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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: twelve apostles missing plus three mystery statues
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
Back in 1903 my local university (Stanford) officially opened its chapel; unofficially it took another couple of years to finish it and then much of it was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake (it was rebuilt). Now I've known for some time that the chancel originally had statues of the 12 apostles and I've seen pictures of them after the quake and a closeup. However not until recently had I seen a closeup prior to the quake. My first question is who are the three figures on the altar; I had never heard of their existence before. One I assume is the virgin Mary; any guesses on the others?
No one knows what happened to the statues after the quake (though I'm not sure anyone has looked hard, the donor had died before the quake). The three on the altar almost certainly got smashed (even the altar isn't the same though whether they recut the previous one or got a new one isn't clear) but at least a few of the others seem to have survived to some degree. The general feeling seems to be that the church was much improved by the vanishing (the niches for the 12 apostles now generally have candles during services). Do people agree the general feeling is right?
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
The middle one on the altar seems to be the risen Christ (tipoff is the naked shoulder/chest under the himation).
The other--I'm thinking either St. Joseph or St. John. Hard to tell. St. Joseph if they were thinking of giving St. John his own niche with the other apostles, plus the fact that he's the third key figure in the Nativity scenes. St. John if they're focusing on the Passion/Resurrection and don't mind getting the guy in twice.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
For what it's worth, I had a look at the stained glass windows just above, and the two panels intervening. The center glass is the crucifixion, with the ascension on the right (can't see the left). The two panels seem to be the finding of the Holy Cross and the crowning of the Virgin. I can't see the image on the front side of the altar. Maybe putting all those together could give you guess at the statue on the right top of altar.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Ha, wrong again (why is this obsessing me?) Apparently it was built to be interdenominational from the beginning, and the two panels are simply cross and crown, not specific refs. to the finding of the cross or the crowning of the Virgin. So saith Wikipedia, anyway. And also that the other window is the Nativity. Given that fact, and the donor's known preference for highlighting women and family, my money's on St. Joseph for the third statue.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
Are statues actually ON the altar usual anywhere? How do you use it as an altar if it has three whacking great statues on it?
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Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
I'd go for (L to R):
Virgin Mary - Risen Christ/Good Shepherd - Joseph
As for how to use an altar with 3 huge statues on it: its listed as a memorial chapel and I'm guessing that while described as interdenominational it would be seen primarily as a place for non-eucharistic worship.
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
Memorial chapel in the sense of the entire building being a memorial to Leland Stanford senior (as the university is a memorial to his only child); the chapel is certainly used for regular services. There is a separate free standing table used for communion services now but I think that is much more recent (I agree that using the altar with statues on it for a service would be tricky).
I've just trawled the archives of the student newspaper and found the following
quote:
The altar, surrounded as it is by the richest decoration of the edifice, is of purest white Carrara marble. The candelabra, the life-size marble figures, a representation of Thorwaldson's "Holy Family," and the bas-relief of Ruben's painting, "The Entombment,'' are its features.
So it looks like Mary, Jesus, and Joseph are correct (assuming the student newspaper is correct which is problematic).
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Regarding the cross and crown -- my church has stained glass windows that use the cross in connection with the crucifixion (like duh!) and the crown in connection with the ascension. So that may be the intended reference in the Memorial Chapel.
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Amos
Shipmate
# 44
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Posted
The earthquake wasn't all bad then.
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At the end of the day we face our Maker alongside Jesus--ken
Posts: 7667 | From: Summerisle | Registered: May 2001
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
The earthquake wasn't all bad then.
Not all bad though bad enough. Earthquakes do provide a chance to say good riddance to certain structures though I do wonder if someone's backyard has a battered apostle in it. Oddly enough almost all the stained glass windows survived the quake as did the organ.
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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The Silent Acolyte
Shipmate
# 1158
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Posted
The central statute looks to be Christus Consolator. There is one in the dome of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, a copy of the statue in Church of our Lady, Copenhagen.
Posts: 7462 | From: The New World | Registered: Aug 2001
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
based on one by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770?-1844). There is a whole wikipededia article on it (which I can't link to for some reason). It is apparently a very popular depiction with Mormons. It is not so clear whether the Mary and Joseph were copies of sculptures by him.
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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The Silent Acolyte
Shipmate
# 1158
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Posted
Yup, a copy of the Thorvaldsen. And contrary to the Stanford student newspaper, just jamming Mary, Jesus, and Dad together a Holy Family does not make.
Links to Wikipedia usually have to be put through a url mangler like tinyurl or bitly to be posted on this ancient BBS.
Posts: 7462 | From: The New World | Registered: Aug 2001
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Silent Acolyte:
Yup, a copy of the Thorvaldsen. And contrary to the Stanford student newspaper, just jamming Mary, Jesus, and Dad together a Holy Family does not make.
The newspaper also mangled Thorvaldsen's name. I have a suspicion that the Mary and Joseph were based on something from a different sculptor (or two).
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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