Nude Female “Christa” Back at Episcopal Cathedral
by Jeffrey Walton, Juicy Ecumenism:
Beginning today, a controversial sculpture depicting a nude female Christ on the cross is returning to New York’s Episcopal Cathedral, displayed on a chapel altar.
“Christa”, the bronze sculpture by artist Edwina Sandys, will appear alongside the work of 21 other contemporary artists according to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine web site: “all exploring the language, symbolism, art, and ritual associated with the historic concept of the Christ image and the divine as manifested in every person—across all genders, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and abilities.”
Sandys’ work was previously exhibited in the cathedral in 1984 as part of an exhibition on the feminine divine, but was removed after significant backlash. Then-Suffragan Bishop of New York Walter Dennis criticized the sculpture as ”theologically and historically indefensible” leading to its removal from the 124-year-old gothic revival church in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood.
The New York Times reports that Christa is being installed on the altar in the Chapel of St. Saviour, one of seven chapels radiating from the ambulatory behind the choir. In marking the return of the sculpture, Sandys is joined by cathedral and diocesan officials in assessing that “Times have changed”:
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