March 2008

A NEW GENESIS CYCLE FOR THE GREAT WEST DOOR
AT YORK MINSTER

The Farnham Decorative and Fine Arts Society met on Tuesday March 11th 2008 at the Maltings to hear a talk by the Sculptor Mr. Rory Young.

As this is the 25th Anniversary Year of the Society Mrs. Frances Ashworth announced that tickets for the Celebratory Recital and Lunch in July were available. She also said that the splendid work of our volunteers involved with the Art Project at the Watts Gallery and the Shoe Exhibition at Farnham Museum has been featured in the NADFAS Review and is respected nationwide.

Bookings are being taken for a Study Day on The History of Dress and for a visit to the American Museum near Bath, in May.

Mrs Ashworth then introduced the speaker, Mr. Rory Young, who is a designer of Architectural Works in Stone. The subject was A New Genesis Cycle for the Great West Doorway at York Minster. 

The West Front of York Minster was built during the 12th Century and The West Doorway completed in 1370. Erosion over the years and latterly pollution have made restoration of the stonework essential and since 1990 work has been carried out to preserve the building with new carving and a new interpretation of The Genesis Cycle round the West Doorway. The original sandstone images were removed and placed in a Museum. Mr. Young won the Competition to design images of the traditional figures brought into a modern concept. The sculptures represent the early chapters of Genesis from Adam and Eve to Abraham and include scenes of Cain and Abel, Noah and the Ark and the Tower of Babel. They depict the force of God over Man and the basis of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Mr. Young made clay models of his designs, which were then translated into plaster casts that could be copied by the Stone Carvers of York Minster. He used his friends, wearing relevant clothing, as models so each figure looks particularly lifelike with beautiful draped materials. Different imagery was introduced such as the Ark looking like a Viking Ship and the Tower of Babel coming down like the collapsing Campanile in 1920s Venice. These images had to be small enough to fit into the curved niches in the Archway, were designed to be seen from below and also to be seen to advantage in the evening light.

The stone carvers used carving copying machines of the style used by Canova to reproduce the sandstone sculptures from the plaster casts and then each one was placed in the archway. Other traditional decorations round the doorway were also recarved and the restoration was completed in 1998. The intricate and time consuming work was fully justified as the old carvings will be preserved and the wonderful new ones will last for centuries.

Mr. Young’s memorable talk showed how centuries of tradition can be brought skillfully up to date and the beauty of the carvings could be fully appreciated, enlarged, on the slides.