St. Vitus is the patron saint of actors, comedians, dancers and epileptics. He is also the patron saint of Aquilonia, a town in Italy, and hometown to a number of immigrants who found their way to the Pine Street neighborhood of Montclair. Last fall, Club Aquilonese of Montclair decided it wanted to honor its past by commissioning a statue of St. Vitus, which would stand in the gardens of Holy Face Monastery in Clifton. They contacted local artist, architect and historian Frank Gerard Godlewski, who had lived 23 years in Italy, for help finding an Italian artisan.
"My family is from Naples and I had a glorious life there for more than 10 years restoring antiquities," said Godlewski, better known to Baristanet readers as FrankGG. "So I offered to create the statue myself."
The five-foot tall, 300-pound maiolica statue, took more three months to construct. It began with a photographs of the wood sculpture of St. Vitus in Aquilonia, which Godlewski then rendered into three-dimension drawing plans and a miniature model, before building the full statue built from clay in his Essex Fells home. It took a full month to dry and was then transported by art movers to Peters Valley Crafts Center on the Delaware Water Gap for firing and glazing. "Miraculously, it arrived without breaking," he said. When the inital glaze turned out too shiny, Godlewski took it to an autobody shop to have the finish sandblasted.
Although the sculpture was extremely delicate, now that it's fired and glazed, it's strong enough to ride, cushioned with pillows and blankets, in the back seat of Godlewski's Volvo. Next week it will make the journey to the monastery in Clifton, and on May 17 it will be officially welcomed into the sculpture garden following mass.
"While working on the statue in such an archaic medium, I felt as if I were back in Italy, somewhere along the Amalfi coast and in another century," Godlewski said. "I can't wait to do the next one!"
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Comments (6)
Frank GG, you rule. I love that you went from feeling "on the Amalfi coast in another century" to sandblasting the saint at an auto body shop. It's all about doing the work!
Looks like the kid from the movie Mask, Eric Stoltz.
Wow, What a great story! And a beautiful statue Frank GG!
Frank, I attend Mass periodically at the Monastery, so I will definitely look for your statue.
Thank you for all your kind words and to Debbie for this miraculous reportage. I do hope that you can all sometimes visit Peters Valley because its a nearby paradise, less than an hour away at the Delaware Water Gap. Master Craftsman Bruce Dehnert was a saint to bake this oversized statue and to guide me along with the glazings. Otherwise it was not possible to do this around here in the states so far away from the Amalfi Coast craftsmen, I believe. Its a fabulous daytrip. There is a historic house in the village that is a Neo Greco tempio made into a house. I hope to have the piacere to sometime meet Cather at there at Holy Face since he is local I believe.
Kudos, Frank! Peters Valley and Walpack Center are amazing places to visit.