St. Bartholomew's Church 109 East 50th Street Center portal of entrance New York New York 10022
Date:
1898. Installed 1904. Relocated 1918
Notes:
Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985
National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, NY0283, 1989.
Gayle, Margot & Michele Cohen, "Guide to Manhattan's Outdoor Sculpture," New York: Prentice Hall, 1988, pg. 327.
Monumental News, Dec. 1903, pg. 702.
Save Outdoor Sculpture, New York, New York survey, 1993.
Image on file.
Monumental News, Dec. 1903, pg. 702.
The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.
Summary:
The bronze doors are designed with three sets of two horizontal panels which are decorated with figures of the apostles and evangelists in the center panels and scenes from the New Testament on the upper and lower panels: Upper panel scenes--the Annunciation (left) and the Adoration of the Magi (right); Center panels--St. Matthew and St. Luke (left) St. John and St. Mark (right); Lower panel scenes--the Descent from the Cross (left) and the Way of the Cross (right). On either side of the center panels are smaller figures of prophets--Jeremiah, Mehemiah, Isaiah, and Daniel; and above and below the center panels are figures of the sibyls and classic symbols of the Church--the owl of Desolation, the serpent of Sin, the dragon representing the Devil, the cock of Vigilance, the pelican of Atonement, the peacock of Immortality, the phoenix of the Resurrection, and the eagle representing the spread of the Gospel. The semi-circular tympanum over the center bronze doors contains scenes of the Apotheosis and the Coronation of Christ. Below this is a frieze representing the Crucifixion. Inscriptions of Messianic quotations appearing above and below the frieze.
On either side of the center bronze doors, between the three arches of the entrance portals, is a frieze which depicts scenes in the Old and New Testaments. To the left, or north side of the center doors, the frieze depicts scenes of the kings from the East, the flight into Egypt, the betrayal of Jesus, and St. John the Baptist. To the right, or south side of the center doors, the frieze depicts scenes of Adam and Eve, the expulsion from Eden, the murder of Abel, and the enslaved Israelites freed by Moses. Individual figures reside atop columns which flank the center doors --on the left, or north side, is Elijah and on the right, or south side, is Moses. Between the center portal and the north and south portals, in the recessed areas between the columns, are the figures of four prophets. From north to south they are: Isaiah with sword and book, Elijah with his chariot, Jeremiah holding his staff, and Moses with the Law on tables of stone.
