H ouse and Garden 
allowed his individuality full play. Each was 
conscious of the others in all that he did. It 
was not only the regulation of scale and the 
enforcing of a selected design, but subordina¬ 
tion of the personal idiom to a common note 
of expression thatweighed upon the sculptors. 
If the casual observer were as sensitive to 
sculpture as he is to painting, he might detect 
differences of aim between these pairs of 
doors akin to the irreconcilable divergence 
of the three large painted decorative panels 
in the Appellate Court room in New York. 
But nearly always, in work of this kind, the 
question of time is all important. Rather 
than wait indefinitely for one artist to accom¬ 
plish a great task, architects and clients are 
wont to break up the work into fragments, 
doling them out to as many men as possible. 
An exception to which lovers of serious 
sculpture may look forward will be the three 
pairs of bronze doors for the Boston Public 
Library, now in the foundry, on which Mr. 
French has worked at intervals for nearly 
ten years. They will be about as large as 
these of St. Bartholomew’s, and each fold 
will bear a single figure in low relief. 
While symmetry for its own sake is not 
to be insisted on too rigidly, there is one 
feature of this splendid decorative scheme in 
which its absence is felt. Owing to the 
heavy supporting wall of the tower, the 
north doorway of the church (at the right in 
the illustration) is a little farther from the 
center than the south doorway. This has 
not been regarded, however, in determining 
the length of the north frieze panel, which 
is exactly that of the south panel, and con¬ 
sequently does not reach to the edge of the 
north archivolt. It is probable that a dif¬ 
ference in length of frieze would have 
troubled the eye far less than the present 
awkward space left open at the north end, 
but not at the south. The difference be¬ 
tween the columns here, which are engaged 
at the south end but free at this point, does 
not wholly explain to the layman the cause 
for a contrast so sharp. 
Figures of the early followers of Christ, 
with incidents in their lives, form the main 
theme of the doors. The central pair por¬ 
trays in its middle panels the four Evangel¬ 
ists, each flanked by the prophets whose 
writings his gospel narrative most clearly con¬ 
summates. Above and below these are the 
sibyls of legend, Delphian, Persian, Eryth¬ 
raean and Cumaean. The two upper elliptical 
groups represent the Annunciation and the 
Adoration of the Magi; the lower ones, the 
Way to the Cross and the Descent from the 
Cross. Allegorical creatures, typical of vari¬ 
ous attributes, abound. 
The north pair of bronze doors, by Philip 
Martiny, devotes its center panels to St. 
Philip and St. James and to St. Andrew and 
St. Bartholomew. Of the four elliptical pan¬ 
els, the upper ones show the Descent of the 
Holy G host and Christ’s Ascension ; the 
lower ones, the betrayal by Judas and the 
remitting of the church to Peter’s trust. 
Cherub heads and curious beasts, the latter 
to be used as handles, are also here. 
Herbert Adams, in designing the south 
pair of doors, chose Peter and Andrew for 
two of his chief figures, and Paul and Barna¬ 
bas for the others. The upper ellipses show 
the Transfiguration and the conversion of 
St. Paul, suggesting the reception of the 
Spirit by the followers of Christ. The lower 
ellipses present the apostles at work, Peter 
addressing the Centurion and Paul preaching 
at Philippi. More cherub heads are in¬ 
cluded, and in all the doors, plant forms are 
used freely for borders and filling. 
The lintels over the doors show in high 
relief the Way to the Cross, the Crucifixion 
and the Procession to the Grave, respect¬ 
ively,the list beginning at the north. The tym¬ 
panums, in the same order, represent angels 
adoring the Infant Jesus and John the Bap¬ 
tist, the Coronation of Christ, and the Ma¬ 
donna and Child. The two large friezes, 
carved by Messrs. French and O’Connor, 
depict on one side scenes in early Old Tes¬ 
tament history, the expulsion from Eden, 
etc., and on the other, episodes in the earthly 
life of the Saviour, both groups being in 
high relief, and culminating in the central 
tympanum, the Coronation of Christ. 
The realization of the subjects in detail is 
less important, from the point of view of an 
architectural periodical, than the general dec¬ 
orative effect. But it may be noted that a 
spirit of reverence has guided the artists, and 
that not only are the subjects happily chosen 
but their salient characteristics are brought out 
with no little technical resource and a good 
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