New Pieces and Old Stories Arrive in the Sanctuary

By Deborah Odette

Recently, you may have noticed some changes inside the church. At the back of St. Paul’s chapel, there is now a pedestal on which a curious sculpture, called the Beast, is installed. Across the Sanctuary, a stone base now sits under the leaded glass window which looks into the library. 

The Beast was a gift to our parish from St. Dunstan’s Church in Cranbrook, England. In 1930, Henry Booth wrote to St. Dunstan’s, asking for a stone to commemorate the connection between that church and ours. Laura Macnewman documented the correspondence in a Cranbrook Kitchen Sink blog several years ago. She quoted a 1931 letter from the Rev. Swingler of St Dunstan’s, indicating that their Vestry had selected a “coign” stone and that it was already en route. Rev. Swingler’s letter went on: 

“With regard to the stone itself, I am afraid you cannot call it beautiful, but it is a fifteenth-century carving as far as I can tell which once formed part of the string course which runs at the base of the Nave. There is a series of grotesque heads, some of which were pierced for waterspouts. It lay in the churchyard when I first knew it, evidently not having been replaced during repairs. It was afterwards brought into the church for preservation.” 

Once it arrived, the Beast was placed outside St. Dunstan’s Chapel, where it stayed for many years. It was reinstalled outdoors after the Little Lambs playground was constructed, and afterwards met with an unfortunate mishap involving little children, who love to color things, and sidewalk chalk. Thus, after centuries of guarding churches on the outside, the Beast has once again been moved inside “for preservation”. It may not be beautiful, but it is a fascinating part of Christ Church Cranbrook history and underscores the connection between our parish and the Booths’ ancestral home. 

From the Middle Ages to the 20th century: 

In 1966, the important 20th-century artist Marc Chagall created a portfolio of 24 color lithographs entitled The Story of the Exodus. It presents images taken from the Old Testament story of the Israelites’ escape from Egypt – including the infant Moses found among the bulrushes and Moses before the burning bush. A limited edition of 250 copies was printed. 

Chagall was born in 1887, a Belarusian/French artist of Jewish ancestry. Throughout his prolific career, his work in prints, paintings, drawings, book illustrations, and stained glass often illustrated the history, heritage, and rituals of Jewish life. His work is now universally recognized throughout the world. Picasso once said, “When Matisse dies, Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is.” 

In 2023, an edition of this portfolio was gifted to our church by Richard and Joanne Brodie. It will be permanently viewable in the sanctuary under the library window, under a specially constructed plexiglass vitrine. Because works of art on paper are light sensitive, and we all want to

see and enjoy each of the 24 prints, the case will be periodically opened, and a different lithograph will be displayed, revealing another Chagall masterpiece and another Old Testament lesson. 

The installation of these works of art in our church was made possible through the generosity of Ethan and Gretchen Davidson as well as Fr. Bill and Claire Danaher.

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