Religion: The Biggest Yet

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"The Park is zoned. Each zone has its own name and appropriate Work of Art. Zones of course vary in price, and within the zones the prices vary according to their proximity to the Work of Art . . There is Lovers' Nest, zoned about a very, very beautiful marble replica of Rodin's famous statue, The Kiss. We have double plots there at $750 the pair." —Evelyn Waugh, in The Loved One

Hollywood's cemetery of cemeteries, Forest Lawn, bears more than a casual resemblance to "Whispering Glades" of Waugh's novel. For one thing, Forest Lawn stresses works of art. On Good Friday, Forest Lawn unveiled a new one, a painting of the Crucifixion, found no man to challenge its proud claim that it is the biggest canvas in the world.

Nearly a city block long and four stories high (195 ft. by 45 ft.), the Crucifixion, a thoroughly pedestrian work, was completed in 1895 by Poland's Jan Styka (1858-1925). He spent some 17 years at the task, which is probably some kind of record, too.

Since it was brought to the U.S. at the turn of the century, the vast canvas has been mostly rolled up in storage. In 1944 it was bought by Forest Lawn, which has constructed for it a special "Hall of the Crucifixion." There, behind an Italian Gothic façade, in a 2,000-capacity auditorium complete with airconditioning, hearing aids, earthquake-proofing and an electronically synchronized light beam to identify some of the picture's 1,123 life-sized figures, a tape-recorded spiel will describe the painting six times a day, seven days a week.

Intoned Forest Lawn's founder, Dr. Hubert Eaton: "We believe that Jan Styka's great painting of the Crucifixion will help the world to solve the problems of peace."