Photo by Jean-Christophe Benoist
commissions: westminster abbey
1998 John is commissioned to carve three life size limestone figures of Twentieth Century Martyrs, part of
a series of ten new works installed on the west front of Westminster Abbey.
Above the Great West
Door, ten 20th-century Christian martyrs from across the world are depicted in
statues, three of whom were carved by John Roberts; from left to right: St Maximilian Kolbe
(d.1941), Manche Masemola (d.1928), Janani Luwum (d.1977), Grand Duchess St
Elizabeth of Russia (d.1918), Martin Luther King, Jr
(d.1968), Óscar Romero (d.1980), Dietrich Bonhoeffer
(d.1945), Esther John (d.1960), Lucian Tapiedi (d.1942), Wang Zhiming (d.1973).