The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-08-11
DEFENDS ST. THOMAS
 CHURCH SCULPTURES
Robb Says Architect Has Right to Depict People
 ln Carvings.

immense crowds now go to St.
 Ihomas church on Fifth avenue in
 tSn t~~ ,,tt2o t1ak. not to worship. but to see 11le Htue stone image carved in the
 Gothic arch above the door. The
 iinaees represent Fifth avenue types,
 including the alcoholic old sport, the
 youth "1ln monoc1e, the million
 them. Inside the church there are
 more types They are also around
 the altar, under the choir seats and
 ere an tde descTibsd cered9s; h Some of the types
 the architects draftsman who design
 ed the exterior of the church, as "the
 nora and fauna of Fifth avenue.''
 MT. RoDb was in New Haven yes-
 Ieroay ana defended the sculptures of
 me lne c9urchc- He was the chief drafts
 when the church was rebuilt about
 I~eNe years ago, but he left that
 arm ar ana Is now a member of the
 nlM oI fTohman, Robb & Little of yesterday MT. Robb said an architect
 IS well within his rights when he sezes upon the people and activities oL everyday life as the subject for
 MT. Robb called attentio, fo +,a tact that the cathedraIs of the Mid
 dle Ages frequently used the virtues ana wees In decoration as a means
 ol lnslructfon- He says it is there lore proper today to use the symbols
 Of true and false marriage love as
 moufs for the decoration of a church
 The money bags'' decoration is one
 oL a group representing modern in three small money sacks and thn ims ltlals J- F. NJ" which are those of J. F. Morgan as representative of
 banking, and at the time the church
 was pu1It ne was the wealthiest lay hi
 York. -A- 4>e"
 Lenine and Trotsky appear in a Gs]r'lng entitled, @The Russian Bear Beins Doped-' Their faces are at ;acneE ;s hefd, 10 apenke bodies and Lenine 1s holding the bear by the ear while Trotsky pours into a spoon the cor tents of bottle which is called So V1et medicine. When President vii son returned from Paris the drafts man supposed that the United States would Join the League of Nations so th1s group was depicted by a repro ductlon of the Tree of the Kingdom or Heaven. In the tree are carved hgures of birds representing the prin- cipal nations and conspicuous among them Is the American eagle
 Pro61bit1on" is carved On the back of one of the last row choir seats known as the miserere seats. by woman supposed to renresent the Anti-Saloon League It was in tended to have a bunch of grapes on each side of the two figures, but one or the women members of the church persuaded the rector to have one bunch of grapes and one life-size lemon. The lemon is symbolic of | e eenfonade: One group shows cap ltal and labor struggling. In another | group is Salvation Army lassie with l } tray of doughnuts and with a i 1oughboy and poilu on either side of | her. Among the individual figures | carved above the choir seats are those | of King George, King Albert, Clemen- | Marshal Haig, Admiral Beatty, Mar 5hal Joffre, Edith Caven, Cardinal | Hercter, Burgomaster Max, Bishop | Brent, Bishop Burch, General Allen VI MNarshal Foch. General Pershing, | 9aderewski and Woodrow wilson.
 MT. Robb, in defending the satt-ica1 'arVing in New Haven yesterday, s<.its nent the efforts Of the preacher by employing designs as will call the attention of the people to them ,elVes as they are in contrast to the Christian ideal. Not all the things hat the preacher says in his sermon Ire pleasant, nor is the subject all ways pleasant. Neither should all he subjects employed by the artist n the decoration of a church be pleasant
 MT. Robb said he was largely re- ponsible for the use of the dollar mark, over the brides door, opposite he true lovers knot On one side he true lovers knot represents rue marriage; it is on the southern ide-the sunny, warm, affctionate idle. The dollar mark is on the orthern side of the decoration, the old and sunless side It represents he 1oveless marriage, the marriage 1ade for wealth and social posi- ion.
 The sculptures have been in ex- stence for ten years and 1t took a cry trivial thing, MT. Robb said, the discovery Of the dollar mark over the I rides door, to call the peoples at sntion to the fact that the carvings the church had any significance. -e said this is frequently the case with .orks of art and it is usually after a icture has been stolen that people egin to take an interest in 1t.