S acred A rchitecture

ISSN# 1535-9387

Issue 15 2009

Journal of the Institute for Sacred Architecture

ad maiorem dei gloriam et beatae mariae virginis

The intention of magnificence is the production of a great work. Now works done by men are directed to an end: and no end of
human works is so great as the honor of God: wherefore magnificence does a great work especially in reference to the Divine
honor. Wherefore the Philosopher says (Ethic. iv, 2) that the most commendable expenditure is that which is directed to Divine
sacrifices: and this is the chief object of magnificence. For this reason magnificence is connected with holiness, since its chief
effect is directed to religion or holiness. - Summa Theologica

U
nemployment is at a high level,
and the economy is in recession.
In order to give thousands of
people jobs, the state embarks on some
major infrastructure projects designed
by an award winning architect. A par-
able for how the U.S. government can
get the economy back on track? No,
the story of how Pope Alexander VII
and Gianlorenzo Bernini built Piazza
San Pietro, the greatest public piazza in
the world.
Behind every great building and its
architect there is a visionary patron.
Someone who thinks big, takes risks,
raises funds, and above all recognizes
the significance of architecture. Pa-
trons may be pastors or popes, busi-
nessmen or college presidents. What
they all have in common is a desire to
create a masterpiece and the discern-
ment to find the right people to help
them do it.
Every patron is unique, and so their
buildings appropriately bear their
stamp. I have been fortunate to work
with many brilliant and visionary pa-
trons and believe that a building cannot
be successful without a patrons lead-
ership. I had the fortune to work with
one such patron for nine years and was
edified by his passion for architecture,
in service of the Church. When I met
him, he already had some experience
with building and was saving the best
for last. We traveled to Italy together
to study the great examples of sacred
architecture as a research and develop-
ment tour. From that point on wher-
ever his travels took him, he availed
himself of the opportunity to visit and
study great buildings. It might be to
experience the proportions of the in-
terior, the size of a cornice, or to look
at marble patterns. Like most patrons
he was an incredibly busy man, but he
found time to do the things that mat-
tered, such as visiting artists work-
shops and traveling to Europe to pick
out marble. He was deeply engaged
in the design and construction process
and thought of the church like it was
his own, like a book that people would
read for centuries to come. Involve-
ment in every aesthetic detail came nat-
urally to him because he believed that
the domus Dei needed to be worthy of
the Creator. This drive for excellence
meant that he wanted to be convinced
through words, drawings and prec-
edent that every design decision was
correct.
Early on he asked me to tell him
whenever there was something I dis-
agreed with, because he wanted me to
be happy with the design. This was a
bold and gutsy request that I tried to
comply with. Then there were many
aspects of the design that he would ask
me to change. In the spirit of coauthors
we would study the issue and look at
alternate solutions, I with my pencil
and he with his eyes. Sometimes this
led to a better design, other times it
convinced us to stay with the original
idea. Because he was constantly look-
ing at and thinking about great archi-
tecture, he saw that our project would
be measured against these exemplars.
As T. S. Eliot wrote, In a peculiar sense
he will be aware also that he must inev-
itably be judged by the standards of the
past. I say judged, not amputated, by
them; not judged to be as good as, or
worse or better than, the dead; and cer-
tainly not judged by the canons of dead
critics. It is a judgment, a comparison,
in which two things are measured by
each other.
In this case, the comparisons in-
spired higher quality in design and
materialsmahogany, marble, bronze,
and limestone. Higher quality meant
that he needed to convince others and
raise more funds. This was true of the
columns and pilasters of the nave that
had been designed as painted plas-
ter, were upgraded to limestone, then
to travertine and eventually became
single shafts of botticino classico mar-
ble. Their significant increase in cost
was difficult to stomach, yet when the
building was complete everyone saw
how right he was to advocate for them.
In addition, the length of the nave, the
heavenly light from the clear windows
and the simple color palette, all flowed
from his vision for the church and his
own character. It is a very cerebral cha-
pel, most appropriate for a college cam-
pus and reflective of the presidents vo-
cation as philosopher.
At the same time that he asked a lot
from everyone, he continually told us
how appreciative he was of our work.
That appreciation made everyone work
even harder and gave them a great
sense of accomplishment at its conse-
cration. The patron was ecstatic at the
dedication mass. It was better than I
ever expected, he remarked, and he
spent hours in prayer and contempla-
tion in the temple that he had brought
to life. Nothing made him happier than
to hear all the visitors, friends, and stu-
dents thank him and tell him how mag-
nificent it was. During Holy Week he
was there in the front row, and at Eas-
ter he was beaming. He had dreamt
of a beautiful chapel at the head of the
campus dedicated to Our Lady of the
Most Holy Trinity. The task complete,
his vocation fulfilled, one week later
he was called home to the Father. Dr.
Thomas E. Dillon, philosopher and pa-
tron, Requiescat in Pace.
W
Duncan Stroik
June 2009

On the cover: S. Maria Nascente, Duomo of Milan.

Photo by iStockphoto.com/Alessandro Oliva.
 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
Contents

E di t o r ia l
2 W Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam et Beatae Mariae Virginis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duncan Stroik

News & Letters

3 W Ave Maria Oratory faade sculpture W Pope dedicates altar in Sydney W Boston College installs Catholic art W
W Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter opens parish in Rome W Salisbury Catheral dedicates new baptismal font W
W New Congregation of Divine Worship Prefect W Classical chapel in UK W In Memoriam: Thomas Dillion W
W Seton Hall Univeristy opens restored chapel W Abruzzi Region earthquake damages sacred landmarks W
W New Basilica in New Mexico W Holy Name Cathedral Fire W Way of Beauty sacred art program begins W

A r t ic l e s
11 W The Lonely God: The Cathedral of Christ the Light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matthew Alderman
16 W Architectural Unity and Rhetoric: The Patronage of Carlo Borromeo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Alexander
23 W Crown Jewel in the Hills: St. Hugo Stone Chapel, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Turner
25 W The Church and the Neighborhood: Past, Present and Future. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eric R. Osth
28 W Sacred Art Today: Is it Art and is it Sacred? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steen Heidemann
32 W Tamquam Cor in Pectore: The Eucharistic Tabernacle Before and After Trent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U. Michael Lang
35 W The Elusive Spire: The Cathedrals of St. John the Baptist and St. Finbar, Charleston. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ralph Muldrow
37 W Bearers of the Heavenly Jerusalem: Vatican II and Development in Church Architecture. . . . . . . . Denis McNamara

D o c u m e n tat i o n
41 W All Great Works of Art Are an Epiphany of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . His Holiness Benedict XVI

Books
43 W The Architecture of Ralph Adams Cram and His Office by Ethan Anthony . . . . . . . . . . . . . reviewed by Michael J. Lewis
44 W From Meetinghouse to Megachurch by Anne C. Loveland and Otis B. Wheeler. . . . . . . . . reviewed by Lauren Beaupre
45 W Painterly Perspective and Piety by John F. Moffitt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . reviewed by Duncan Stroik
46 W From the Publishing Houses: a Selection of Recent Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . reviewed by Sacred Architecture

w w w . s a c r e d a r c h i t e c t u r e . o r g

Journal of the Institute for Sacred Architecture

The Institute for Sacred Architecture is a non-profit organization made up of architects, clergy, educators and others interested in the discus-
sion of significant issues related to contemporary Catholic architecture. Sacred Architecture is published biannually for $9.95.
2009 The Institute for Sacred Architecture.
Address manuscripts and
letters to the Editor:
EDITOR ADVISORY BOARD PRODUCTION
Duncan Stroik John Burgee, FAIA Greta Bilek
P.O. Box 556 Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput, OFM, Cap. Andrew Remick
Notre Dame, IN 46556 Rev. Cassian Folsom, OSB Jamie LaCourt, Forest Walton
voice: (574) 232-1783 Dr. Ralph McInerny Tom Stroka
email: editor@sacredarchitecture.org Thomas Gordon Smith, AIA Helena Tomko

Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 3

N e w s

S acred A rchitecture N ews

Charitable donations surpassed $300 Over its 20082009 winter break, Boston
billion in 2007, crossing a philanthropic College concluded an eight-year project
milepost. According to the Giving USA to increase the presence of symbols that

Photo: Essdras M. Suarez, The Boston Globe

Foundations annual report, donations emphasizes the universitys Roman
made in 2007 totaled $306.39 billion. Catholic heritage. Students and faculty
While the total amount is notable, after returned from their break to find a
adjusting for inflation, it is only a 1 crucifix or Catholic icon adorning each
percent increase over 2006 levels. of the schools 151 classrooms along
with newly installed statues and other
W works of art on campus and in university
buildings, including mosaics of Dorothy
Ave Maria University in southwest Day and former superior general of the
Florida took delivery of eighty tons of Society of Jesus Pedro Arrupe, as well
Carrara marblethe pure white marble as a large statue of the orders founder, Boston College installed this statue of St.
used by Michelangelo and still prized Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatius of Loyola as part of their effort to
by Vatican sculptorsfrom quarries in increase the number of symbols on campus
Italy. Hungarian-born sculptor Marton W that highlight its Catholic heritage.
Varo will use the nineteen blocks of
marble to create a relief sculpture of This past fall, for the first time in 42
the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary to years, the Archdiocese of Chicago W
adorn a thirty-five-by-thirty-one-foot increased the number of Catholic
space on the faade of Ave Marias schools in its territory. Christ the King The Diocese of Madison, WI,
oratory. Varo will spend a year at the Jesuit College Preparatory School is part demolished Saint Raphaels Cathedral
school to complete the $3 million project. of the Cristo Rey Network sponsored in June 2008, over three years after
by the Society of Jesus. Although the a March 2005 arson fire significantly
W school welcomed its first class this past damaged the edifice. The diocese
fall, it is currently housed in temporary announced in June 2007 that it would
quarters while it awaits the completion forego repairing the 1854 structure in
of a new $27 million facility on the favor of clearing the site in order to
Photo: Valerie Roche, news-press.com

Chicagos West Side slated to open
in 2009. Cristo Rey Network schools
operate on an alternative educational
model in which students enroll in a
college prep curriculum while working
in a professional internship five days per
month at a local corporate sponsor, thus
enabling students to defray a significant
Artist Marton Varo works on the relief portion of their tuition costs. Christ
sculpture of the Annunciation for Ave the King is the twentieth school in the
Maria Universitys oratory. nationwide Cristo Rey Network that
began eleven years ago.
W W
During his journey to Australia last
July for World Youth Day, Pope
Benedict XVI dedicated the new altar
in Sydneys Saint Marys Cathedral. In
his homily, the Holy Father explained
that the relief sculpture of Christ the
Suffering Servant on the front of the
Photo: AP/Rick Rycroft
build a new, larger cathedral at a yet to
be determined date. Prior to razing the
historic cathedral, the diocese salvaged
architectural and ornamental elements
from the structure including mosaics,
stained glass, and the ninety-foot-tall
steeple and bellswhich had been just
been refurbished in 2004in order
to incorporate them into the future
cathedral.
W
Last May, Bishop Jean-Michel di Falco
of the Diocese of Gap announced the
official recognition of the Churchs
newest Marian Shrine at a Mass in the
Basilica of Notre Dame in Laus, France.
The apparitions of the Virgin Mary to
a young French shepherdess, Benoite
Rencurel (16471718), at the sanctuary

altar is emblematic of how every altar of Laus began in 1664 and continued
is a symbol of Jesus Christ, present in the throughout the womans life. In these
midst of his Church as priest, altar, and visions, the Blessed Mother requested
victim. The altar is a new addition to the building of a church and house
the Gothic Revival cathedral designed for priests to bring people to greater
by the English-born architect William Pope Benedict XVI incenses the new conversion, especially through the
Wilkinson Wardell. Construction of altar of St. Marys Cathedral in Sydney, Sacrament of Penance. Today, the site
the church began in 1868 and lasted for Australia. associated with Our Lady of Laus draws
nearly sixty years. 120,000 people annually.

