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Darth Vader Sculpture on Washington National Cathedral
Michael Breeden writes "Star Wars has apparently taken another step in becoming part of our national history. The Washington National Cathedral, during its expansion, has placed a sculpture of Darth Vader's head into the carvings around one of the exterior arches. This space is normally reserved for grotesques (gargoyles), and ol' Darth seems to have fit the bill. "
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I've got Jar-Jar's head on a stake in my front lawn. Much more pleasing to the eye, imo.
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Join me, and together we'll harness the power of the slashdot, and spread 'cannot find server' errors across the galaxy.
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The line I got when I toured the cathedral several years ago is that the architects of future expansions were planning to incorporate icons and images from americana into the design of the cathedral. Darth Vader is distinctly American, I suppose.
The woman who gave the tour also said that there were other modern images and characters on the exterior of the structure, though I forget what they were.
Never underestimate the potential of Human stupidity. -Heinlein
The Darth gargoyle was carved and placed on the Cathedral in the 1980s--it was carved by master sculptor Palumbo (RIP) by a young lad who received honorable mention in a "Design-a-gargoyle" contest sponsored by World magazine (National Geographic for children).
The winner was a smiling gargoyle toting an umbrella.
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Mirros:
8 /http://w ww.cathedral.org/cathedral/discover/darth.shtml
r xapSYQmgC: www.cathedral.org/cathedral/discover/darth.shtml+& hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Archive.org mirror:
http://web.archive.org/web/2002060718373
Google archive:
http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:1i
Not much faster, though. Wasn't this posted a long time ago?
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's bandwidth.
Thou shalt not slashdot thy neighbor's server.
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One of the few medieval churches in Norway, nidarosdomen, was restaurated many years ago, and some people have noticed that the figure of the archangel Michael bears an uncanny resemblance to someone...
And this year the artist admitted it: it IS in fact Dob Dylan.
(It's true! Pity I don't have a link)
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The national cathedral has many unique gargoyles, that's typical of the medieval style actually. Since many of them could never be seen except (in the pre-binocular/telescope age) the carvers, they could sculpt bosses they hated, cultural figures, politicians, etc. There was an issue of Smithsonian magazine that described some of them (the artists were left to their own will, mostly, on what they could put up there). There's undoubtedly a number more of these little "easter eggs" put in those doing the construction.
And it's a nice complement to the chunk of moon rock in the 'creation' stained glass window there also.
There was a competition for children to design a bit of sculpture for the cathedral. Personally, I think this choice is great: I suspect it's high and out-of-the-way enough, and similar enough to other random gargoyles, that you'll miss it unless you look carefully and think, "Hey, wait a minute..."
I also enjoyed their rationale. Heh. It's even sort of true, if you replace "evil" with "mythical monsters".
"Centuries ago, on our cathedrals, grotesques were intended to symbolize the evil that existed outside the church. Today, Darth Vader is an excellent example of evil in our times."
As Washington National Cathedral approached completion, the west towers rose towards the sky, striking toward heaven. During the building a startling idea was hatched: hold a competition for children to design decorative sculpture for the Cathedral.
Word of the competition was spread nationwide through National Geographic World Magazine. The third-place winner was Christopher Rader, with his drawing of that fearful villain, Darth Vader. The fierce head was sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter, carved by Patrick J. Plunkett and placed high upon the northwest tower of the Cathedral...
"My God...It's full of ads!" -Fry, about the Internet, Futurama
In honor of Lord Vader's contributions to the Washington National Cathedral, he will be remembered as Saint Anakin, who performed the miracle of telepathetically choking sinners.
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
I recall reading about the Darth Vader inclusion back in the 1980s. ^^ It's not something new; he was actually included by a fairly famous sculptor during that time. You can see his bio and a picture of Vader here:
http://www.stoneguild.com/m_plunkett.htm
I hear from reliable sources that it is not in fact Darth Vader. Instead, it is William Shatner in a Darth Vader mask.
Despite the writeup, I don't believe this story is remotely new. During the later construction, the designers held a contest for children to design gargoyles. The third-place winner designed a Darth Vader figure. It was probably up when you visited.
Incidentally, it's perfectly in keeping with the practices of European and older American cathedrals, just much less old.
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FTA:
As Washington National Cathedral approached completion, the west towers rose towards the sky, striking toward heaven. During the building a startling idea was hatched: hold a competition for children to design decorative sculpture for the Cathedral.
Darth Vader Drawing
Word of the competition was spread nationwide through National Geographic World Magazine. The third-place winner was Christopher Rader, with his drawing of that fearful villain, Darth Vader. The fierce head was sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter, carved by Patrick J. Plunkett and placed high upon the northwest tower of the Cathedral...
To see pics, go here Google Image Search
You can also search on 'cathedral kid' in Google Images, the kid that drew it is about half way down.
Though the Darth Vader head is new to me there has been a much scarier human "gargoyle" has been there for many years. This human gargoyle is a LAWYER. For a brief history of gargoyles check this out Some info about the human "gargoyle" is near the bottom.
We had to destroy the sig to save the sig.
