A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt monument in Riverside Park. Sculptor Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington sought to show not a warrior but a spiritual girl whose mission to defeat the British was inspired by the voices of saints. “Well, the whole idea was that I remember reading before she went into battle she had acquired a new sword,” Huntington later explained. “And when she went into battle, she unconsciously raised it to heaven to ask the blessing of the Lord on it before she went into battle.” To invoke Medieval France, architect John Van Pelt made a granite base that contains actual stones from the cathedral in Rheims, where King Charles (who supported Joan’s fight before abandoning her) was crowned. JoanofarcinscriptionHe also incorporated real limestone blocks from the Tower of Rouen, where Joan was imprisoned and tried for heresy and witchcraft before being burned at the stake. “On December 6, 1915, the sculpture was unveiled in an elaborate ceremony, which included a military band and French Ambassador Jean J. Jusserand,” states nycgovparks.org.

A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt

A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt and Naomi Kulbokas. Naomi was his secretary's daughter and he bought her a Steinway grand and she got a college scholarship because of her mastery of the piano. He died when she was 11 years old. He also gave her a set of art books from the Metropolitan Museum. He played piano too.

A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt

A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt

A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt Church of St. John Nepomucene, New York

A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt

A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt

A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt Church of St. John Nepomucene, New York

A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt

A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt's design Land was purchased on East 66th Street near First Avenue and architect John Vredenburgh Van Pelt was commissioned to design a grouping of church, school and rectory buildings. Born in Philadelphia, Van Pelt was as well known as an architectural historian and author as he was for his designs. If the idea to build a church that reflected the Slovakian heritage of his clients ever occurred to him, he discarded it. Instead he turned to the Southern Sicilian Romanesque style, drawing inspiration from the Clunic and Benedictine Moissac Abbey in Tarn-et-Garonne, France. Completed in 1925, the red brick and limestone church was embellished with fine base reliefs, thin stone pillars upholding a handsome corbel table, an intricate rose window, and dramatic hooded entrance.

A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt

A photo of the grave of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt

A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt

A photo of John Vredenburgh Van Pelt