Sunday 8 August 2010

Methodist Missionary Society, Marylebone Road NW1

The trees along Marylebone Road are very nice and all that but they make photographing the sculpture jolly difficult. I think I will have to come back in the winter to retake these excellent works by David Evans on the Methodist Missionary Society building of 1939, designed by Paul Manger, A.J. May and L. Sylvester Sullivan.
The low relief over the front door shows Christ signing up the fishermen Simon, Andrew, James and John as disciples, telling them he will make them 'fishers of men'. Mind you, they seem to have had a very successful time as fishers of fish, judging by the number of heads peeking out from the stern of the boat. Perhaps it is a hint at the miraculous draft of fishes, Christ's first miracle after the resurrection.
High up on the side of the building are three fine portraits, one of a nurse cradling a baby, the others of African and Indian converts.


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