Does anyone know if this Star Wars fascination is as big in Europe, specifically the UK, as it is in the US? I really think it fulfills some kind of "missing race memory" or something here, the US missing out on the Dark and Middle Ages and all. Coup Sticks and Dreamcatchers are all very well and good, but they don't hold a cathedral candle to long swords and grail quests.
If we had our own, *real* King Arthur (or as real as King Arthur was, anyways...) would we be clamoring so much for George Lucas' pre-fab techno Arthuriana?
I actually went to school there and learnt a lot about the Cathedral. Being interested in sculpture, it was a great place to be.
Darth is definitely on the Cathedral. They have a whole lot of other secrets everywhere in that building. It would make a nice coffee table book.
From my understanding all cathedrals have small little secrets like this. They are sort of like "Easter Eggs" in programs. Something spiffy and neat if you know where to look for it.
My favorite story about the National Cathedral (and 100% true)is that the faces for the "Genesis" sculpture on the front center doorway were modeled after strippers and waiters from an old Georgetown strip club.
Just for those who aren't aware, Thomas Jefferson was a Deist. His objections to Christianity most likely weren't along the same lines as those objections many people today might have. The quote, out of context, may seem to be something it is not.
According to a visibly self-impressed George Lucas, "yeah, if I had a nickel for every time someone told me it's easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, I'd still be filthy rich. But seriously, I figure all you need is an inside man at the church. According to my metaphysical effects team at ILM, a gargoyle at the National Cathedral should let me bypass all those philanthropic hoops John D. Rockefeller had to jump through."
(Parody? Perhaps....)
...Does that mean that the Bazaar has Luke Skywalker?
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This isn't exactly news. This was done at least ten years ago. Darth Vader is a standard depiciton of evil. There is also a grotesque of Adolf Hitler on one of the towers at the National Cathedral (I live about a mile away from it...)
I've been to the National Cathedral... it's a beautiful place, even for pagans such as myself. Why would they carve a Darth Vader into the arches?
"To Find Darth Vader you have to leave the building through the ramp entrance. This is located at the northwest corner of the nave, through the double wooden doors of Lincoln Bay. Go down the ramp, and step into the parking lot. Then, turn around and look back up at the tower closest to you. He is almost impossible to see ithout the assistance of binoculars."
Something tells me the "addition" isn't exactly an eyesore.
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Heh. This article evokes some memories for me. As a previous poster mentioned, there are hordes of unique gargoyles on the National Cathedral (I had lots of time to check them out as a student on the Cathedral Close in the 90s).
By far my favorite is a gargoyle facing NCS, the Cathedral-affiliated girl's school. It's carved to resemble a constuction worker lewdly whistling at the nymphets passing by on their way to class...
For those that want to read the article but can't due to the slashdotting...
Darth Vader It's slow, but works,
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Then here's the text only version...
About Darth Vader As Washington National Cathedral approached completion, the west towers rose towards the sky, striking toward heaven. During the building a startling idea was hatched: hold a competition for children to design decorative sculpture for the Cathedral.
Darth Vader Drawing (img.)
Word of the competition was spread nationwide through National Geographic World Magazine. The third-place winner was Christopher Rader, with his drawing of that fearful villain, Darth Vader. The fierce head was sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter, carved by Patrick J. Plunkett and placed high upon the northwest tower of the Cathedral...
Newspaper Clipping (img.)
Darth Vader Location (img.)
To Find Darth Vader you have to leave the building through the ramp entrance. This is located at the northwest corner of the nave, through the double wooden doors of Lincoln Bay. Go down the ramp, and step into the parking lot. Then, turn around and look back up at the tower closest to you. He is almost impossible to see without the assistance of binoculars.
Way way way up, almost at the top of the tower is a gablet, or small peaked roof, located between the two huge louvered arches. At the bottom of each slope of this gablet is a carved grotesque. Darth Vader is on the north, or right-hand, side. There is a carved skull situated on a gablet much closer to the ground which many people often mistake for Darth Vader. From this skull, Darth Vader is up and to the left.
"Some things have to be believed to be seen." - Ralph Hodgson
There is nothing wrong with a Church recognizing a head of state, even a head from an evil empire. A church can also endorse or suppress the U.S. government, within the limits of law.
The U.S. government can also give money, tanks, cheese, or anything else to churches. But it has to do so without preference to any single church.
This is one fallacy often used in discussions about government programs which might give money to private or church-operated schools. Most common is a "voucher" system, where parents get a voucher for a child's education, and they can give that voucher to whatever school they want the kid to attend (and the school then gets the specified amount of money for the service). If a parent chooses a Catholic, Jewish, or SubGenius school, that is no more relevant than if the money goes to a public or private school.
Another oddity recently showed up in news reports: a Catholic church leader urging tax increases for funding of "social programs". Well, a non-profit agency doing lobbying is not allowed. Also, if a church wants to have the State take money from people then that church should stop accepting donations and use only that money from the State which is considered to be so important that it must be taken from people by force rather than being donated. But the U.S. government can not show preference -- so all churches would get such funds. I haven't heard that church leader considering the effects of forcing people give money.
Don't be too proud of this architectural terror you've constructed. The ability to carve a head in stone is insignificant next to the power of a Slashdotting.
I find your lack of bandwidth disturbing...