Facade of St. Joseph's School, (sculpture).

Facade of St. Joseph's School, (sculpture).

Gosselin, Lucien H., 1883-1940, sculptor.

Provost, Wilfred, architect.

Thomas O'Connor and Company, contractor.

Cambridge Cement Stone Company, fabricator.

Facade of St. Joseph's School, (sculpture).

St. Joseph, St. John Baptist De La Salle, and the Four Evangelists (St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John), (sculpture).

Dedicated Jan. 4, 1930.

Digital Reference:

6 units. Each buttress figure: approx. 15 ft. x 20 in. x 2 ft.; Relief: approx. 4 ft. x 5 ft. x 6 in.; St. Joseph: approx. 6 x 3 x 1 ft.

Several sculptural elements adorn the front facade of a school building. In the arched overhead niche of the front entrance is a bas-relief panel of St. John Baptist de la Salle. The saint stands in the center of the panel. He wears highly decorated ecclesiastical robes and a halo. His arms are outstretched. Rays of light emanate from his head and body. He is surrounded on both sides by groups of angels facing him in profile. Billows of clouds decorate the foreground of the scene. Standing in a niche directly above the relief scene, near the top of the building, is a figure of St. Joseph. He wears long robes and holds a stalk of lilies in his proper right hand. His proper left arm is bent and his hand rests on his chest. He has a beard and moustache. A halo is visible behind his head and rays of light emanate from it. On the two front corners and flanking the niche St. Joseph stands in, are buttresses which extend to the top of the building. The front of each buttress is an abstracted bas-relief of the robed torso one of the four Evangelists; the heads of the evangelists extend above the top of the building. The evangelists have beards and moustaches.

Religion -- Saint -- St. John

Religion -- Saint -- St. Joseph

Religion -- Angel

Religion -- Saint -- St. Matthew

Religion -- Saint -- St. Mark

Religion -- Saint -- St. Luke

Outdoor Sculpture -- New Hampshire -- Keene

Architectural component

St. Joseph's School, 92 Wilson Street, P. O. Box 625, Keene, New Hampshire 03431

The school was built in 1929-1930 and was dedicated Jan. 6, 1930. The selection and grouping of the figures on the facade was done by the Rev. P. J. Scott. The sculpture of the four evangelists on the high buttresses of the building were modeled from an earlier painting; a steel plate copy of the painting was owned by Rev. Scott. IAS files contain copy of related article from New Hampshire Sentinel (Keene, NH) Sept. 18, 1929.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, New Hampshire survey, 1993.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

Control Number:

Horizon Information Portal 3.25_9382

Powered by SirsiDynix

About | © 2020 Smithsonian | Terms of Use | Privacy | Contact

SIRIS - Smithsonian Institution Research Information System