The Dominion Sculptor and a small team of artisans are responsible for the approximately 700 exterior carvings on Parliament Hill's Centre Block, a task that recently required sculptor Danny Barber to work directly on the building's façade for three weeks.
In-Situ Restoration Challenges
Barber spent three weeks on scaffolding high on Centre Block's walls, carving a grotesque—a decorative stone figure—flanking arched windows behind the Speaker's Chair in the House of Commons. The work was done in situ because construction crews had dismantled the windows as part of the ongoing Centre Block rehabilitation project, leaving blank stones as placeholders.
"You don't get to do that very often," Barber said of carving directly into the building. Without access to power tools, all carving was done using traditional methods. A vertical scaffold pole directly in front of the stone forced him into "really awkward positions." He noted, "If it's on your bench, you can turn the stone around. But you can't flip the building."
The Dominion Sculptor's Role
Canada's Dominion Sculptor, a role dating back to 1936, oversees the creation and maintenance of these carvings. The current officeholder, John-Philippe Smith, is Canada's sixth Dominion Sculptor. His small team of artisans, including Barber and George Moldovan, restores and replaces deteriorated stones. Typically, decorative stones are removed entirely and replaced with a new carving from the studio. The largest piece transported was a bison carving, which Smith described as "the size of a medium-sized dog."
History and Diversity of Carvings
Much of the original Centre Block carving was done by European carvers under Walter Allen, an expert in Gothic design who worked on English cathedrals. The exterior carvings range from realistic Canadian wildlife to medieval beasts like wyverns and cockatrices. Smith noted there is "a grim reaper" and "a scene with wolves that's a bit macabre." He categorizes the carvings into three broad themes: "Humour, humiliation and turpitude."
As Canadians gather on Parliament Hill for Canada Day, they stand under sculptures maintained by a succession of Dominion Sculptors—one of many unheralded jobs keeping Parliament running for 159 years.
