tours of the Cathedral with visitors designated as pilgrims. Each pilgrim received a token and invited to leave a voluntary contribution in any amount. These tokens were reminiscent of Middle Age pilgrimages where tokens or other objects were part of the visit to a particular site. As part of the fundraising plan, they drew up a chart. It showed the floor marked off into 20,000 squares, each representing a $5.00 contribution leading to the total of $100,000 (the total area of the pavement was 32,400 square feet). As people made donations, the laymen colored in individual squares on the chart. The New York Times published names of significant donors.

Everybody Helped, constructing the nave — Pilgrim’s Tokens

A Real Pilgrimage

To further connect the idea of a pilgrimage, 27 bronze heraldic medallions would dot the floor. The medallions would represent places in the life of Christ, places commemorating events in Christianity and religious institutions. The medallions are set in central disks of Maine black granite with a circular border of Belgian black marble. The pavement surrounding the medallions is green Vermont argillite with bands and borders of black argillite. Argillite is a dense, fine-grain sedimentary rock that is an intermediate between shale and slate. A clay or shale hardened by recrystallization is argillite and called slate if it possesses secondary cleavage.

On January 11, 1933, the Cathedral signed a construction contract for laying the pavement with the firm of Edward Bell. The Laymen’s Club had raised the money. Bishop Manning dedicated the pavement on March 11, 1934. Everybody helped, constructing the nave.

Everybody Helps — View of Nave Center Aisle with Completed Pavement and Medallions

In the 1980’s the Laymen’s Club explored the idea of continuing the pavement into the crossing. The idea included the medallions, but it did not happen. The floor of the crossing remained granolithic. A granolithic finish is a floor topping placed on an existing concrete slab. It forms a durable top surface consisting of hard aggregates (granite), cement and sand.

Everybody Helps, construction of the Nave — Medallion design for the center of the crossing pavement that was never completed.

The Children’s Arch

The children’s arch is at the far end of the nave next to the crossing. The arch is 56 feet wide and will rise 130 feet. The two columns are 98 feet high. Bishop Manning announced the campaign for the children’s arch just prior to the major campaign kick-off in Madison Square Garden.

As you know, one of the great arches in the nave is to be built by the children and is to be known forever as the children’s arch.
– Bishop Manning

By October of 1927, $50,000 of the planned $207,000 had been contributed. On that occasion, Bishop Manning assembled almost 3,000 children for a ceremony at the Cathedral. Following his address, Bishop Manning presented medals to those children who had contributed to the fund over the past year. Everybody helped, constructing the nave.

Everybody Helped, Constructing of the Nave

Children's Arch token — Children’s Arch Medal – Courtesy of Stephen Boyle

The Women’s Transept

Though technically not “the Nave”, this same period saw the Bapistry and North Transept undertaken.

Mrs. Edmund L. Bayliss, Chairman of the Women’s Division of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine Campaign, gives the signal for the steam shovel to start excavating for the women’s transept. At the right is Bishop William T. Manning.

Dedicated as the women’s transept, funding came 100% from the contributions of women. Sadly, the women’s transept was never completely finished. This was likely due to the events of Pearl Harbor, the outbreak of war and the curtailment of construction. Its incomplete structure later became an exhibit area and the gift shop. A fire on December 18, 2001 destroyed the structure.

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Strangers and Pilgrims: A centennial history of the Laymen’s Club of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Sypher, F.J.
New York Times archives
A description of The Pilgrim’s Pavement in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Dean Milo Hudson Gates.

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The Stories Roll On

As. we close out year three of the Divine Stone Project, we thank all of our readers, supporters and contributors. This year we posted 21 stories, the total for the project is now 90 small dives into the amazing story of the stonework at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The archives contain all of these. The stories roll on and we’ll keep them coming.

Looking Back.

With sadness, we celebrated the life of Jose Tapia whose spirit is imprinted on the the Southwest Tower. Robert F. Rodriguez authored a 40th anniversary post along with photos and videos on the dedication ceremony for the tower. Additionally, he produced a unique video interview with Philippe Petit about his memories of that day. Wayne Kempton, Archivist, and Tom Fedorek, Senior Guide continue to bless us with supportive information and insights.

Mark and I presented the stone work history of the Cathedral at the 18th annual Stonework Symposium in October of 2022. This event was sponsored by The Stone Foundation. Additionally, Mark Saxe acquired access to John Barton’s slide image library from his time at the Cathedral. John was the Architect-in-Residence during the Dean Morton era. Stephen Boyle reached back and provided descriptions and methods of setting the stone on the Tower.

Looking Forward

We are rounding the corner on the construction of the majestic Nave which will end with a focus on the West Front. There was some carving activity on the West Front in the 1960’s and we will cover that and some special contributions by Canon West. Shortly, we will be back to the Dean Morton era and more stories about the cutters, carvers and setters of that period.

We always welcome comments, suggestions, guest authors and storytellers. Please help keep the stories roll on.

Stay well and safe,

Roger Murphy & Mark Saxe

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