4 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009


The ten-week occupation by former
parishioners of two New Orleans
parishes closed as part of the
Photo: Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
archdiocesan reorganization came
to an end on January 6, 2009. Police
assisted the Archdiocese of New Orleans
in clearing the churches of Our Lady of
Good Counsel and Saint Henry, arresting
two protest participants and charging
another with criminal trespassing. The
charges were dropped on January 7.
The Church of Ss. Trinit dei Pellegrini in
Rome now serves as the personal parish of W sponsored the concert.
the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.
On November 9, 2008, Pope Benedict
W XVI used his weekly Angelus address
to focus on the Feast of the Dedication
On June 8, 2008 the Priestly Fraternity of the Lateran Basilica, which happened
of Saint Peter celebrated the opening to fall on that Sunday. He began by
Mass for its personal parish in the introducing the feast: The liturgy
Diocese of Rome. In an Easter 2008 today has us celebrate the Dedication
decree, Pope Benedict XVI granted of the Lateran Basilica, called mother
the Church of Ss. Trinit dei Pellegrini and head of all the churches of the Urbe
to the fraternity as a personal parish. and Orbe. He then provided a brief
Construction on the church began in history of it in which he mentioned that
1587 under Martino Longhi the Elder. this occasion initially only involved the
Later in 1723, Francesco De Santis, city of Rome; then, from 1565 onwards,
designer of the Spanish Steps, completed it extended to the entire Church of
his design for the faade of Ss. Trinit the Roman rite. Reflecting on the
dei Pellegrini. This is the fraternitys Scripture readings of the day the pope
first personal parish in Europe and said, The Word of God during this
their tenth overall. Personal parishes Solemnity recalls an essential truth: the
serve the distinct needs of a particular stone temple is the symbol of the living
population, be they linguistic, ethnic, or, Church, the Christian community, that
as in this case, liturgical, and therefore the Apostles Peter and Paul had, in
are not defined by specific geographic their Letters, already understood as
boundaries like territorial parishes. a spiritual building, constructed by
With the establishment of their personal God with the living stones that are the
parish, the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Christians, upon the one foundation that
Peter have a permanent venue in Rome is Jesus Christ, who is in turn compared
in which to offer the Extraordinary Form to the cornerstone. Benedict then
of the Mass. spoke about church buildings, The
W beauty and harmony of the churches,
destined to render praise to God,
The new Saint Catherine Greek invites us humans beings too, though
Orthodox Church in Braintree, MA, limited and sinful, to convert ourselves
held its first services in late March to form a cosmos, a well-ordered
2008. The 9,200 square-foot Byzantine construction, in close communion with
style church with a four-hundred-person Jesus, who is the true Holy of Holies.
seating capacity is part of a new complex Dear friends, the pontiff concluded,
for the Greek Orthodox parish first todays feast celebrates an ever current
established in 1959. The design for Saint mystery: that God desires to build
Catherines by CJK Design Group, a San himself a spiritual temple in the world,
Francisco firm specializing in Orthodox a community that adores him in spirit
church architecture, features a cruciform and truth. But this observance reminds
plan and a thirty-one-foot in diameter us also of the importance of the concrete
copper dome that soars to a interior buildings in which the community
height of fifty-six feet. The exterior of gathers to celebrate Gods praises. Every
the dome is topped by a Justinian-style community therefore has the duty to
cross. The project cost $3.5 million and carefully guard their holy structures,
is the first church built in Braintree in which constitute a precious religious and
nearly fifty years. historical patrimony.
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
N e w s
The Rome Philharmonic Academy
presented a concert by the Ensemble
Romabarocca for the Festa della Musica.
Under the direction of Lorenzo Tozzi,
the orchestra performed music by the
Baroque architect and composer Carlo
Rainaldi. Rainaldi (16111691) was
the architect of such masterpieces as S.
Agnese in Agone, the churches at Piazza
del Popolo, S. Maria in Campitelli, and
the faade of S. Andrea della Valle.
Paolo Portoghesi, an Italian architect,
W
On October 25, 2008 Bishop Robert
Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City
Saint Joseph, MO, consecrated Old
Saint Patricks Oratory in Kansas City.
Administered by the Institute of Christ
the King Sovereign Priest since October
2005, Saint Patricks parish began in 1875.
Architect William Heyer of Columbus,
Ohio led the $1.5 million renovation of
the oratory. The mission to restore the
19th-century church started in 2006 and
over the course of approximately two
years workers repaired the edifices brick
and sandstone exterior and completed
interior projects that included the
refurbishing of altars, communion
railing, and confessionals salvaged from
churches in Massachusetts, plaster work,
and lighting. The renovation work
also integrated new features such as
decorative paintings, woodwork, a new
wood floor, and new lighting, plus a new
sound system.
W
Photo: William Heyer Architect
The interior of the restored Old St. Patricks
Oratory in Kansas City, Missouri.
5
N e w s

Bill V. Brown, AIA, a leading figure In December 2008, Antonio Cardinal

in church and liturgical design, died
on June 11, 2008. He was fifty-eight
years old. Mr. Brown received his
architectural training at the University
of Notre Dame, IN, graduating in 1973.
Caizares of Spain became Prefect of
the Congregation for Divine Worship
and the Discipline of the Sacraments,
succeeding Francis Cardinal Arinze.
Born in Valencia, Caizares comes to the

Photo: Centrum Opatrznosci Bozej

The largest church construction project in
Poland since the 1700s, work continues on
the Temple of Divine Providence.
During his nearly thirty-five years as a
practicing architect he established his
own firm, Bill Brown AIA Professional
Corporation, in Colorado Springs, was
a founding member of the Association
of Consultants for Liturgical Space, and
designed many new churches across
the United States and renovations of the
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception,
Fort Wayne, IN and the Cathedral
of the Assumption, Covington, KY.
Vatican from his post as archbishop of
Toledo, Spains oldest and primatial see.
Prior to his 2002 appointment to Toledo,
he was archbishop of Granada from 1996
to 2002 and bishop of vila from 1992 to
1996. He was created a cardinal in 2006
at age 60.
W

W W

Outside Warsaw, Poland, construction At Historic Saint Marys City, MD,

continues on the Temple of Divine the campaign to reconstruct the first
Providence. While the concept for the Catholic structure erected in British
project and the first attempt at building North America is nearing completion.
a church to unite the population of The Albany, NY, based firm of Mesick-
the nation dates to 1791, the current Cohen-Wilson-Baker Architects
campaign to fulfill that vision began developed the modest Baroque design
in June 1999 when Pope John Paul II for the reconstruction of the 1667 chapel
laid the cornerstone for the church now using archaeological and historical
under construction. With an estimated evidence that draws on Jesuit history
cost of 30 million, the Temple is the the Society of Jesus built the original

Photo: Historic St. Marys City

largest construction project undertaken
by the Roman Catholic Church in Poland
since Prussia, Russia, and Austria
partitioned the country in the 1700s. The
churchs design features a Greek-cross
plan with a base encompassing 275-
by-275 (84m) foot area, a circular nave
that is approximately 223 feet (68m) in
diameter, and a dome soaring nearly 250
feet (75m) into the sky.
W incomplete; they will be installed in the
As part of its 750th anniversary
celebration, Britains Salisbury
Cathedral installed a new baptismal font
designed by British sculptor William
Pye. The cathedrals first permanent
font in over 150 years, the Greek-
cruciform basin is made of patinated
bronze and set on a Purbeck freestone
plinth. Designed to accommodate full-
immersion baptisms, the font is almost
10 feet (3m) wide and holds nearly 800
chapelliturgical practice of the age,
construction technology available in
the region during the seventeenth
century, and contemporary English
buildings. The reconstruction effort
began in September 2002 utilizing
the extant cruciform foundations and
has continued seasonally every year The reconstruction of the 1667 chapel is
since. When the 2008 construction nearly complete at Historic St. Marys
season concluded, only the installation City in Maryland.
of the doors and windows remained
spring of 2009. W
W After a seven-year, $41 million
restoration to repair the destruction
caused by a 2001 fire, the Cathedral of
Saint John the Divine in New York City
officially reopened with a rededication
service on November 30, 2008. The
fire gutted the churchs north transept
and severely damaged the rest of the
landmark edifice, the cornerstone of
which was laid in 1892. The scaffolding
Photo: TimesOnline

gallons (3000 liters) of water, making and partition walls required for the
it the largest working font in a British subsequent repair work obstructed the
cathedral. The Most Rev. Dr. Rowan 600-foot-long interior. His Eminence,
Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, Edward Cardinal Egan, archbishop of
consecrated the new font and baptized Salisbury Cathedrals first permanent font New York, attended the service as part
two infants on September 28, 2008, in 150 years was consecrated on September of an ecumenical delegation and New
during a service commemorating the 28, 2008 by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Yorks two U.S. Senators led the group
cathedrals anniversary. of civil officials present at the service.

6 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009

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British architect St. Colmans Society for Catholic

Craig Hamilton Liturgy will hold its 2009 International
has been garnering Liturgical Conference from July 12
significant acclaim 13, 2009 on Fota Island in County
for his design of a Cork, Ireland. Entitled Benedict XVI
private chapel in on Beauty: Issues in the Tradition of
northern Britain. Christian Aesthetics, the conference will
The project won the feature talks by scholars from around the
2006 Georgian Group world and a keynote address by George
Award for the best Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney.
new building in the
classical tradition. W

Photo: Craig Hamilton Architects

More recently, the
Stone Federation On April 15, 2009, Dr. Thomas Dillon,
of Great Britain President of Thomas Aquinas College
listed the chapel as in Santa Paula, California, died in a
Highly Commended car accident while traveling in Ireland.
in its 2008 Natural He was 62 years old. Dr. Dillon joined
Stone Awards the faculty of the college in 1972 and
Interior view of architect Craig Hamiltons award-winning Interiors category. had served as its president since 1991.
private chapel in the North of Britain. In addition to his Considered a leader in Catholic higher
work on the interior education for his advocacy of the Catholic
In order to revive the Catholic Churchs and exterior, Hamilton designed many liberal arts tradition and commitment to
role as an important patron of the arts, of chapels furnishings including its the schools Great Books curriculum,
the Pontifical Council for Culture silver communion set, tabernacle, altar, Dr. Dillons term as president was a
recently created a committee to find and pews, font, consecration candelabra, era of significant growth for Thomas
commission prominent contemporary celebrants chair, and organ. Original Aquinas College. Under his leadership,
artists to produce new religious and works by sculptor Alexander Stoddart the student body reached its maximum
spiritual works. The pieces will be part enhance the chapel, including a bust size and a number of ambitious building
of the Vaticans exhibition at the 2009 of the chapels patron saint, reredos campaigns brought most of the campus
Venice Biennalethe first Biennale in bas-reliefs of the Annunciation and the master plan to fruition, enabling the
which the Vatican has participated. Visitation, life-size sculptures of Saint College to transition from temporary
Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, President Augustine of Hippo and Saint Nicholas to permanent facilities. Dr. Dillon
of the Pontifical Council for Culture, of Tolentino, and a bronze tympanum considered the Chapel of Our Lady of
stated that the Church is seeking to depicting Saint Monica. the Most Holy Trinity as the head and
encourage new religious art in order crown-jewel of the 131-acre campus.
to bring about works that complement W Poignantly, this apex of Dillons career
modern church architecture, such as as a patron and builder was dedicated on
Richard Meiers Jubilee Church in Rome. The restoration of the Basilica of March 7, 2009, only a month before he
the Assumption in Baltimore and died. Friends and colleagues recounted
the Cathedral of Christ the Light in how he spent countless hours on the
W Oakland were among the twenty- project. He travelled to raise funds
five projects selected to receive a 2009 and to personally study local and
American Institute of Architects Honor international precedents for its design,
W i n n e r o f t h e R e l i g i o n a n d Awards announced in January. including the California Missions and
Contemplation category at the 2008 the masterworks of Europe, and he
World Architecture Festival in W attended to the smallest details during
Barcelona, Spain, the Dornbusch its construction.
Photo: Meixner Schlter Wendt Architeckten

