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The Way of the Cross: Sculptures by Thorsten Sigstedt


Weekdays with guided tour or by appointment; Saturdays 1:00 to 4:30 PM

Donations Welcome.

The Way of the Cross, also known as the Stations of the Cross, is a series of fourteen artistic representations depicting events from the Passion of Jesus Christ. In Christian tradition the Stations, often arranged in sequence around the walls of a church, are used for prayer and meditation. In the early 1950s Thorsten Sigstedt (1884-1963), a Swedish woodcarver with a studio in Bryn Athyn, carved the Stations of the Cross for St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. Sigstedt had earlier won a Swedish national contest for the commission to carve the decorations on the royal ceremonial boat, Vasaorden, which is still used during royal weddings. 

Today Sigstedt's Stations of the Cross remain a vital part of the devotional life of St. Timothy's, with parishioners performing the Stations annually on Good Friday. In the 1960s the rector of the church allowed Sigstedt to make cast stone copies of the Stations for other churches in Philadelphia, New York, Florida and Oklahoma. "The Way of the Cross: Sculptures by Thorsten Sigstedt," brings together two of the original wood-carved sculptures from St. Timothy's with twelve of Sigstedt's cast stone versions.