Tristyn Greiman
Christianity Through Art
Sister Martha Ann Kirk
23 November 2014
The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine The Saint John Cathedral is ever-growing. In 1873, the New York legislature granted a Charter for the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, a proposal first brought to light by Bishop John Hobart in 1828. After a three-year design competition for the cathedral, the design by George Heins and Christopher Grant LaFarge was chosen, and construction finally began in 1892 on Saint John’s Day (December 27). The design featured Romanesque, Byzantine, and Gothic styles. The cathedral has since been renovated several times, transforming it into the massive center of worship seen today.
The church’s mission is to be a “house of prayer for all people and to be a unifying center of light and leadership.” Every detail of the church has been …show more content…
Each chapel was built to represent a different ethnic group of the first immigrants to enter New York around the time of construction when Ellis Island was opened. Each chapel was named after a saint of the origin that chapel was based on. Not only are the seven chapels unique to a specific ethnicity, they are arranged specifically around the ambulatory of the church according to the geographic location of the nationality they represent. For example, the Spanish-influenced Chapel of Saint James lies on the south side, and the Scandinavian Chapel of Saint Ansgar lies on the north side. Heins and LaFarge’s Romanesque-Byzantine style shines through within the chapels with architectural signatures such as solid granite columns and the tiled barrel-vault ceiling. The diversity and attention to detail that these architects brought to the cathedral are what won them the contest in the first place out of over sixty other
Christianity Through Art
Sister Martha Ann Kirk
23 November 2014
The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine The Saint John Cathedral is ever-growing. In 1873, the New York legislature granted a Charter for the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, a proposal first brought to light by Bishop John Hobart in 1828. After a three-year design competition for the cathedral, the design by George Heins and Christopher Grant LaFarge was chosen, and construction finally began in 1892 on Saint John’s Day (December 27). The design featured Romanesque, Byzantine, and Gothic styles. The cathedral has since been renovated several times, transforming it into the massive center of worship seen today.
The church’s mission is to be a “house of prayer for all people and to be a unifying center of light and leadership.” Every detail of the church has been …show more content…
Each chapel was built to represent a different ethnic group of the first immigrants to enter New York around the time of construction when Ellis Island was opened. Each chapel was named after a saint of the origin that chapel was based on. Not only are the seven chapels unique to a specific ethnicity, they are arranged specifically around the ambulatory of the church according to the geographic location of the nationality they represent. For example, the Spanish-influenced Chapel of Saint James lies on the south side, and the Scandinavian Chapel of Saint Ansgar lies on the north side. Heins and LaFarge’s Romanesque-Byzantine style shines through within the chapels with architectural signatures such as solid granite columns and the tiled barrel-vault ceiling. The diversity and attention to detail that these architects brought to the cathedral are what won them the contest in the first place out of over sixty other