Church near Frankfurt, Germany by

Meixner Schlter Wendt Architekten
blends a partially demolished 1940s
church with newly designed structures.
The result is a smaller sanctuary housed
in the preserved section of the original
church with a new tower, churchyard,
and community center. In their design
for the new additions, the architects
recalled features of the earlier edifice. The
new exterior wall for example, evokes The new faade of the Dornbusch Church
the original altar, entrance faade, and
gallery and the new churchyard features
outlines that indicate the location of the
original churchs furnishings and plan.
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
W
The Diocese of London, ON, is putting
three of its surplus churches up for
sale for as little as $1 each. The diocese
recently concluded that it could no
longer maintain the structures and has
offered the churches to local municipal
governments and non-profits. Finding
buyers will be challenging though, due
near Frankfurt, Germany, winner of the to repair costs estimated in the millions
Religion and Contemplation category at and the number of other vacant buildings
the 2008 World Architecture Festival. already present in the surrounding
communities.
7
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The Institute for Christ the King In September 2008, Pope Benedict XVI
Sovereign Priest is in the midst of dedicated the new altar in the Cathedral
completing a major renovation of of Albano, Italy. In his homily, the
a 1920s neo-Renaissance Chicago Holy Father reflected on the altars
church designed by Henry J. Schlacks. significance saying: But how much

Photo: The George Sollitt Construction Company

Established as the Shrine of Christ greater, dear brothers and sisters, must
the King Sovereign Priest on June 23, our joy be, knowing that every day
2006, by Francis Cardinal George, on this altar, which we are preparing
archbishop of Chicago, the institute has to consecrate, the sacrifice of Christ is
already completed the first phase of the offered; on this altar he will continue to
project: the preservation and repair of immolate himself, in the sacrament of
the exterior, including replacing the the Eucharist, for our salvation and that
roof, tuck-pointing, surface cleaning, of the whole world. In the Eucharistic
and refurbishing the churchs tower. mystery, that is renewed on every altar,
Two phases remain to complete the Jesus is really present. Quoting the First
entire renovation of the shrine. One The St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Letter of Saint Peter, His Holiness stated,
involves upgrading and installing new Diocese of Chicago finished building its Christs real presence makes each of us
mechanical systems, and the final phase new Cathedral in June 2008. his house, and we all together form his
will be bringing the plans by architect Church, the spiritual edifice of which
William Heyer for an early Roman Saint Peter speaks. Come to him, the
baroque interior to fruition. The focal W apostle writes, a living stone, rejected by
point of the restored church will be a human beings but chosen and precious
high altar housing a seventeenth-century Completed in June 2008, Mar Thoma in the sight of God, and, like living
Spanish statue of the Divine Infant King. Sleeha Cathedral is the seat for the stones, let yourselves be built into a
The interior will also feature several Saint Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic spiritual house to be a holy priesthood
altars and shrines: one dedicated to the Diocese of Chicago, the first Diocese to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable
patrons of the institute, Saints Benedict, for the Indian Catholic Rite outside to God through Jesus Christ. The
Francis de Sales, and Thomas Aquinas; India. Established by Pope John Paul pope then drew on Saint Augustines
another to the historic patrons of the II in 2001, the diocese serves more than observation, that through faith men
parish, Saints Clare and Gelasius; one 100,000 followers in North America are like wood and stone gathered from
to Saint Thrse of Lisieux, as the church and the cathedral parish is comprised forests and mountains for building;
once served as her national shrine. In of more than 800 families living in the through baptism, catechesis, and
addition, the transept and chancel will Chicago area. The 42,600-square-foot preaching they are cut, squared, and
house altars to Mary, the Immaculate Cathedral designed by Jaeger, Nickola filed down; but they only become the
Conception, and Saint Joseph along with & Associates, Ltd. features a 1,200-seat Lords house when they are ordered by
life-sized paintings of the Nativity and octagonal worship space, a sanctuary charity.
Crucifixion. The Institute estimates the with a baldachino housing the tabernacle,
complete preservation and renovation a daily chapel, and a Eucharistic chapel. W
project will cost over $7.3 million. The cathedrals exterior dome draws
on Indian architectural traditions while
W the faade is inspired by baroque

Photo: CNS photo/Max Rossi, Reuters

designs, especially the two-storey
entrance portico, which is adorned with
carved symbols of the Catholic faith and
includes a statue of Jesus, the Good
Shepherd in its central vaulted niche.

A researcher recently discovered The closing Mass of the 12th General

that the gold paint used in medieval Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
stained glass not only added beauty
Photo: William Heyer Architect

to sacred buildings, but also purified W

the air. According to Zhu Huai Yong,
an associate professor at Queensland Three hundred participants from
University of Technology in Australia, around the world met in Rome from
the gold particles in the paint reacts October 526, 2008, for the synod on
with the heat of the sunlight and creates The Word of God in the Life and
an electromagnetic field that breaks Mission of the Church. Convoked by
Interior view of the renewed Shrine of apart air-borne pollutants, like volatile Pope Benedict XVI, the international
Christ the King Sovereign Priest in organic compounds (VOCs). Only small meeting examined such topics as
Chicago. amounts of carbon dioxide have been promoting greater knowledge of
detected as a by-product of this process. Scripture and improving preaching.

8 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009

 N e w s

The Chapel of the Immaculate Saint Brigids Church in New York

Photo: Basilica de Santa Maria de Guadalupe

Conception at Seton Hall University in City received an anonymous gift of
New Jersey reopened in early November $20 million in May 2008, saving it from
after completing an extensive two-year demolition. Built by Irish immigrants,
renovation. Exterior work focused on the 1849 Gothic Revival structure closed
repairing the brownstone masonry, in 2001 due to structural problems. Once
installing a new slate roof, copper it is restored the parish hopes to reopen
flashing and gutters along with the the church for regular services.
restoration of the early twentieth-century
stained-glass windows. To complement W
and enhance the English Gothic character
A view from the future Plaza Mariana of the 1863 chapels interior, Granda In addition to its devastating human
toward the new and old Basilicas near Liturgical Arts of Madrid designed and toll, the April 6, 2009, earthquake in
Mexico City. installed new liturgical furnishings, the Abruzzi region of Italy severely
including a carved wood reredos to damaged several of the areas major
W house the tabernacle, a marble altar and architectural treasures. In and around
ambo, carved wood shrines to Mary and the town of LAquila, the disasters
At the Basilica of Our Lady of Joseph, plus the rehabilitation of the epicenter, officials from Italys culture
Guadalupe in Mexico work is underway decorative woodwork found throughout ministry have begun to document
on the construction of Plaza Mariana, the chapel. EverGreene Architectural the effects of the earthquake on area
a nearly 318,000-square-foot (29,534 Arts of New York restored the chapels landmarks, including the cathedral, the
square meters) extension of the Plaza of murals and painted ceiling. baroque Church of the Anime Sante,
the Americas in order to provide more the Renaissance-era San Bernardino,
space for pilgrims. Designed by architect W and the thirteenth-century Basilica of
Javier Sordo Madaleno of Mexico City, Santa Maria di Collemaggio, widely
the Plaza Mariana incorporates several considered the finest artistic work of the
additions to one of the most important city and region.
shrines in the Americas. These additions W
include: the Center for Evangelization to
aide in the proclamation and spreading On the Feast of All Saints, 2008, San
of the faith by providing classrooms Albino in Mesilla, NM, was formally
and a thousand-seat auditorium for dedicated as the newest minor basilica
educational presentations; a museum in the United States. While the current
to inform visitors about the story of structure dates to 1906, the parish began
Guadalupe and its history through as a mission in 1851. The designation,
Photo: Granda Liturgical Arts

interactive exhibits; a columbarium received from the Vatican in late

with 100,000 niches; a marketplace; June, recognizes the churchs history,
and a large green space. The Center support of local culture and religion,
for Evangelization is the only major and education efforts. The Basilica of San
architectural feature of the new plaza Albino is the second church so honored
and is centered on the Chapel of the in New Mexico and the sixty-second
Rose, a monumental sculptural work The new Gothic reredos and tabernacle in minor basilica in the nation.
incorporating symbols that represent the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception
both Blessed Mother and her Son, and at Seton Hall University.
W
the Guadalupe miracle of the image
of the Virgin appearing on San Juan W
Diegos cloak.
The Sisters of Saint Benedict in Saint
W Paul, MN, moved into a new fifty-
thousand-square-foot monastery
Photo: Wikimedia Free Documentation License

designed by Pope Associates of Saint

Paul on February 10, 2009, the Feast
of Saint Scholastica. The sisters built
Photo: St. Pauls Monastery

the new St. Pauls Monastery on the

property that has been their home for
over three decades in order to better
suit the communitys current and future
needs. The monastery complex includes
housing for thirty-five sisters, a retreat
Pope Associates design for the new St. center with accommodations for sixteen
Pauls Monastery, home of the Sisters of guests, a chapel, community room, bell The Basilica of San Albino in Mesilla, New
St. Benedict in St. Paul, Minnesota. tower, dining area, health center, and Mexico is the U.S.s newest minor basilica.
administrative offices.
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 9
N e w s

With more than five thousand houses

of worship built in the United States

Photo: Robert Behre, The Post and Courier

Holy Ascension Orthodox Church in the and willing to negotiate lower rates,
New Urbanist community of I'On in
South Carolina.
annually, the construction, repair, and
maintenance of religious buildings
contributes $40 billion to the nations
economy. As of mid-2008 the economic
downturn was having mixed effects on
this sector of the construction industry.
Due to the economic climate reducing
work in other types of construction,
builders are eager to secure work
thus reducing construction costs for
congregations that have cash on hand

Photo: Henry Wingate

and are ready to build. However, the
downturn makes it difficult to raise
W funds for future capital projects, as
congregants cut back on donations in
An Orthodox parish in the New order to cope with increased costs of
Urbanist community of IOn near living or decreased income. Baptism of Christ, by artist Henry
Charleston, SC, consecrated a new Wingate, from a series of scenes from
church on May 24, 2008. The design W the life of Saint John the Baptist. The
of Holy Ascension Orthodox Church four eight-by-four-foot paintings will be
blends Byzantine customs, such as Thomas More College in Merrimack, installed in the sanctuary of Saint John the
its two onion domes, and traditional NH, recently launched a new program Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Front
low-country building materials like to foster the next generation of Catholic Royal, VA, which was dedicated in 1998.
heartpine floors. The 3,500 square foot artists and patrons. Led by the colleges
facility cost $1.2 million to build, but the first artist in residence, David Clayton, W
interior iconographic painting remains the Way of Beauty Art Program combines
unfinished and may take several years instruction in practical art skills, the In September 2009, the new Chapel
to complete. talent to apprehend beauty, and the of Christ the Teacher at the College
W ability to open up to inspiration from of Saint Thomas More in Fort Worth,
God. Clayton comes to the college TX will be dedicated by Bishop Kevin
On the morning of February 4, 2009, a from Great Britain, where he worked as Vann. The chapel was designed by Joe
fire broke out in the attic of Chicagos an iconographer and naturalist artist. Self of Firm 817 in Fort Worth, with
Holy Name Cathedral. It took In addition to teaching, he will mentor College Chancellor Dr. James Patrick
firefighters over two hours to extinguish students and artists one-on-one in the consulting on the design. The interior
the blaze; declaring it out by 8:00 a.m. Colleges newly established art studio. includes a rood beam with a crucifix
Although the fire affected only a portion Thomas More College hopes that the from post-Revolution Mexico. The
of the building, the damage caused Way of Beauty Art Program will not only chapel will regularly seat 120 people
the cathedral to close its doors for the be a catalyst for the renewal of culture and be able to accommodate up to 200
second time in a year. The church had and sacred art, but also draw aspiring on important occasions.
just reopened in August 2008 following a artists to its four-year undergraduate
six-month closure for structural repairs. program in the Catholic liberal arts. W
Designed by Patrick Charles Keely of
Brooklyn, NY, the cornerstone of Holy W
Name Cathedral was laid in 1874.
The C edar s Wo rship Center in
W Waterloo, ON, houses the congregation
of Westminster United Church and the
Temple Shalom synagogue. Designed
Photo: The United Church Observer

by Charles Simon and completed in

the summer of 1996, the $1.4 million
Photo: College of St. Thomas More

complex is the only one of its kind in

North America and features a double-
ended sanctuary to provide each
community with its own distinct space.
Each sanctuary is crowned with a
skylight that provides natural light for
The Cedars in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada the appropriate service: evening light
houses a United Church congregation and for the synagogues Friday services and The Chapel of Christ the Teacher, College
the synagogue of Temple Shalom. morning sun for the United Churchs of St. Thomas More, Fort Worth, Texas.
services on Sundays.

