. . . is permanently installed in the National Cathedral. Some friends and I ventured out to the Natty C's open house weekend after we heard a rumor that WAMU's Stained Glass Bluegrass had orchestrated some hoopin' and hollerin' (i.e., bluegrass) for the event. But as you could well understand, we were sidetracked when we saw a flyer stating that Darth Vader was on the premises.
In fact, Darth Vader is in the premises. There's a grotesque of his bust on the north façade. Apparently the Cathedral's planners weren't satisfied with a hodge-podge building comprising various ill-applied historic European traditions—what it really needed was a contest for children to design a few pop elements. Much as I respect Darth Vader—I cherish the Dark Lord of the Sith more than I do most other Lords out there—I'd call this an aesthetic crime on par with the questionable establishment-clause propriety of the whole affair.
UPDATE: I shit you not. Darth Fucking Vader is built into the National Cathedral—I wouldn't kid about something like this. It's impressive. Most impressive.
YOU WILL PAY THE PRICE FOR YOUR LACK OF VISION:
From the site of the sculptor, Patrick Plunkett.
ALWAYS TWO THERE ARE: Lenny at DC Art News notes that the grotesque was sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter; Plunkett carved the stone. My mistake—my overconfidence was my weakness.
Posted by Kriston at September 25, 2004 4:32 PMAn asthetic crime it may be, but not without precedent. The restoration of a facade in--I think Salamanca?--resulted in a man in a spacesuit among the figures. Medieval sculptors themselves were not above joking with the gargoyles--monks from a rival order in rude poses, etc. And then there's the famous anecdote of French revolutionaries lopping off the heads of the biblical king figures in political fervor.
So at least we're not alone in our bad taste.
According to the flyer we saw, Darth Vader is situated up there with a raccoon and a little girl with pigtails and braces. Of course.
Posted by: susan at September 25, 2004 6:26 PMIs George Lucas aware of this? How long before we have some sort of copyright violation action instigated by him?
Posted by: Maynard Handley at September 25, 2004 8:57 PMThe West Point cadet library has a facade with gargoyle-ish images of cadets pursuing various activities, mostly LOL academic .... There are some other figures on some of the older buildings at the Academy, too.
Posted by: Robin Burk at September 26, 2004 10:20 AMI find your lack of faith disturbing . . . [choke]
Posted by: Ono at September 26, 2004 4:27 PMi'm so confused.
Posted by: matty at September 26, 2004 6:39 PMApology accepted captain Needa.
Posted by: Raymond at September 27, 2004 2:50 PMDon't try and frighten us with Sorceror's ways Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you clairvoyance enough to find the Rebel's hidden fortr...
Posted by: cleek at September 27, 2004 7:08 PM"Natty C"? Please tell me you just coined the phrase on the spur of the moment and this nickname is not in common circulation.
Posted by: Patience at September 29, 2004 3:13 PMGeorge Lucas is aware of the Darth Vader carving on Washington National Cathedral, and, as it's been explained to me, any issues he might've had with it were quickly given up when he was informed that it was the result of a children's design contest. Frankly, it'll probably be the longest lasting image of Vader ever created. At the time of it's completion in 1990, experts predicted Washington National Cathedral should stand for the better part of 2,000 years, without structural reinforcement. Think about that... not too shabby for a late 20th century pop icon!
Posted by: Cathedral Docent at October 2, 2004 3:13 PMThe three winning designs, including "bertha's braces" (the pigtail girl) were submitted by children to a contest sponsored by National Geographic World Magazine (the kiddie version)
Posted by: Cristina S at May 18, 2005 9:51 AM