30 Stone Sculptures By Matthew Simmonds That Carve Entire Buildings Into A Single Block
I once spent an entire weekend trying to build a birdhouse and it came out crooked enough that my dog was scared of it. Matthew Simmonds, meanwhile, is over here carving entire cathedrals into a single uncut block of stone like it’s nothing.
He spent years working as an architectural stone carver before turning that into his own practice, and you can tell, every arch and stairway and tiny carved window looks like it was lifted straight out of an actual ruin somewhere. These new pieces are even more detailed than anything I’d expect to be possible by hand.
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1. “Undercroft II”
“The last of the Four Gothic Tales. Partly inspired by the cellar of the tithe barn in Provins, near Paris and the crypt of Rochester Cathedral, England.
The use of a series of repetitive architectural elements is intended to give the sense that the space could continue beyond the confines of the stone.
Limestone, height 26cm.”
2. “Windows 26”
“From top left to bottom right the panel subjects are:
-A view into a rotunda
-The Aztec Sun Stone
-A wasp-in-a-box
-A tribute to Piranesi’s Prison series
-A Gresley A4 steam locomotive
-The doorway to to the Unfinished Chapels, Batalha monastery
-A pair of figures from the Camera Santa, Oviedo Cathedral
-A temple from Bayon, Cambodia
-Muqarnas from the Alhambra palace,
-The Apollo lunar module
-The Neue Wache, Berlin
-Limestone, 50 X 50 X depth 10cm”
3. “Rotunda V”
“This small sculpture is based on a work I made years ago actually in a sand sculpture symposium, where I dug under the surface to form this space, although here the forms are finer and more refined than I was able to achieve in sand.
Designed either to stand on a flat surface or to be wall-mounted.
Limestone, 22cm x 22cm x 8cm.”
4. “Proscenium”
“Faxe limestone from Denmark is a fossilised coral-based stone with its own very unique quality. This piece immediately suggested to me the sense of something very old, a decaying grandeur, and I immediately wanted to contrast the roughness of the material with a very clear and precise statement in the architectural composition.
Inspired by the impressive limestone Roman ruins of the Levant, notably at Jerash and Baalbek, this sculpture references the stage of a Roman theatre, with its ornamental Scaenae Frons, a columned backdrop to the stage often built on several levels.
Faxe limestone, height 45cm.”
5. “Windows 22”
“Carved from a single piece of limestone, height 116cm.”
6. “Tivoli III”
My first excercise in making a sculpture of a single space from two pieces of stone
Carrara marble, height 25cm.”
7. “Single Helix III”
“Inspired by Arne Jacobsen’s suspended staircase in the Royal SAS hotel in Copenhagen, this was perhaps technically a little ambitious for its scale. I wouldn’t mind making a new work based on this but a little larger!
Limestone, 2021, height 21cm.”
8. “Arezzo”
“Arezzo,” the last in the Cities of Tuscany series, inspired by the Romanesque church of Santa Maria della Pieve, with its raised choir over the crypt.
Carrara marble, height 36cm”
9. “Arbulatory Iv”
“Ambulatory IV,” the third sculpture in the Four Gothic Tales series. Here I’m looking to express something of the grandeur of the great French cathedrals, with an emphasis on the vertical and an overall simplicity of design.
Limestone, height 39cm.”
11. “Model Of Temple Bar, London”
“Not strictly a sculpture, but rather a model of an actual building, this was commissioned in 2006 to mark the return of Christopher Wren’s Temple Bar to the city of London, and is currently in the Guildhall, London.
Temple Bar was originally built as a ceremonial gateway to the city of London, but was removed in the late Victorian era when the road where it stood was widened to accommodate heavier traffic. For many years it stood as the entrance to the Theobalds Park estate to the North of London, but fell into ruin when parts of the estate’s lands were sold. In 2004 It was dismantled, restored, and now forms the entrance to Paternoster Square next to St Paul’s Cathedral.
This model was commissioned by the Temple Bar Trust, the charity that raised the funds for the gate’s translocation, as a gift to the Corporation of London. It was carved in a single piece of New Marfil limestone, a finely grained stone which allowed for the working of some of the very small detailing required.
Limestone, height 52cm with base.”
12. “Tuscan”
“The last in the series, “Four Classical Studies: Tuscan.” I’ve given this more of a Renaissance expression, as Tuscan is the most recent of the orders to have been developed. Plus a couple of shots of all four of the guys together before they set sail
Statuary marble, height 37cm.”
