St. Thomas More
St. Patrick’s Church
Washington, DC,

3⁄4 life size – Carrara Marble

"The only authentic Thomas More images I knew of were the paintings and drawings by Holbein and all of these were the same view.  As a consequence I decided to capture the essence of the man, which was to place his faith above all worldly things.  I knew I wanted to place the cross around his neck rather than the Chancellor’s chain but then how to include the chain   Since the statue had to be in marble – in accord with the other statuary in the church - carving the chain in hand could pose some problems.  The only other logical choice was to place it at his feet which actually strengthened the statement."

"The success of the statue is evidenced by my being asked to produced a 7’ version for the University of St. Thomas.  With the St. Patrick’s Thomas More it made sense to have him facing the altar.  The University site however, presented a different problem.  This was a huge lobby that was also utilized for public affairs and ceremonies.  There were also structural concerns since the sculpture and pedestal would be placing 5000 pounds on rather small area. So a section of the lobby that would ease these concerns was  chosen.  Additionally, since  the statue on its pedestal would be ten feet tall it made sense to modify it so that it would be looking down to the viewer."

Leo Irrera