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Retired Falls Church dentist’s tiny sculptures depict key moments in biblical history

Leslie Miller | Catholic Herald Staff Writer

Moses receives the Ten Commandments in this miniature sculpture by retired Falls Church dentist Dick Spagna. Moses is 2 inches tall. The tablets are 1/2 inch tall, and are carved with the modern Hebrew numbers 1 to 10. COURTESY

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Retired Falls Church dentist Dick Spagna’s latest sculpture, titled Just One Yes, depicts Mary, in gold with the angel Gabriel hovering above in sterling silver. Mary kneels on a floor of lapis lazuli cubes. COURTESY

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Retired Falls Church dentist Dick Spagna began his hobby of creating miniature biblical sculptures more than 30 years ago, starting with a Nativity scene with figures about 1 1/4 inches high. COURTESY

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Eve is shown about to pick the apple in this tiny sculpture in a biblical series by retired Falls Church dentist Dick Spagna. Eve and the serpent are set on a piece of Indian jade. COURTESY.

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Moses parts the Red Sea in this miniature biblical sculpture by retired Falls Church dentist Dick Spagna. The sea is represented by a set of blue quartz bookends. Moses, about 4 inches tall, is cast in sterling silver and his coat is a thin piece of hammered copper. COURTESY

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This time of year, a lot of people meditate on key moments in biblical
history. But when you’re a retired dentist with time, talent and the right
tools, those Scripture meditations may take the form of tiny sculpted treasures
made of recycled gold and silver.

Long before he retired from his Falls Church dental practice in
2006, Dr. Dick Spagna began his hobby of creating miniature biblical
sculptures, using the techniques for making gold crowns and fillings he learned
in dental school.

“I try to pick pivotal moments when God interacts with people and
changes history,” he said.

The latest in his series is a miniaturized sculpture of the
Annunciation, the scene described in Luke 1:26-38, in which the angel Gabriel
announces to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive a son by the power of the
Holy Spirit to be called Jesus. Mary replies “Behold, I am the handmaid of the
Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

The title of the sculpture, Just One Yes, was inspired by the
diocese’s “Just One Yes” social media campaign, said Dr. Spagna, a parishioner
of St. Anthony of Padua Church in Falls Church.

The 1 1/2-inch-tall figure of Mary is made of hollow gold alloy.
Mary is kneeling on a floor of blue lapis lazuli tiles, made of small square
jewelry beads embedded in a wooden base. The silver outline of the angel looms over
her at about 4 1/4 inches high.

“A lot of the gold I’ve used at one point in time was in
someone’s mouth,” said Dr. Spagna. Whenever he had to remove an old gold crown
or filling or bridge from a patient’s mouth, he said, he would ask if they
wanted to keep it, but “the vast majority of people didn’t want it, so I would
throw them into a box that I saved, ultimately for making something.”

The silver he uses in his sculptures is likewise repurposed,
mostly from old silverware given to him by friends. Gabriel is a recycled salad
fork. Because of the angel’s relatively large size, it had to be made in three
pieces and soldered together, he said.

Past sculptures in his series — he’s created six over the past 30
years — include a Nativity scene with gold figures and a silver star, and a
resurrection scene with Christ emerging from 
the tomb. Three sculptures are based on Old Testament scenes: Eve
reaching up for the apple, with a serpent below her foot; Moses parting the Red
Sea, and Moses receiving the Ten Commandments.

Each sculpture begins with a shape created out of wax, made using
a dental centrifuge and lost wax casting technique used to make gold crowns.
The centrifuge in his basement art studio is from his father’s old dental
practice in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Dr. Spagna said he’s never had a public art show of his
sculptures, but displays them in a glass case at home, where they are admired
by friends and family, including his dentist son Christopher, who now runs the
practice in Falls Church.  “I end up making
things I hope will ultimately be passed down to our grandchildren,” he said.

“Staying active and being involved in something meaningful is the
key to a happy retirement,” added Dr. Spagna, who is on the board of directors
of the Northern Virginia Dental Society, which provides dental care for
low-income patients. He said he and his wife, Marianne, a retired dental
hygienist, have volunteered there for 25 years. 

Dr. Spagna hopes to continue the tiny sculpture series, but  “as of now, I don’t know what my next
sculpture may be. I’m waiting for God to let me know,” he said.

 

 

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