13. “Mirror Study”
14. “Stepwell”
Faxe limestone, height 39cm
15. “Gothic Passage With Sedilia”
“A newly finished small commissioned work, “Gothic Passage with Sedilia”. Sedilia simply means seats in Latin, and in religious architecture refers to a series of alcoves with seats often set into the walls of Gothic churches.
This sculpture explores in a purposefully simple way a balance of symmetry and assymmetry, and of interior and exterior space, as a passage moves up through the stone between two repeating worlds on either side.
2025, limestone – Height 20cm”
16. “Tempietto”
“Inspired by Renaissance drawings of the ideal church, in this piece I’ve tried to convey the sense of a whole architectural interior imprinted in the stone
Carrara marble, 40cm.”
17. “Siena”
“The second in the Cities of Tuscany series. This is inspired by the interior of the cathedral, in particular showing a detail of the unique geometry of the aisle vaulting created by the unusual hexagonal crossing. It also pays reference to Nicola Pisano’s pulpit.
Carrara marble, height 36cm”
18. “A Light In Dark Places”
“In this sculpture a Gothic vaulted space with a single tall window is concealed behind a series of arches. Inspired by the Founder’s Chapel of Batalha monastery, Portugal, this work explores the unique geometry of the vaulting in that building that transfers from the octagonal inner space to the square outer wall.
Medieval church buildings can convey a deep sense of spirituality and higher meaning, despite also being symbols of power and authority from a time marked by inequality and strict hierarchies. Nevertheless, through the skills, imagination and passion of the craftspeople that built and adorned them they could express the more profound human aspirations and a connection with the divine. They remind us how important the appreciation of beauty, both inner and outer, is as a refuge to uplift the human spirit and transcend us into a space beyond the everyday world in darker times plagued by worry and uncertainty.
Limestone, height 42cm”
19. “Firenze”
“Firenze,” the third sculpture in the series Cities of Tuscany, commissioned for the restaurant Toscano on board the new cruise ship Allura.
The work is heavily inspired by the portico of the Renaissance Pazzi chapel in the cloister of Santa Croce church.
Carrara marble, height 37cm”
20. “Rotunda Iv”
“This recent sculpture explores a series of interconnected circular spaces around a central colonnaded space. I have left more than usual of the natural stone surface so that it’s possible to see the original form of the rock in its entirety, creating the idea of the natural solid stone and the architectural space as two separate and complete worlds coexisting.
Carrara marble, height 17.5cm.”
21. “Pisa”
“First of four sculptures in a new series “Cities of Tuscany” commissioned for the restaurant Toscano on board the new cruise ship Allura, sister ship to the Vista, for which I made the “Four Classical Studies”.
The sculptures will each refer to the architecture of four different Tuscan cities. The first, “Pisa”, is inspired by Pisan Romanesque architecture, taking elements from both the cathedral’s tower and baptistry.
Carrara marble, height 37cm”
22. “Four Classical Studies: Corinthian”
“Corinthian is the classical order I’ve generally been using the most, as it tends to evoke a good presence and feeling of power. In keeping with that thought this sculpture moves on to a more Imperial Roman expression compared to the previous two.
Statuary marble, height 37cm.”
23. “Window II”
Limestone, height 32cm.
24. “Reverse Plan: Bamberg Cathedral”
“This is similar to my “Elevation” series, although here using the church plan as a starting point. These works are unusual in that they represent real historical buildings, in this case Bamberg Cathedral in Germany. Possibly the first in a series, this piece explores the relationship between the two-dimensional architectural plan drawing and its projection into three dimensional space.
Limestone, height 51cm.”
25. “Byzantium: Study”
Carrara marble, height 30cm
26. “Remnant Of Kings”
“This small sculpture was commissioned as a birthday present for a fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, and represents a fragment of John Wastell’s spectacular fan-vaulted ceiling from King’s College Chapel, from 1515
Limestone, height 15cm.”
27. “Part Of Chapter House Iv”
Limestone, height 17cm
28. “Cathedral: Study”
Carrara marble, height 41cm
29. “That Which Remains”
“Creating a fragment of a repeating pattern of identical classical domed spaces, this sculpture is more open than most and is conceived without any particular front or back, to be viewed from any angle.
Statuary marble, height 34 cm.”
30. “Essay In Baroque Space Iv”
Carrara marble, height 37.5cm