Edith Maryon

Rudolf Steiner and the Sculpture of Christ in Dornach

‘The most essential and intrinsic quality of her soul … was not a particular branch of human endeavour, not even art; the most salient of her soul tendencies, her soul intentions, was the striving for spirituality…’ – Rudolf Steiner

Edith Maryon (1872-1924) was a trained sculptor who worked alongside Rudolf Steiner to create the unique sculpture of Christ (the ‘Representative of Humanity’) at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. One of Steiner’s closest collaborators, she was a highly-valued colleague and esoteric pupil. As one of his dearest friends, Maryon kept a busy and detailed correspondence with Rudolf Steiner, in which he confided freely about his personal situation, his lack of true colleagues, difficulties with lecture tours, and the embattled public standing of anthroposophy. Almost invariably, these letters emphasized Steiner’s longing for the Dornach studio and their shared work on the Christ statue. Maryon’s early death, aged 52 – following fifteen months of illness – shook Rudolf Steiner to the core. He was to die himself less than a year later.

With this book, the author’s central aim is to illuminate the spiritual signature of Edith Maryon’s relationship with Rudolf Steiner and their mutual work in anthroposophy and on the sculpture of Christ. Building on Rex Raab’s (1993) biography, Peter Selg’s moving study features dozens of photos and facsimiles of letters, utilizing previously unpublished sources from Edith Maryon’s and Ita Wegman’s literary estates and the Rudolf Steiner Archive in Dornach.

PETER SELG, born 1963, is a medical doctor specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy. He is head of the Ita Wegman Institute for Basic Research into Anthroposophy in Arlesheim, and co-head of the General Anthroposophical Section of the School of Spiritual Science (Goetheanum, Dornach). He teaches medical anthropology and ethics at the University of Witten/Herdecke and the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences in Alfter, Germany. Peter Selg is the author of dozens of books on anthroposophy, including The Future of Ahriman and The Figure of Christ. 17 October 2022; 268pp; 23.5 x 15.5 cm; paperback; trans. by M. Barton.