Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
triptych for reredos, Chapel of the Holy Spirit, Washington National Cathedral
Medium: Oil on gessoed hardboard
Date: 1935
Dimensions:
right and left angel panels: approximately 72 x 26 in. (182.8 x 66 cm); Christ panel: approximately 96 x 40 in. (243.8 x 101.5 cm) ; each dove pane: approximately 22 1/2 x 12 in. (57.1 x 30.4 cm)
Washington National Cathedral
Accession number: SUPP2000.1471
Research Number: NCW: 1471
References
"Children’s Artist, A Painter and Muralist of World Renown, N. C. Wyeth Likes Best To Paint for Youth, Hopes and Dreams," (Wilmington, DE) Delmarva Star, August 19, 1934, p. 12; Marshall Gantt, "Brush, Palette and Pencil," (Wilmington, DE) Journal Every Evening, Oct. 15, 1935; "Wyeth Mural Shatters Tradition of Frail Christ," clipping from unidentified newspaper (Simpson scrapbooks, Delaware Art Museum library); The Cathedral Age, vol. XIV, no. 1 (Spring 1939), p. 4; The Cathedral Age, vol. XVI, no. 4 (Winter 1942), p. 22; Betsy James Wyeth, ed., The Wyeths, The Letters of N. C. Wyeth, 1901-1945 (Boston: Gambit, 1971), p. 747; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 164-165, illus. in color p. 172; Ty Harrington, The Last Cathedral (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall), 1979, ps. 86-87; James F. Cooper, "Bouguereau Pieta at National Cathedral," American Arts Quarterly, vol. XIV, no. 4 (Fall 1997), illus in color p. 5; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), M.55, p. 624
Curatorial RemarksIn August 1933, Wyeth was invited to Washington by G. C. F. Bratenahl, Dean of the National Cathedral, to discuss the program of a triptych for the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. After several months of correspondence, a contract was signed on Dec. 15, 1933. In consultation with the Dean and others Wyeth arrived at a program: "...my desire is to make a direct appeal from the face and figure of Christ to the pilgrim, rather than to create a drama within the design" (NCW to G.C.F. Bratenahl, Oct. 6, 1933, Archives, Washington National Cathedral). Although the contract called for the completion of the project by July, 1934, a late decision to add sculptural elements to each panel caused a setback for the artist, who was still at work on the project (specifically on the panel of doves below the three main images) in August, 1935. Letters to and from the artist, the contract, and other papers are held in the Archives of Washington National Cathedral. The Brandywine River Museum holds archival photographs that show Wyeth's proposed compositions set into an architect's drawing of the elaborate wooden frame (NCWS.95.6580); the appearance of the central panel prior to the addition of the sculptural elements; the dove panels (done in groups of 2, 2 and 3) while still in the studio; and the entire work positioned in the chapel but prior to the installation of the frame work. The museum also holds the charcoal composition drawings for the right side of the triptych (NCW 2038, 96.1.536) and for the Christ figure (NCW 2049, 96.1.503).;Wyeth used the expertise of Wilmington carver Frank Coll to originally build some three dimensionality into the center panel. Notations of Coll's experiments to achieve a surface on plaster of paris embossments that would take burnished gold are contained in a formula book written by Coll (private collection, Wilmington, DE). Coll experimented with at least five different combinations of shellac, bole, and whiting as a basis for the gold leaf.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Digital scan from printed image
Photo Credit:Brandywine River Museum library collection