10 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009

 A r t i c l e s

T he L onely G od
Oakland's Cathedral of Christ the Light
Matthew Alderman

W
e live in an age Others, such as Perrets Notre
of cathedral Dame du Raincy, applied
building. Whether modernist streamlining to
it be starchitect bunkers a traditional plan, result-
like Our Lady of the Angels ing in structures, that, while
in Los Angeles or simpler not uninteresting, may invite
liturgical refits from Sydney awkward comparisons with
to Sacramento, the last both their ancient predeces-
decade has seen a surprising sors and contemporary rivals.
upsurge in high-profile Yet here was a new synthesis
ecclesiastical projects. The that might preserve the best
newest example was completed of the past without neglecting
only last September, but it the present and future. Had
had started winning awards contemporary Christendom
before construction ever put on a white garment of
began.1 This airy glass-and- churches or a beige chasu-alb?
concrete truncated cone, set in Is it possible to produce a truly
a handsome lakeside location, successful modernist church?
is the Cathedral of Christ the Set against the downtown
Light, the new seat of the bishop backdrop, the plain glass walls
of Oakland. The building cost of the cathedral appear indis-

Photo: Skier Dude via Wikipedia

$190 million.2 tinguishable from the mono-
The presss reception has culture of office towers that
been a warm one, describ- surround them. The interior,
ing the finished structure as famously flooded with light,
ethereal, awe-inspiring, is dominated by a prominent
and a quiet retreat.3 Many altar, a central tabernacle, and
see it as a symbol of unity in a gigantic Gothic (or perhaps
an ethnically diverse diocese. The interior, famously flooded with light, is dominated by a Gothico-futuristic) Christ
Designed by architect Craig prominent altar, a central tabernacle, and a gigantic Gothic Pantocrator. Celebratory
Hartman, a San Francisco (or perhaps Gothico-futuristic) Christ Pantocrator. books and prayer pamphlets,
based member of the ven- issued in advance of the dedi-
erable modernist firm of Skidmore, often in the face of considerable oppo- cation, gave witness to the rich spiri-
Owings, and Merrill, the cathedrals sition, and is widely known for his doc- tual meaning encoded in its geometry,
long list of inspirations includes both trinal orthodoxy and pastoral abilities. the potent significance of its severe ca-
the stark contemporary work of artist As this article was being written, he thedra, altar, and font. A recent visitor,
Richard Serra and the delicate Gothic of was named to succeed Adam Cardinal oblivious to the churchs iconography,
Pariss Sainte-Chapelle.4 Mr. Hartman, Maida in the archbishopric of Detroit. came away with a different message.
who is not a Catholic, has nonetheless In spite of being a confirmed clas- She thought the cathedral was about
called his participation in the project a sicist, I was intrigued. Through the be[ing] one, past religions, past race,
humbling and deeply enriching experi- centuries, a multiplicity of styles have [] just all about one humanity. 6
ence for his spiritual life. embellished the worship of the Church, Herein lies the root of the problem:
While much of the media coverage while at the same time retaining a Though efforts toward multicultural
has praised the design as both con- strong sense of liturgical and cultural and community unity may be laudable,
temporary and elegant, others, such as continuity. Adapting modernist ar- a church cannot risk appearing to tran-
project patron Bishop Allen H. Vigner- chitecture, with its secular origins and scend a sense of its own religion for the
on, have stressed its traditional side, conscious rejection of historic prece- sake of a superficially broader perspec-
describing the design in luminously or- dent, has proven more elusive. Many tive. Even inadvertently.
thodox terms. It will be a Christological modernist ecclesiastical monuments,
beacon on the city skyline, the bishop such as the metropolitan cathedrals of Beginnings: The Old Cathedral, the
has said, an icon of icons, an icon Liverpool and Brasilia, have relied on Earthquake, and the Beatles
for icons, rich with liturgical symbol- novel systems of liturgical organization Formed in 1962, the Diocese of
ism.5 Bishop Vigneron has long been and alien theological speculation, sug- Oakland adopted the parish church of
deeply concerned with the reverent, ru- gesting a philosophical divide running Saint Francis de Sales as its cathedral
brical celebration of the Churchs rites, deeper than mere stylistic differences. rather than opting for a new structure.

Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 11

A r t i c l e s

Shortly thereafter, the new cathedrals Hearing Bishop Vigneron so rigor- Gothic pointed arch dominating the
guidebook recalls, a forward-facing ously emphasize the designs scrupu- front. The bare, stained concrete base,
altar was installed, while devo- lous liturgical planning and consider- the so-called relic wall, appears curi-
tional elements [were] minimized to ing Mr. Hartmans enthusiasm for the ously unfinished.
focus on the eucharistic liturgy.7 A end result gave rise to a glimmer of The churchs tapering silhouette
popular center for progressive liturgi- hope that modernism, with a firm res- is a distinctive one. The walls slant
cal tinkeringincluding the playing olution of amendment, might finally upwards on curved foundations,
of Beatles music at Massthe pro-ca- have been Christianized. Despite ex- abruptly truncating at the top in a row
thedral continued in use until the 1989 pectations of a dazzling, light-filled of spare upright spiresor perhaps
Loma Prieta earthquake. It was razed bit of architectural fusion cuisine, ever spikes is the better word. The architect
in 1993. In late 1999, Bishop John S. ancient and ever new, further study calls them architectural exclamation
Cummins, who had presided over the of the finished product extinguished points.12 There is little to give a sense
diocese since the late seven- of scale, or, in spite of the
ties, began gathering a con- exclamation points, any
sensus for a new cathedral other transitional details to
as a sign of unity among relieve the eye as it moves
peoples. The name Christ over the structures vast
the Light, from Vatican IIs smooth flanks.
Lumen Gentium, The Light Continuing through a
of Nations, was intended shallow narthex, the visitor
as a further nod to the com- moves into the bulging inte-
munitys multiculturalism.8 rior of the nave. Overhead,
Any more specific saint or beneath the canted glass
Marian title might have walls, a second wooden
risked the appearance of vault of curvilinear glue-
ethnic exceptionalism. laminated Douglas fir rafters
Much of the initial plan- and purlins runs from a low
ning occurred during concrete dado up to an al-
Bishop Cumminss tenure, mond-shaped oculus domi-
but ground was not broken nating the ceiling. There is
until 2005 under Bishop Vi- no real ornament, ostensibly

Photo: Skier Dude via Wikipedia

gneron, who had succeeded to emphasize through the
the late Bishop Cummins materials themselves a pri-
more than a year earlier. mordial connection to the
From the beginning, the elements. To a traditional-
project was intended to ists eye, the view is not so
be contemporary in style. much primal as mass-pro-
(For contemporary in this in- duced: dull stone flooring,
stance, read, modernist.) A The walls slant upwards on curved foundations, abruptly an enormous latticework of
shortlist of three prominent truncating at the top in a row of spare upright spires. yellowish wood overhead,
architectsHartman, San- red oak pews below, some
tiago Calatrava, and Ricardo Legor- that glimmer. Though designed with glass, and a touch of concrete around
retahad been invited to participate considerable verve and elegance, the the edges. Even Rafael Moneos Los
in a complex vetting process that had church nonetheless disappoints.10 Angeles Cathedral melded modernist
included the submission of their own design with cool stone and alabaster
schematic designs for the cathedral. A Walk Through the Cathedral windows.
The winner had been Santiago Calatra- The cathedral is seated on a vast
va.9 Mr. Hartman, the architect of San plaza, inspired by the church squares Blonde Wood and Concrete in the Belly
Francisco airports new international of Catholic Europe and Latin America, of the Fish
terminal, was later selected to replace and potentially the location for simi- Architect Hartmans work is predi-
Calatrava early during Bishop Vigner- larly traditional devotions. Bishop Vi- cated on his concern that traditional
ons tenure. gneron sees it as the site for an annual churches, with their great masses of
Mr. Hartmans completed design Diocesan Corpus Christi procession on ornamentation, merely get in the way
was not substantially altered from the Plaza.11 If not quite able to sepa- of their own message. He hopes in the
his competition proposal. However, rate itself from its glassy surroundings, new cathedral congregants will come
Bishop Vignerons dialogue with Mr. the churchs exterior is public in scale, away inspired by the preaching and
Hartman led to the adoption of a with a certain degree of verticality, liturgy, and not distracted by their sur-
number of liturgically traditional el- balance, and hierarchy. The front door, roundings. The plan is ovoid, a shape
ements, including the addition of a atop a monumental flight of steps, is known best as the vesica piscis. (The
figural image of Christ behind the altar mercifully easy to find. Still, it pres- term literally means fish bladder,
and an interior layout that was less ents few clues to its identity beyond though it more closely resembles an
centralized and more processional than fragmentary abstractions: an anemic, almond.) It is meant to evoke the
originally proposed. diagrammatic cross, and the pseudo- Ichthys, the fisherman Peter, Christs

12 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009

 A r t i c l e s

loaves and fish, the Pacific Ocean, and emphasis on light is evident. Here, the sacramental theology.15
the Eucharist. Like the vesica itself, the light itself becomes the symbolic orna-
interior tends toward the tastefully mentation of the interior, at first glance The Naked Sanctuary
geometrica circle of eternity here, an elegant notion. An official biogra- The sanctuary consists of a raised
a cross there, generic enough to do phy refers to a life-altering encounter platform at the far end of the church.
duty for both Eastern and Western cul- Mr. Hartman had with Pariss Sainte- Its design, and that of the other litur-
turesbut none are articulate enough Chapelle.13 Unfortunately, the vaguely gical implements in the cathedral, was
to be specific to any culture. Unless shadowed light strained through the overseen by the projects liturgical
they are carefully pointed out, they slats is a far cry from Sainte-Chapelle. planner and designer, Brother William
remain as obscure as the esoteric me- Mr. Hartman quotes Louis Kahn in re- Woeger, FSC. The altar is set atop a
dieval encrustations so worrisome to lation to the cathedralwe are born high-stepped circular predella enclosed
Mr. Hartman. The few places where a of light we only know the world as by a lower curving platform with
more orthodox figural the ambo and cathe-
approach is taken seem dra. Four six-foot-high
a late addition, discon- candlestands are at the
nected from the rest of corners of the altar. Its
the structure. The most placement terminates
obvious instance is the the processional, direc-
hulking, ectoplasmic tional hierarchy of the
Pantocrator pixilated nave, an improvement
into what has been over earlier, more strict-
termed the Omega ly centralized designs.
window looming The height and
behind the altar. The prominence of the altar

