The New Entrances of St. Bartholomew’s Church 
deal of positiveness of conviction. More 
than this, the inspiration seems mainly to 
have come from the contemplation of the 
subjects and of the spaces to be filled. For 
the artists concerned, this was truly a rare 
opportunity. 
The real function of decorative sculpture 
has been defined as to diversify and heighten 
the appeal of the architecture underlying it, 
through the breaking of surfaces into light and 
dark, judiciously distributed. This sculp¬ 
ture fulfils admirably the conditions imposed. 
Seen from across Madison Avenue, the 
details of the figures are lost in a well con¬ 
ceived scheme of spaces more or less deeply 
cut, and bearing agreeable and well balanced 
relations to one another. Simplicity is the 
last thing to expect of any of the doors, for 
there is a profusion of active figures and of 
ornament in every one of them. The main 
vertical division of each fold is into three prin¬ 
cipal parts, the center being rectangular and up¬ 
right,and the upper and lower being elliptical. 
I his latter shape is quite characteristic of these 
doors. So is the deep under-cutting of much 
of the ornament. Ghiberti has not been for¬ 
gotten by these modern and progressive de¬ 
signers, but his Florence Baptistery gates are 
sober and restrained beside this daring and 
interesting bronze work. As for Pisano and 
Luca della Robbia, their Florentine gates, 
made up of many symmetrical units, belong 
to another world which might never have 
existed. Severely impressive, they stand in 
relation to these doors of St. Bartholomew’s 
as an old master of painting compares with a 
picture by a contemporary. But each style 
belongs to its own period. 
The central and south pairs of doors were 
cast by John Williams, in cooperation with 
The Roman Bronze Works. The Martiny 
doors, at the north entrance, were cast, each 
fold in one piece, a remarkable achievement, 
by The Henri-Bonnard Bronze Company. 
In the two large friezes, the figures are 
bending from each side toward the center, 
to add life and movement. Traces of John 
S. Sargent’s influence are frequent in Mr. 
O’Connor’s work, but they need not disturb 
anyone. The obtrusion of a sculptured 
group over each impost of the central arch 
adds to the forcefulness of the whole screen, 
while the heavy horizontal lines established 
by the friezes and by the ledge that runs 
over the column capitals, play a valuable 
part in the whole. The architects, indeed, 
must be allowed much of the glory of this 
successful achievement. Tambour. 
The Gardens of the Dolma-Bahtche—Constantinople 
I38 
