About
Sculpting stories in stone.
Designer · Stone carver · Sculptor
Four decades of carving — from sacred architecture to one-of-a-kind commissions.
Born in Vittel, in the Vosges region of France, Jean-Claude Marchionni trained at the École des Marcs d’Or in Dijon, a school devoted to the art of stone carving. Designer, stone carver and sculptor, he has built his career on both sides of the Atlantic, for public and private clients in Europe and the United States.
In France, his work took him to the Musée du Louvre and to Strasbourg Cathedral. In 1989 he settled in New York, where his commissions have included the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, the Jewish Museum extension, Renaissance-style carvings for a New York hotel, a fountain for a children’s park on the Upper West Side and a communion table for a Manhattan church — along with fireplaces and furnishings for private residences across the United States.
His bond with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine runs deep. From 1993 to 1997 he carved the Portal of Paradise alongside sculptor Simon Verity; in recognition, he was named an Honorary Regent of the Cathedral in 1997, and he is today an artist-in-residence there.
Between 2010 and 2016 he created a series of carvings for The Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden in Lower Manhattan, which honors the British and Commonwealth citizens lost on September 11 — among them the Aberdeen stone, the crests of Canada and Australia, the Tudor Rose and the coat of arms of Westminster Abbey. In 2026, the Township of Wyckoff, New Jersey, commissioned from him the monument marking its centennial, the 250th anniversary of the United States and the 25th anniversary of September 11.
Rooted in traditional techniques, his approach lets the character of each stone shape the finished work. In recent years he has also developed a personal body of original sculpture, in stone and in bronze.
His work has been featured on PBS and French national television, and in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the Daily News, Le Républicain Lorrain, France-Amérique, Le Figaro, Partir and L’Express.
Selected Work & Recognition
Where the work lives.
-
Wyckoff Centennial Monument
2025–2026 — a three-block limestone monument carved by hand over thirteen months in the Midland Park studio, commissioned by the Township of Wyckoff, to be unveiled on November 7, 2026, for Wyckoff’s centennial, America’s 250th anniversary, and the 25th anniversary of September 11.
-
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine
1993–1997, in collaboration with sculptor Simon Verity, on the cathedral’s Portal of Paradise. Direct carving in Indiana limestone — worked straight into the façade, without preparatory model or maquette. Named an Honorary Regent of the Cathedral in 1997; today an artist-in-residence there.
-
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church
New York — among his commissions since he settled in the city in 1989.
-
The Jewish Museum
New York — work for the museum’s extension.
-
Château, Laval, France
2001 — a pediment bust carved for a château in Laval, part of his work on European heritage architecture.
-
Musée du Louvre
France — one of the places his work took him before he settled in New York in 1989.
-
Strasbourg Cathedral
France — one of the places his work took him before he settled in New York in 1989.
-
Westminster Abbey Coat of Arms
2013 — carved in Welsh slate for the Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden, New York.
-
Sal Larosa Architect
Architectural stone commissions in collaboration with the New York architect.
-
The New York Times Magazine
1998 — a carved tree-trunk fireplace at a private East End residence, featured and photographed for the magazine. The piece rises from a monolithic stone hearth, the column hand-carved to evoke the vertical fluting of weathered bark.
See the work.
A selection of sculptures and architectural carvings, drawn from more than forty years at the bench.