Photo: Skier Dude via Wikipedia

gigantic image is fifty- steps is particularly
eight feet high. successful, in contrast
An impressively to most contempo-
stark object, the baptis- rary sanctuary plans,
mal font is placed at the where the altar usually
west end of the nave, sits at the floor level
in the fashion currently of the chancel. The
popular. There is a case An impressively stark object, the baptismal font is placed at the west end of lofty candlesticks also
to be made for separate the nave, in the fashion currently popular. create a certain upward
baptisteries, especially movement, if some-
in cathedrals. That said, the location it is evoked by lighta pronounce- what diffused. But the altars direc-
is not unprecedented, and is suitably ment suggestive not of Christianity but tional primacy is undercut by the choir
processional. A single inscription from a more nebulous modern spirituality.14 seating and pews that almost complete-
Genesis, telling of the Spirit moving on The light is beautiful, yet, without con- ly encircle it. The altar appears nearly
the waters, is set into the floor. This crete figural symbolism to render it fully in the round and has no true
creation theme is not misplaced, for it theologically articulate, it appears un- overarching architectural element to
relates to the abstract, creation-themed linked to Christ except in a vague, sub- celebrate or anchor it. These wooden
Alpha window over the narthex, jective manner. furnishings merge visually with the
yet it feels incomplete, missing the re- Mr. Hartman has mentioned his low blonde wood screen that divides
demptive drama of the sacrament. The debt to the mid-twentieth-century the sanctuary from the Eucharistic
visitor is confronted with the deep architect and theoretician Rudolf chapel placed at its back. The effect
reality of water, but there is very little Schwarz, specifically the soi-disant is somewhat amorphous. By way of
to show the still deeper transformation New Iconography proposed in his contrast, the chancel and sanctuary of
this element has undergone through Vom Bau der Kirche. The book was sug- a traditional church are expressed as
Christs sacrifice. There is nothing to gested to Mr. Hartman and his team by a specific, enclosed volume within the
hold the pilgrim, save the uncommuni- retired Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill interior, much like the Holy of Holies
cative fact of the fonts existence. partner Walter Netsch, the architect of within the Temple of Jerusalem. As a
The vast sweep of the nave is the Air Force Academy chapel, another practical matter, the cathedrals open-
marked by a sense of processional of Mr. Hartmans influences. The parti ness also increases the twists and turns
movement and liturgical orientation. of the interior, with its open nave, that acolytes must take back and forth
The Pantocrators Omega window ring of seating, and quasi-centralized to the sacristy in the midst of a solemn
and its abstract Alpha equivalent on sanctuary, is strongly reminiscent of mass. Such flustered coming and
the entry faade neatly terminate the Schwarzs schemas, even in spite of going in and out of the sacred precinct
ends of the inner wood vault. The line later, more orthodox edits. Although of the sanctuary turns liturgy from a
of the twelve-foot-high concrete relic ostensibly derived from a suitably holy tableau into a busy theater-in-the-
wall lowers the horizon somewhat ancient sourceChrists life itselfthe round.
and creates a sense, not of striving New Iconography is an idiosyncrat- The chancel furnishings are all that
upward, but of too much ceiling. ic, highly personal iconography self- a reasonably literal-minded interpre-
Throughout the nave, Mr. Hartmans consciously divorced from liturgy and tation of the General Instruction of the
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 13
A r t i c l e s

Roman Missal might demand, and no carry figural imagery. Bishop Vigner- His tasseled curtains, ministering cher-
more. Present are a large, somewhat on nonetheless wanted a great icon ubim, and palmettes. Here, Christ is
stubby stone altar, a discreet bishops of Christ over the altar to serve as the a lonely postmodern fragment: Christ
throne inset into a small synthronon, or churchs liturgical nexus, a laudable on display rather than Christus regnat.
priests bench, a crucifix, and a large addition in the abstract. It was decided At first glance this might prove the ar-
round ambo. Each of these elements to copy an image of Christ in judgment chitects concern about artistic distrac-
only vaguely resembles its traditional from the west portal of Chartres. This tions from the liturgy, yet the solution
antecedents. The ambo, the name of ancient sculpture would be made suit- is not less, but more. Christ must be
which is taken from the Greek word ably contemporary by rendering it in ensconced in the liturgical-symbolic ex-
for high place, is a low, tub-like a highly experimental medium. The egesis that is the Churchs great artistic
stone object with barely enough room Pantocrator is a pixilated mosaic of heritage. Without it, He is a lonely God
for one reader, much less two candle- light strained through the 94,000 perfo- indeed.
bearing acolytes and a thurifer. The rations of a vast expanse of aluminum The few figural sculptures scattered
large freestanding crucifix, placed off panels. While a fascinating exercise in around the remainder of the nave feel
center above the ambo, is misplaced, its digital pyrotechnics, the result is a bit just as disconnected. Most are tucked
location here inspired by the preaching sterile.18 away in little devotional pigeonholes
crosses seen so often behind along the raw concrete relic
baroque pulpits. The modern wall. All the humanizing nice-
altar-cross mentioned in the ties of Catholic piety are dis-
General Instruction, while per- creetly hidden away herethe
mitted to be placed elsewhere, flickering votive candles, the
is the direct descendant of the ethnic patrons, the antique art.
small crosses placed upon the There are some real treasures
altar for priestly devotion. A hererichly polychromed
pulpit cross is of secondary Mexican neo-baroque wood
importance and does not have sculptures, an eighteenth-

Photo: nyrnsf@flickr.com
the same effect as a cross on century Peruvian Christ in the
the altar, an arrangement that Temple, and other surprises.
Benedict XVI has advocated.16 There is even some old-fash-
The cathedrals liturgical ioned stained glass in the mau-
planning is not without its soleum-lined crypt, probably
meritorious aspects. There is A chapel in the circle of devotion, sequestered within the the most appealing part of the
a Eucharistic chapel, as is cus- concrete relic wall. church. These sequestered
tomary in cathedrals, separate chapels, with their bare plaster
from the sanctuary. The tabernacle is This icon of Christ, so intimately walls, might come across as a museum
located on axis with the altar and, inset contextualized in the hieratic symbol- of outdated religious practices to the
into the screen enclosing the rear of ism of the Last Judgment, is blown undiscerning visitor, but as the years
the sanctuary, is clearly visible from completely out of proportion, looking stretch on, the circle of devotion, as
the nave. It may be approached from like a ghostly overscaled projection it is being called, may end up being the
either side. In North America, where caught on a JumboTron. The hinge-like liveliest part of the cathedral.19
many cathedrals are effectively over- angle of the Omega window gives
sized parish churches, placing the tab- the figure an alarming bulge when ap- Empty Vessels
ernacle in the sanctuary has become the proached from off-center. At the same Can a truly successful modernist
traditional norm, even if a separate time, the immense size of the image church be built? The first part of the
Eucharistic chapel has been historically miniaturizes everything beneath it. By twentieth century saw some intriguing
preferred for cathedrals. Cathedrals comparison, the tabernacle is a tiny experiments in early and high ecclesial
often become working models for local gold spangle, the altar almost crushed. modernism, though the best were so
parishes, making tabernacle placement A baldachin, even one in a matching heavily classicized with austere half-
a ticklish issue. This arrangement pre- contemporary style, might have mod- Byzantine mosaics and rich marbles
serves the traditional independence erated this effect by creating a frame that they might merely be taken for an
of a cathedrals reservation chapel for the exposed altar and tabernacle. exotically austere variety of Cistercian
without relegating the Eucharist to The image of Christ is also, like Romanesque. Most adhered to the or-
some obscure annex.17 much else in the interior, decontextual- thodox basilican plan of the time and
ized and reduced to the most basic of forsook modernist ideals of space plan-
Christ, Alone on the JumboTron componentsa blessing hand, a book, ning, until the advent of the centralized
Regrettably, the whole of the sanctu- a halo, a dominating moue under His sanctuary and the subsequent cultural
aryand the whole interior with it odd medieval mustache. Gone are the crisis that consumed the late Liturgi-
is dwarfed by the Omega window, sheep and goats, the ministering angels, cal Movement and much of the main-
a vast expanse of translucent panel- the ite, maledicti, in ignem aeternum that stream Church.
ing jutting prow-like into the inte- made such a statue at Chartres intelli- At Oakland, there are some points
rior. It looks uncomfortably televisu- gible, a living presence within its time worth applauding. The eminent desire
al. Neither the Alpha window nor and place. In the Temple, before the to secure the services of a top-notch,
the Omega window were meant to Lord had a human face, Yahweh had high-profile, locally minded architect

