New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-10-11
SMASHES HIS ANGELS.
Sculptor Ends Discussion = Not
Committees Fault, Says DIR. Peters.

Gutzon Borglum the sculptor, yesterday smashed
to bits his figures of the Angel OF the Ahhunci'eoa'
and the Angel OF the Resurrection, mooeheo TOT
Belmont Chapel, In the Cathedral Of ST. John the
Divine determined that IL they were not 10 ne
used for the purpose for which he designed them
they should DO used for no other These were .ne
figures over whose s,sex" there has been much DIS
cussion. begun by an out-of-town clergyman VINO
found them distractingly feminine where ms lucas
of angels made them masculine
Mr.. Borglum did not consult the committee rep
resenting the trustees. He took chisel and maliet
and reduced to e. of plaster the hguFess nine
feet high which represented the best work OF
year. Now the trustees are in quandary as 70
what course to pursue They have ideas to
furnish to Mr. Borglum as to the construction or
angels. and quote no authorities while
Mr. Borgum's ideas were incorporated IN the
destroyed figures. which. he says followed all the
accepted ideals as to angels
Whether the committee will order new hgures as
tinctIy masculine has not been determined Why
angels should be of the male sex rather than the
female has not been author tatively decided Nj
Borgum is waiting for the ruling. He declined 10
discuss the question of the acceptablty OF his fig
ures He said:
All my ideas of anseis--aal the treatment by rec
ognized artists in all ages--haye been to eliminate
spiritual Sex viii be present If they are masculine
TO any one of a truly religious temperament, tne
How the sexual idea clings to these cannot un-
derstand, and yet, IL angels have angelic proper
Who'd be brute enough to send to tell the
Virgin she was to bear Son? That was the mis-
sion OF the Angel of the Annunciation.
Mr. BorgIum's destruction OF his statues was not
known to tho committee members IT'S ali news
to me-" said the Rev. DR.. Peters who with Dr.
Huntington has been in close touch with the
cathedral work. 'T didn't know he had broken up
the figures. There has been the greatest misap-
prehension in regard TO this subject There has
been discussion of these statues by Mr.. Borglum
and the committee. The public has taken IT up
and apparently has been greatly amused. but the
committee has not communicated with Mr., Borglum
about It. The attitude supposed to be maintained
by us is imaginative-the stories mostly fiction.
DR.. Peters went
The question of accepting these fgures had not
come up before the committee. Various other fig
ures had been placed but these models built
committee never has discussed the angels their
supposed sex for instruction to Mr. Borgum. We
have held meeting for that purpose None has
been called, and don't see why one should be-
We haven't taken up all this foolish talk about
the sex of angels or bothered to hunt up authori-
ties to sustain views. don't know that we shall
do anything about this.
The two figures were moulded in plaster. Mr..
Borglun's work done. All that remained was
TO have the figures carved in stone from his mod
els. which to be done by contracting firms.
The Belmont chapel, to be complete, probably will
require two figures for the Angel o$-the Annuncia-
ton and the Angel of the Resurrection.