A guide to the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in the city of New York: Fifth EditionHall, Edward Hagaman
Religion
A guide to the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in the city of New York: Fifth Edition
Hall, Edward Hagaman
Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York, N.Y.)
“To the Glory of God and in Memory of ‖ Richard Delafield, ‖
Brigadier-General, Chief of Engineers, ‖ Brevet Major-General,
United States Army. ‖ Born September 1, 1798, Died November 5,
1873, ‖ This Parapet is Erected by his Children, ‖ Albert,
Juliet Covington and Emma Delafield. ‖ Righteousness Exalteth
a Nation: But ‖ Sin is a Reproach to any People.”
=The Pavements= of the Ambulatory and Choir, designed by Mr. C. Grant
LaFarge in Romanesque and Byzantine motives, are related in their
symbolism. The colors in the Ambulatory are reddish, or earthy; while
those in the three ascents of the Choir progress through increasingly
rich designs of greens and whites (hope and purity) to greens, whites and
blues (hope, purity and heaven) until they reach the pure white steps of
the Altar. The risers of the steps leading from the Crossing to the Choir
proper are of yellow Numidian marble and the treads of green Pennsylvania
marble. The pavement of the Choir is richly inlaid with Numidian, Swiss
and other marbles and Grueby Faience tiles. The steps to the Presbytery
are of marble from Hauteville, France. In the center of the floor of the
Presbytery is a magnificent mosaic rug of tiles and marbles, 32½ feet
long and 10 feet wide, with smaller patterns at the ends. In the center
is an oval of black Belgian marble surrounded by violet marble from
Italy, while Grueby tiles of many colors, and Grecian, red Numidian and
other marbles form the rest of the design. The pavement of the Sanctuary,
within the communion rail, in addition to its rich designs of tiles and
marbles, contains, immediately in front of the steps to the Altar, a red
tile surrounded by a square brass border, inscribed:
“Whoever shall have prayed at this spot will have pressed with
his feet a tile from the ancient Church of St. John the Divine
at Ephesus, built by the Emperor Justinian in the year DXL over
the traditional site of St. John’s grave.”
The tile was presented to the Cathedral by Bishop Kinsman of Delaware,
its authenticity being attested by Prof. George Weber of Smyrna, who
procured it from the ruins on the hill of Ayassolouk and who, in his
lifetime, was a leading authority on Ephesian archaeology.
=The Eagle Lectern= of bronze at the north side of the Choir steps is a
replica of an ancient lectern found near St. Albans Cathedral, England,
in a lake into which it had been cast when that structure was destroyed
in the Saxon invasion. The eagle, standing on a globe, is the symbol of
St. John in his capacity as an Evangelist. Around the lectern are the
figures of the four Evangelists: St. Matthew with open book, St. Mark
with closed book and pen, St. Luke with open book in one hand and pen
in other, and St. John with chalice. Below are their respective symbols
(p. 44). The lectern was made by the Gorham Co. It bears the following
inscription, the initials at the end being those of the donor, Mary
Gertrude Edson Aldrich:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account