14 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009


in an age of penny-pinching ecclesias-
tics is heartening, although a tradition-
alist may respectfully disagree with the
outlook of the successful candidate.
Bishop Vignerons guidance has led to
a far more liturgically orthodox inte-
rior, for all its flaws, than many other
churches being built today, including
Los Angeless Our Lady of the Angels.
Coming into a project in progress, he
may have done all that was possible
to recast the interior.
The basic lineaments of the design
are, if unconventional, not without
elegance and wit. Further symbolic
ornamentation and articulation, as
well as richer and more colorful ma-
terials, could have transformed the
exterior from a glass tower among
glass towers to a dream of Victor
Horta, the nave into a polychrome
Gaud fantasy on the hull of the
barque of Peter.
Mr. Hartman and his patrons have
stressed their desire that the build-
ing they erected authentically reflect
their time and place. A good archi-
tect, modernist or classicist, cannot
confine himself to his own era. He
must look into past and future at
once. Mr. Hartman admits as much
when he lists his own heterogeneous
influences: the primal feel of the
earth, the Midwestern sixties of his
boyhood, scientific progress, the sea,
the simple wood of farm outbuild-
ings, Gothic, Richard Serra, Rudolf
Schwarz. But even this is not enough
to ensure a unified result. Although
the architect worked carefully with
the bishop, liturgical designer Brother
William, and the various committees
to create a seamless whole, the finished
design turns their divergent interests
into a running debate about the value
of Christian symbolism.
The celebrated unity of the cathedral
is achieved at the expense of real diver-
sity. Compared to the largely Euro-
American roots of Skidmore, Owing,
and Merrills modernism, Californias
indigenous family of Spanish revival
styles is a veritable international
rainbowan organic and very Catho-
lic mixture of Latin, Native Ameri-
can, Italianate, and Moorish, with, if
we stretch our minds a bit, a touch of
China by way of the Manila galleon.
If that is not enough, why not toss a
few more lumps into the melting pot
and see what happens? Next to all this
local and cosmopolitan color, the ca-
thedral seems a grey void, sterilized of
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
all except the lowest cultural common
denominators, with everything agree-
ably bright, cheery, and ethnic hidden
safely away in a side chapel. This strat-
egy of multicultural compromise has
not worked: parishioners are currently
arguing about whether or not they
can sing the Our Father in Tagalog at
Mass.20
Photo: layshock@flickr.com
The altar is set atop a high-stepped circular
predella enclosed by a lower curving platform
with the ambo and cathedra.
If she is to present a truly counter-
cultural witness, the Church must
proudly display her own traditional
culture in all its vibrant local variations
as an alternative to the artificial and ho-
mogenous productions of contempo-
rary civilization. Mere colorless light
is not enough. We need pictures. The
opulent blood-reds and cobalt blues of
stained glass traditionally transformed
light into a riot of saintly lives and
Biblical typologies. Literacy has not
supplanted the human need for story,
image, and symbol, touchstones far
more primordial than postmodern allu-
sions to stone and wood. Without real
allusions to doctrine, to sacred history,
and the inner life of God, we will have
very little on which to meditate under
this unredeemed light. It may speak to
the modern need for a Zen-like release
from the workaday world, yet Chris-
tian mysticism desires self-emptying,
not as an exercise in aromatherapy,
but in order that God might fill up our
empty vessels with Himself.
A r t i c l e s
Matthew Alderman, a New York-based
graduate of the School of Architecture at
the University of Notre Dame, designed the
altar, reredos, font, and other furnishings
for a renovation of the historic proto-cathe-
dral in Vladivostok, Russia. His writing
has appeared in First Things, Antiphon,
Touchstone, and The Saint Austin
Review.
email: malderman83@gmail.com
W
1. Cathedral of Christ the Light, http://www.som.com/
content.cfm/cathedral_of_christ_the_light (accessed January
6, 2008).
2. It is claimed to be the most expensive cathedral in U.S.
history. See Rebecca Rosen, Most Costly U.S. Cathedral
Rises to Oakland Skyline, Oakland Tribune, June 4, 2007.
3. For instance, Christopher Heredia, Oakland Dioceses
Dramatic Cathedral Taking Shape Near Lake Merritt, San
Francisco Chronicle, September 15, 2007; or Matthai Kuruvila,
New Oakland Cathedral Aims to Unify Catholics, San
Francisco Chronicle, September 18, 2008.
4. Most of the information about Mr. Hartman and his
design process comes from a telephone interview the author
conducted with the architect on September 23, 2008. Other
helpful background came from another phone interview with
traditional church architect and author Steven Schloeder on
September 25, 2008.
5. Information about the cathedrals symbolism and the
bishops role in the design process comes from a telephone
interview with Bishop Vigneron on September 16, 2008.
An interview from October 2005 in San Francisco Faith,
Christopher Zender, The Age Belongs to Christ, covers
many of the same questions and topics. See http://www.
sffaith.com/ed/articles/2005/0510cz2.htm (accessed January
10, 2008).
6. Lisa Lee, quoted in Lyanne Melendez, Cathedral of Christ
the Light Unveiled in Oakland, September 25, 2008, http://
abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local&id=6413976
(accessed January 6, 2009).
7. Mary-Cabrini Durkin, The Cathedral of Christ the Light
(Strasbourg: Editions du Signe, 2008), p. 16.
8. Ibid., pp. 1820, and Kuruvila, New Oakland Cathedral.
9. See Christopher Zendler, Unitarians Begone! San
Francisco Faith, October 2005, http://www.sffaith.com/ed/
articles/2005/0510cz.htm (accessed January 10, 2009).
10. One useful resource for allowing this desk-bound reviewer
to experience the cathedral up close were the photographs taken
and articles published by the California-based Domiane Forte at
his weblog http://paronomasialpensees.blogspot.com/.
11. Zender, The Age Belongs to Christ.
12. Durkin, The Cathedral of Christ the Light, p. 30.
13. Durkin, The Cathedral of Christ the Light, p. 9. He had another
while visiting Le Corbusiers Ronchamp, perhaps underlining
the architects varied influences.
14. Richard Rapaport, Into the Light, http://www.som.com/
content.cfm/into_the_light (accessed January 6, 2009).
15. See Steven Schloeder, Architecture in Communion (San
Francisco: Ignatius, 1998), p. 234238.
16. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger [Benedict XVI], The Spirit of the
Liturgy, trans. John Saward (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2000), p. 84.
17. The separate Eucharistic chapel in cathedrals is, historically
speaking, related to the rubrics of a pontifical mass in the
Extraordinary Form and other choral functions. (See J.B.
OConnell, Church Building and Furnishing: The Churchs Way
[Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1955], p.
173). Cathedral reservation chapels are also recommended for
the Novus Ordo, as a consequence of the same ancient tradition,
albeit within a changed liturgical context. (See Ceremonial of
Bishops [Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1989], pp. 49, 30). One may
ask whether within the new liturgy this is necessary. However,
the new motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, concerning the
old liturgy, suggests this matter might take on a more complex
coloring at present. (The cathedrals design predates the motu
proprio, which was issued in summer 2007.)
18. Durkin, The Cathedral of Christ the Light, p. 38.
19. Durkin, The Cathedral of Christ the Light, p. 50.
20. Kuruvila, New Oakland Cathedral Aims to Unify Catholics.
15
A r t i c l e s
A rchitectural U nity
The Patronage of Carlo Borromeo
A
s in the period that followed the
Council of Trent (15451563), the
Catholic Church has redefined
herself following the Second Vatican
Council. In both the sixteenth and
twentieth centuries changes in church
architecture accompanied reforms to the
liturgy, and today we are still trying to
come to terms with attempts to redefine
our sacred space. One way to evaluate
contemporary churches is to understand
the model that so many of them react
against, which had been developed
after Trent. However historians still
debate the significance of that historical
architecture; indeed, they disagree about
its very qualities.1 Some clarity may
result from examining the buildings
commissioned by Carlo Borromeo
(15381584), the reforming archbishop
of Milan. In addition to his colleges,
seminaries, and clerical residences, he
commissioned the new construction
or renovation of hundreds of churches
throughout his vast archdiocese.
Borromeo defined sacred space for the
Catholic Church by developing a model
that he realized in built form and by
communicating that model in written
norms for churches and their furnishings.
Many of his norms resulted from
practical considerations, but Borromeo
understood that architecture could
contribute to worship. Surprisingly,
the architecture of his churches ran the
gamut from simple and functional to
elaborate designs executed in the finest
materials. This article will examine
Borromeos thoughts on architecture
to the extent that we can know them
from his intellectual formation, his
commissions, and his writings.
Borromeo was very much a child of
the late Italian Renaissance. He was
born into a cultural context in which the
arts took inspiration from the achieve-
ments of ancient Rome, and patronage
was a responsibility of the nobility.
The comprehensive revival of ancient
Roman art and learning in the fifteenth
and earlier sixteenth centuries led ar-
chitects to design allantica architec-
ture, or to utilize the classical principles
and forms of republican and imperial
Rome. Architecture looked different
16
and R hetoric
John Alexander
because of this cultural transforma- lo Buonarotti (14751564), on the other
tion, and it also meant something dif- hand, creatively misused the orders in
ferent: it became a vehicle for express- the attempt to create something new;
ing the nature of the human condition. today such designs are often termed
For religious buildings, the typologies, manneristic. Although these modes
elicited strong reactions from sixteenth-
century architects, they were options
for both designers and patrons.2
Born into a noble Lombard family
and raised in Milan, Borromeo learned
to view architectural patronage as one
of his responsibilities. Northwestern
Italy had been devastated by wars in
the early sixteenth century, but Milan
began to rebuild under the peace af-
forded by Habsburg victory and rule.3
Although his family commissioned
little during this period, Borromeo wit-
Photo: Copyright Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan
nessed the architectural transforma-
tion of the city and the construction
of several noteworthy monuments.
Some of the most creative designs came
from the drafting table of Galeazzo
Alessi (15121572), an architect who
had achieved fame designing sump-
tuous villas for the Genoese nobility.
In Milan, buildings like the church of
Ss. Paolo e Barnaba and the Palazzo
Shown at prayer, Borromeo is surrounded Marino demonstrated his skills in inno-
by views of buildings for institutions that vative planning and mannerist design.
he either founded or supported. Alessi introduced a different mode of
allantica architecture into Milan,4 and
forms, and motifs of the ancient archi- Borromeo surely took note.
tecture could form Christian churches Borromeo studied at the Univer-
that communicated something about sity of Pavia, and immediately after
humanitys relationship with God and his graduation he was called to Rome
the structure of His Church. by his uncle, the recently elected Pope
With the exception of a few out- Pius IV (reigned 15591565). Although
standing yet unfinished medieval young and relatively inexperienced,
buildings, it was a foregone conclu- Borromeo received important offices,
sion that important buildings would high honors and enormous income
have designs inspired by antiquity. from the new pontiff. Too young to
However, there were differing modes be consecrated bishop (indeed, he had
of that architectural language that not yet been ordained a priest), Bor-
were current in Borromeos day. For romeo was named the administrator
example, many of the villas of Andrea of the Archdiocese of Milan. He also
Palladio (15081580) were rather assumed a role in the secular govern-
simple yet well proportioned, and they ment of the Papal States that approxi-
respected the principles of allantica ar- mates a modern secretary of state.
chitecture. The publication of Giacomo Under Piuss careful tutelage, Borro-
Vignola (15071573), Le Regole delle meo developed administrative capa-
Cinque Ordini (1562), precisely defined bilities and successfully handled tre-
proportions and form for each archi- mendous amounts of work. He took
tectural order, and thereby fostered a on added responsibility as Pius recon-
strict approach to design. Michelange- vened the Council of Trent in 1561 and
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
 A r t i c l e s

of perception. They patronage. Pius enthusiastically pro-

considered it to be the moted building projects, continuing
most spiritual of all work on the most important papal
the senses, suggest- commissions, overseeing the urban
ing that it informed expansion of the city, embellishing ex-
the soul.8 For its part, isting buildings, and endowing Rome
the soul instinctively with some of its most beautiful struc-
appreciated beauty. tures. He was known for selecting from
Admiring a beautiful among different designs for a project
object would lead to and personally scaling scaffolding on
the contemplation of construction sites, giving evidence of
higher things: beauty his passion for architecture. 13 Pius
was a divine hook engaged the most renowned designers
that entices a human of his day, enjoying the prestige of em-
being to draw him ploying great architects and commis-
or her from earth sioning great buildings. However, dif-
to heaven, from the ferent architects designed in differing
physical senses to in- modes of allantica architecture, and the
tellectual ideas, from pope willingly allowed such variation.
temporal existence For Pius, patronage meant establishing
to eternity. 9 The a strong program, commissioning the
viewer would con- work from a great architect, participat-
template not physical ing in the design process, and allowing
but spiritual beauty, the designers creativity to achieve a
and then the source of noteworthy building.14
all beauty. Pius set an important example
Beauty could also for Borromeo, and not surprisingly
Photo: Giovanni Dall'Orto

lead one to virtuous the young prelate followed a similar

action: who, seeing pattern of patronage in one of his ear-
the beauty of an angel liest endeavors. As the administrator
on earth, would not and future archbishop of Milan, Bor-
follow him? Who romeo was technically in charge of the
Faade of SS. Paolo e Barnaba. The layers of wall plane, and would not decide to ongoing construction and furnishing of
contrasting amount of decoration on different levels, typify serve him, rather than the cathedral. Construction was effec-
Mannerist qualities in Alessis architecture. be the leader of all tively directed by a multi-tiered com-
humanity? 10 This
5
shepherded it to its conclusion. was an effect not restricted to Gods
While serious about reform, Pius Creation: consider painting, sculp-
sought to unite it with a revival of ture, architecture, the movement of the
letters and arts. This set him apart stars and of the heavens, and of human
from some other Catholic reformers of beings; the world has such variety, and
the era who eschewed intellectual or it is all judged by the eyes.11 Architec-
artistic endeavors in favor of enforcing ture, then, was capable of affecting the
ecclesiastical discipline or propagat- soul, leading the viewer to contemplate
ing devotional practices.6 Pius called the divine and conduct him- or herself
many intellectuals to Rome to work in in an appropriate manner. This ex-
the Curia, participate in the publication plained that fundamental concept that
of theological texts, and teach in the inspired all Renaissance architecture,
Roman university. Borromeo gathered a belief in its rhetorical capacity, or its
some of those men into a symposium ability to move the viewer to engage
that he founded, the Noctes Vaticanae. in virtuous actions.12 In reality, little
The meetings consisted of orations or in the orations of the Noctes Vaticanae
debates for the intellectual benefit of was entirely new; most of the ideas and
Photo: John Alexander

the participants, and they contain im- themes originated in ancient Greek or
portant concepts for the study of Bor- Roman philosophy, and had been re-
romeos patronage.7 iterated by Renaissance scholars and
If we allow various, sometimes un- artists. Nevertheless, through the
connected ideas to form a synthetic meetings of the symposium Borromeo
whole (as many scholars did during became familiar with the ideas that Among the earliest parts of the building,
the Renaissance), then we can see how provided the theoretical underpinnings the intricate tracery is characteristic of
these orations inspired Borromeo. of Renaissance architecture. the florid Gothic architecture of the Milan
Some of the orators considered sight to Perhaps more important than the Cathedral.
be the most important sense or means theory was the example of the Popes

Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 17

A r t i c l e s

mission of cathedral canons and build- even greater things. It seems unlikely
ing professionals known as the fabbrica. that Pius would select an architect in
The archbishop was not involved in all order to promote any particular mode
decisions, but the fabbrica sought Bor- of allantica architecture. Rather, Pius
romeos direction for selecting an artist trusted Tibaldi to produce noteworthy

Photo: John Alexander

to produce painted doors for the organ designs that would attract attention in
cabinets. Borromeo responded: I Milan and garner esteem for both Bor-
would prefer that the only consider- romeo and the institution housed in the
ations be for the usefulness and greater building.19
embellishment of the cathedral. In the The Collegio Borromeo was unprec-
selection of artists, you should not have Faade of the Collegio Borromeo, Pavia. edented in scale for a college building,
any other criteria than their skill and The intricate pattern of the ground floor, and an outstanding example of man-
capability.15 Like architecture, con- and the complicated relationship between nerist design. Borromeo obviously
temporary painting had a variety of parts of the faade, indicate the Mannerist valued Tibaldis capabilities; indeed,
emphases and genres: Emilian sweet- nature of Tibaldis architecture. he continued to request work from him
ness or Venetian light and color, natu- for the rest of his life. He appointed
ralistic or manneristic. Borromeo did The pope might have considered a Tibaldi to be the capomaestro of the fab-
not favor any one particular mode, but whole range of things when choosing brica for Milans cathedral and gave
ratherlike Piushe selected the best the architect of his nephews build- him responsibility for a number of proj-
artist.16 ing, but foremost among them must ects in numerous churches and other
When Borromeo undertook his first have been Tibaldis credentials and ac- buildings in the Archdiocese of Milan,
large architectural commission, Pius complishments. Pius commissioned including the renovation of the archi-
actively participated in the process. work from Michelangelo, and he may episcopal palace and the design and
Borromeo founded the Collegio Borro- have wanted the self-styled follower of construction of the cathedrals canonry.
meo, a new educational institution Tibaldi became renowned as an
affiliated with the University of architect of churches: he designed
Pavia, in October 1561. Property the church of S. Fedele (fig. 5) for
was purchased, the building was the Jesuits, and for the civic gov-
designed (and then enlarged), and ernment he designed S. Sebastiano,
construction was underway all by a votive church offered in thanks-
the spring of 1565 (fig. 4). Borro- giving for the end of the plague.
meo had never commissioned a Tibaldi operated in a variety of
large project before, and not sur- architectural modes that were all
prisingly his uncle, patron, and based upon ancient Roman archi-
mentor provided guidance. The tecture. Some of his designs were
documentation on the building classical in their expression (albeit
demonstrates that Pope Pius ap- with a light, airy structure of the
proved the initial design and then architectural orders) and some
called for the buildings enlarge- were more manneristic in their cre-
ment.17 ative misuse of the details.20 Yet
Recent scholarship has also re- Borromeo did not employ Tibaldi
vealed that Pius selected Pellegri- to propagate mannerism; neither
no Tibaldi (15271596) as the archi- Piuss example, Borromeos stated
tect of the Collegio.18 The son of a criteria, nor the variety of Tibaldis
Lombard mason, Tibaldi trained design modes allow us to believe
as a painter and then perfected his that Borromeo tied his patron-
craft in the mannerist workshops age to an architectural language.
of Rome. He admired Michelan- Rather, he sought to honor the
Photo: Giovanni Dall'Orto

gelo greatly, imitating his design group or institution housed in the

process and promoting himself building, or its purpose, with an
as a follower of that master. He appropriate richness of material
pursued a painting career but soon and quality of design.
began to undertake architectural Borromeo was never a lax
and engineering projects. He de- Catholic or a libertine. However,
signed and oversaw the construc- One of Tibaldis most famous designs, San Fedele he held some typical Renaissance
tion of the Collegio from 1563 in Milan, built for the Jesuits, combined a creative views about the noble status of the
until the year following Borro- interior spatial enclosure with a strong expression of ecclesiastical hierarchy: he lived
meos death, when he left Milan to the architectural Orders. as a prince of the Church and used
execute a fresco cycle in the library his wealth and status to promote
of the Escorial, outside Madrid. The that master to design buildings for his his family. Unfortunate events in his
finishing touches on the building were nephew. Both Pius and Borromeo had own life, consideration of the reforms
put in place before the end of 1589, by the opportunity to see some of Tibaldis discussed at Trent, and the influence
another architect. work, and his evident skills promised of truly holy men led Borromeo to re-

18 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009

 A r t i c l e s

evaluate his life. He arrived at a new ered the options in light of Catholic Eucharist, clearly defining a single
understanding of his vocation and dogma and piety and decided that the model. Borromeo made the tabernacle
sought ordination and consecration main altar was the only appropriate the devotional center of a church, or
as archbishop of Milan in 1563. He place to reserve the consecrated host.23 that which gave the building its partic-
dedicated himself to reforming the ular sanctity. The standard setting
Church and hoped to enact changes for the tabernacleon the central
through pastoral roles. But he had axis of the space, elevated on the
become indispensable to the pope main altar, located in an ample
and had to continue in his admin- chancel delineated by steps and an
istrative posts in Rome. Only after enclosing railing (later substituted
Piuss death could Borromeo return by the communion rail), identified
to Milan definitively in order to and accompanied by a lit sanctuary
serve as the resident archbishop.21 lamp and sacred imagesbecame
His fulfillment of that office was sacred space. A church was sacred
guided by the Tridentine decrees not only because it was consecrat-
that confirmed specific responsibil- ed and housed holy acts, but also
ities of the episcopal office, includ- because it was the setting in which
ing care for church buildings, their the Divine resided. Over time, Bor-
furnishings, and the artwork con- romeos church interior came to
tained therein.22 Many churches in serve as an architectural sign for
and around Milan were in deplor- the presence of the divine.
able states of neglect, and Borro- The architectural language of
meo undertook a program of visit- Borromeos churches varied, both
ing each church in his vast archdio- in quality and in genre. In general,
cese. Depending on the conditions church buildings required the best
of the buildingthe soundness of possible design, materials, and
its structure, its ability to withstand craftsmanship because they housed
the elements, the organization of the sacred rites and were offerings

Photo: Mario Marinoni

the interior and its furnishings to God. However, the status of the
he made a series of demands for church and the resources available
renovations or additions. Since the affected the architecture greatly.
amount of work was great, Borro- The cathedral in Milan was clearly
meo (ever the administrator) estab- at the apex of the hierarchy, and so
lished one commission of priests to Faade of San Raffaele, Milan. Although the upper it deserved the very best. Urban
conduct the evaluative visits, and level was completed later, the design of the lower churches such as San Raffaele (the
another to oversee the architectural level constitutes one of Tibaldis most creative faade of which Tibaldi designed
changes. designs for church faades. for the archdiocese; figs. 6 and 7)
First and foremost, Borromeo were also important and deserv-
had very practical concerns. He wanted Historically, worship occurred in ing of lavish materials and outstanding
the churches to be solid and weather- any one of a number of spatial con- design. However, the parishes in small
proof; he wanted the interior spaces figurations in which architectural towns or rural locations might not
adequately to house the sacred rites features, as well as didactic or devo- warrant (and often could not afford)
and to permit an unimpeded view of tional artwork, designated the sacred sumptuous churches. Many of them re-
the main altar. However, as he con- ceived rather basic but sound, weath-
tinued with the visitations and the al- erproof and well-ordered buildings.
terations to the buildings, Borromeo Adding to that variety, the historical
gained experience. This process had context demanded allantica archi-
two important outcomes. First of all, tecture for almost all buildings (and
the churches began to conform to a certainly for all new buildings), but
standard model in their configura- the mode of classicism could vary.25
tion and furnishing. Side chapels Despite divergent architectural ex-
and the baptismal font had discrete pressions, Borromeos churches
Photo: ilmuffa@flickr.com

settings, but the interior would focus changed the context by providing a
on the main altaradequately sized new model for sacred space.
and in an appropriate space that was The second important outcome of
carefully delineated from the rest of this process was a published set of
the churchwhich was the setting norms for church architecture, the
for the tabernacle. Prior to Borro- Detail from the faade of San Raffaele, Milan. Instructionum Fabricae et Supellecti-
meos efforts, there were various lis Ecclesiasticae (1577). Divided into
forms and settings for the Eucharistic purpose of the interior.24 Borromeo two sections, the first part addressed
repository, but placing it on the main assumed that the tradition would con- the building and its furnishings (while
altar was not a universal practice. The tinue, but he further developed it by the second listed the necessary vest-
young archbishop apparently consid- adapting it to the theology about the ments, texts and vessels). Borromeo
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 19
A r t i c l e s

