St. Patrick Cathedral Analysis

Envisioned by Joseph Magnin, the first St. Patrick’s Cathedral, originally named St. Peter and often referred to as the Old Cathedral, built in 1815, burned down in 1868. When its reconstruction finished, it was downgraded to a parish church on a site destined and purchased by the church as a burial ground. In 1853, the city commissioned James Renwick Jr. to device a cathedral to accommodate the growing population of immigrants of Catholic religion entering the United States. Renwick’s design for St. Patrick’s shows the influence of the Gothic style of French buildings. Due to reliability and cost, Renwick used white marble for the construction. The cathedral holds a classic Latin cross plan with additions that followed the initial construction. In 1906, Charles T. Matthews designed the Lady Chapel, located on the east of the complex. North and South of the Lady Chapel, stand the Rectory and the Cardinal Residence. The cathedral has a large vertical scale, with the spires rising 330 ft. from the street view. Along the side walls, massive buttresses alternate with pointed …show more content…
The cathedral itself is mostly marble, except for the ceiling. One main room opens at the center, surrounded by multiple recesses on all sides. The cathedral design does not allow for much daylight to enter through the stain glass windows. Light comes from small lamps suspended from the ceiling, which also lights the recesses. Some of the recesses along the side of the cathedral contain steps leading to private chapels or sculptures of saints. The crossed-ribbed vaults support the vast ceiling. Thin marble pillars give support to the cross-ribbed vaults, which rise to 110 ft. above the nave. Scattered across the complex are figures of animals depicted in sculpture, stained-glass, and on the ornamental accents on the altars, each representing a story or