Guildford Cathedral ‘reviews’ statues by sinner sculptor Eric Gill
by Archbishop Cranmer:
You have to pity poor Hiram of Tyre, an artistic metalsmith whom King Solomon chose to work on his Temple, because ‘he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass‘ (1Kgs 7:14).
We read that Hiram was ‘trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He was experienced in all kinds of engraving and could execute any design given to him.’
And so he cast great pillars of bronze, bedecked with wreathes and jewels, and set them at the porch of the Temple. And then he cast a great sea of molten metal, which stood upon twelve bronze oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east. It brimmed with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.
And he cast decorative lions, oxen, and cherubim. And wheels and axles and chariots. And palm trees, and basins, and lamps of gold. ‘So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD‘ (2Chron 5:1).
But then Hiram sadly died. And Nathan the prophet came to King Solomon and said, “This Hiram chap, I’m afraid he was a great sinner. The Lord may have gifted him with all creative wisdom and artistic skill, and he certainly made the House of the Lord look very fine indeed, but I’m afraid, Your Majesty, that he is known to have had sex with men.”
King Solomon frowned awhile.
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