Photo: Copyright Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano, Milan

rience or investigation. He evalu- are] highly competent in architectural
ated them, perfected the form of knowledge.32 He allowed architects
some furnishings, insisted upon to make many decisions. After noting
decent spatial settings for each li- that the Instructionum would only treat
turgical function, and established the design of furnishings necessary for
a standard set of components. 27 celebrating the sacraments and their
Borromeos particular contribution settings, he stated that the other topics
was in organizing those selected are wisely explained in an exhaustive
elements into a new standard, pro- and useful manner by architectural
ducing extremely detailed norms theorists.33 It appears that Borromeo
for churches and their furnishings, had read a few treatises, and was ob-
utilizing the printing press to dis- viously well schooled in architectural
Choir of the cathedral in Milan. By mentally seminate his achievements, and matters.34 While certainly a child of
removing the recently added ambo and cathedra insisting consistently upon their the Renaissance, he did not make a
(and the semicircular platforms on which they realization. program of uniting architectural lan-
stand), and by moving the altar back to the base The text suggests that architec- guage to his reforming endeavors.
of the baldacchino that covers the tabernacle, tural unity was a concern. When Implementing such clear goals
one can imagine Borromeo's definition of there was to be a distinct building might appear to be a straightforward
sacred space. for the baptistery, Borromeo de- process, but two important examples
manded a building of noteworthy demonstrate just how complex it actu-
and his administrators wrote the book structure and in a style coherent with ally was. The cathedral in Milan was
to communicate the new standard for that of the church itself. Similarly, the still under construction throughout
sacred space. It codified what Borro- belfry should be in a form that follows Borromeos life, with the piers and
meo had come to understand through the criteria of the construction of the vaulting of the nave continuing to be
observation and practical experience. church and the characteristics of the built in the Gothic idiom defined by
It communicated specific, detailed re- surroundings.28 In terms of architec- the preexisting work. However, Bor-
quirements for the building itself, as tural language, Borromeo made many romeo had Tibaldi completely redefine
well as for a number of features such of the typical assumptions of his day. the choir in the cathedrals apse. The
as baptismal fonts, pulpits and confes- He noted the need for the services of result was a complex configuration of a
sionals. Borromeo devoted great atten- a competent architect on a number of crypt and new, elevated choir in which
tion to the setting of the Mass, down to architectural matters, 29 and such an was located the altar and tabernacle, all
the niche that held the cruets and basin. architect wouldin sixteenth-century enclosed by choir stalls, organ lofts and
It should be in the wall to one side of Italyhave certainly designed in one paired pulpits (fig. 8). The architec-
the altar, and, of the classical modes. In addition, Bor- tural language for these furnishings
when possible, it should be lined in romeo looked back to the first centuries as for most of the non-structural inte-
marble or some other durable stone. of the faith, drawing upon the writings rior workwas Tibaldis mannerism,
It should be two cubits above the of the Fathers of the Early Church as which seems odd when one considers
pavement, with a width of sixteen well as the example of ancient basili- Borromeos call for stylistic unity in
ounces and a height of twenty-four cas.30 Although they lacked the struc- the Instructionum. Whatever the archi-
[ounces]. Furthermore it should be tural complexity or spatial magnifi- tectural language of the church build-
divided in two, transversely, by a shelf cence of great imperial buildings of the ing, a different language was obviously
of marble or stone. The lower part will second or third centuries, the ancient permissible for the furnishings. Borro-
serve for disposing of the water used churches did have porticoes and nave meo may have appreciated the ability
for washing the hands of the priest colonnades constructed with the archi- of mannerism to gather the attention
who celebrates the Mass. That part, tectural orders. Developing upon those of the viewer, impress him or her, and
therefore, should have a small drain architectural models presumed that the thereby achieve the goals of church ar-
through which the water can flow into new churches would also be built in an chitecture.
a small cistern created below. The allantica language. Like the cathedral, Borromeos first
upper part will serve for placing the However, Borromeos explicit pro- commission from Tibaldithe Collegio
cruets and the basin during the Mass.26 motion of classical architecture was Borromeowas also under construc-
Borromeo carefully defined features rather weak: It is not prohibited, tion throughout his episcopacy. In the
or aspects of the church interior, such however, for the greater stability of early 1570s, as demanded by the prog-
as the steps distinguishing the chancel the building (if architectural criteria ress of construction, Tibaldi devised a
or side chapel from the nave, the suggest it), [to include] some struc- detailed design for the chapel that in-
minimum space required to either side ture with the Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, cluded four freestanding columns in the
of an altar, the location of windows, or some other order.31 Indeed, Bor- nave. That would have been a lavish
etc. romeo intentionally avoided discus- display of ornament, as appropriate
Borromeos text demonstrates an sion of many architectural issues: We for the spaces purpose. However, the
obvious attention to practical concerns, wanted to avoid any discussion of design was altered slightly, and the
but he invented little to nothing in his the multiple forms of construction of columns were not erected in the space
specific demands for spaces, configu- church buildings ... that ... are rarely (figs. 9 and 10). Neither patron nor
rations or furnishings. He knew the used or that necessarily require the architect recorded the reason for their
traditional options from personal expe- judgment and counsel of people [who omission, but the freestanding columns

20 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009


would have impeded the visibility of
the altar, which was a crucial criterion
for the patron. For Borromeo, practi-
cal concerns could sometimes trump
architectural considerations.35
The variety among the examples
and apparent contradictions between
the Instructionum and the built works
may make it difficult to see any con-
sistency in Borromeos endeavors.
However there were a few goals that
took precedence over all others. Bor-
romeo desired church buildings that (i)
had an adequate volume and distribu-
tion of space to house the sacred func-
tions, (ii) presented an adequate offer-
ing to God, and (iii) engaged the viewer
and inspired him or her to devotion
and fidelity. The idea that a beautiful
building with lavish furnishings was
an offering that was pleasing to God, or
that such was required to adequately
house the sacred rites, had a long tra-
dition. The degree of enrichment, or
perhaps the understanding of what
was appropriately lavish, had been
challenged in the past, most notably by
the early Cistercians who preferred an
unadorned yet wonderfully designed
and proportioned interior. The basic
concepts behind the traditional notion
came under attack during the sixteenth
century, and Catholic apologists had
to defend the practice against the criti-
cism of Protestant reformers. Catholics
insisted upon the antiquity of the tradi-
tion,36 as did Borromeo in passing ref-
erences in his Instructionum. Borromeo
also inherently agreed that architecture
could be an offering to God. In the
introduction, addressed to the clergy
and laity in his ecclesiastical province,
Borromeo assured them that by follow-
ing the example of ancient patrons of
beautiful churches (and by applying
his norms), you ... will receive from
the Lord, who is generous and atten-
tive to good people, a most pleasing
and eternal reward. 37 The beauty
of a church would stand out in the
context, drawing attention to itself and
its purpose. Since architectural beauty
could function as a divine hook,
leading the viewer to contemplate
higher things, then the architecture of
a church, in particular, could have a
rhetorical purpose. It could bring the
viewer to recognize the significance of
the sacred rites housed in the structure
and inspire him or her to greater piety.
Likewise, the standard form that one
would have encountered upon enter-
ing one of Borromeos churchesthe
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
Photo: Permission of the Collegio Borromeo
Chapel of the Collegio Borromeo, Pavia.
Although richly ornamented with the
architectural Orders, the space lacks the
complexity which free-standing columns
would have added to the chapel.
visually open, well-ordered interior
that focused attention upon the taber-
naclebecame recognizable as sacred
space. The viewer would have been
encouraged to think and act accord-
ingly, leaving behind his or her daily
concerns, acting with reverence for the
Real Presence housed in the tabernacle,
and fulfilling religious duties.38
The Renaissance, in general, pursued
development by returning to authori-
tative sources, and many theologians
and reformers sought to improve the
Church by drawing inspiration from
the earliest days of the Christian era.
Yet for all the renewed interest in the
ancient sources, the New Testament
and the first century of the Christian
era offered little in the way of architec-
tural models for churches. However,
the churches dating from the fourth
and fifth centuriesmost notably the
Roman basilicaswere known and
studied, and they could justify tra-
ditional practices. Borromeo was a
precocious proponent of studying the
Early Church for contemporary solu-
tions; for example, he drew inspiration
from the seating in ancient basilicas for
the design of Milan cathedrals choir as
early as 1564.39 Not surprisingly, in his
Instructionum he looked back nostalgi-
cally to the ancient piety and religion
of the faithful that manifested itself in
the construction of beautiful church-
es.40 Those venerable basilicas could
inspire a longitudinal plan in contem-
porary churches, with an atrium or
a portico.41 And since those ancient
churches were built using the archi-
tectural orders, it seems inevitable that
Borromeos churches would be as well.
However, Borromeo did not make
a program of joining the design of
churches to an architectural language.
This is not to say that he was unaware
A r t i c l e s
of the expressive potential of allantica
architecture. However, he sought to
address a pressing need, prioritizing
the religious goals without strictly de-
fining the architectural language.42
Borromeos text responded to con-
temporary needs, and was in many
ways a product of his times. Never-
theless, the underlying principles are
timeless and therefore may continue
to direct architectural design today.
Borromeo knew that the architecture
of churches should fulfill a practical
purpose, create recognizable sacred
space, and inspire people to devotion
and fidelity. These principles present
a challenge to architects in the twenty-
first century. An interior that not only
houses acts of worship but also serves
as a setting for the Divine requires some
shared understanding about what
is sacred and the way that architec-
tural features can serve as a metaphor
for holy things. During the last forty
years, efforts to emphasize the commu-
nal aspects of the Eucharist have often
been achieved at the expense of recog-
nition for the Divine Presence in the
consecrated host. Priests and build-
ing committees sometimes lost sight
of what created the community of be-
lievers in the first placea shared but
personal experience of epiphany. Their
architects avoided the traditional defi-
nition of sacred space and provided
assembly halls instead. Far too often
church design reflected a twentieth-
century iconoclasm that left older gen-
erations yearning for what was lost and
younger generations searching for the
sacred.
The very idea that visual percep-
tion can inspire is complicated today
because we are over stimulated visual-
ly from the television, the internet, and
movies. This condition can mitigate
the awe instilled by any perception of
beautiful architecture and decoration.
Specifically for architecture, the lack
of a unified cultural context renders
communicating by means of forms or
motifs difficult. An architect cannot
assume that a language will be under-
standable to all viewers, much less bear
the intended meaning, and that makes
it more difficult to reach a broad
audience. Furthermore, many of the
modern and postmodern architectural
options of the twentieth and twenty-
first centuries can impress, bedazzle,
or pique the curiosity, but can they
inspire? With nihilistically inspired
juxtapositions of curves, angles, and
21
A r t i c l e s
jagged edges, one wonders about the
efficacy of many contemporary modes
of design to create spaces for Catholic
worship.
These are certainly challenging
times, requiring both great patrons and
great architects. We need informed
patrons who willas Borromeo did
centuries agoevaluate the options
and establish recognizable models for
sacred space that take into consider-
ation the eternal truths of the faith and
contemporary objectives. Yet Borro-
meo left many decisions up to the in-
formed judgment of the architect. We
need capable architects to give form to
those models in a way that will inspire
people. It is the architect, working with
the clear program of the patron, who
must respond to the current challenges
and give form to sacred space.
W the Reign of Pius V, Fonti e Studi 7 (Rome: Bulzoni, 2007), 3031.
John Alexander is an architectural histo-
rian (Ph.D., University of Virginia, 2001)
who concentrates on the architectural
patronage of Carlo Borromeo, and the ar-
chitecture of the post-Tridentine Catholic
Church. Fellowships and teaching posi-
tions afforded him several years in Rome,
and his research takes him back to Milan
and northern Italy regularly; since 2006 he
has been on the faculty in the Department
of Architecture at the University of Texas
at San Antonio.
email: John.Alexander@utsa.edu
1. Two poles in the debate are formed by Giovanni Sale,
Pauperismo architettonico e architettura gesuitica: Dalla chiesa ad aula
al Ges di Roma (Milan: Jaca Books, 2001), and Richard Schofield,
review of Sale, Pauperismo, in Annali di architettura: Rivista del
Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio,
XIV (2002): 299301. See also Richard Schofield, Architettura,
dottrina e magnificenza nellarchitettura ecclesiastica dellet
di Carlo e Federico Borromeo, in Architettura e controriforma:
I dibattiti per la facciata del Duomo di Milano, 15821682, ed.
Francesco Repishti and Richard Schofield (Milan: Electa, 2004),
134155. urbano e cultura dal Quattro al Seicento, ed. P. Cherubini (Rome:
2. Examples of patrons choosing a particular mode of allantica
architecture include the commissions of Pope Julius II (reigned
15031513) from Donato Bramante (14441514), and the
Venetian nobilitys selection of architects for their palaces in the
early sixteenth century. See Mandredo Tafuri, Venice and the
Renaissance (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995).
3. Federico Chabod, Storia di Milano nellepoca di Carlo V. (Turin:
Einaudi, 1961).
4. Nancy A. Houghton Brown, The Milanese Architecture of
Galeazzo Alessi, Outstanding Dissertations in the Fine Arts (New
York: Garland, 1982).
5. Roger Mols, Charles Borrome (Saint), cardinal, archevque
di Milan (2 oct. 1538 + 3 nov. 1584), in Dictionnaire dhistoire
et geographie ecclesiastiques (1953), 486496. See also Ludwig
von Pastor, History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages
(London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1951), vol. 15, 94118,
180379. Pio Paschini, Il primo soggiorno di S. Carlo Borromeo a
Roma (Turin: Societ Editrice Internazionale, 1935), 5119.
6. See the brief contrast between Pius IV and the popes
who preceded and followed him (Paul IV and Pius V,
22
Photo: John Alexander, published with kind permission of the Rector of the Collegio Borromeo
202v., ASDM. For Borromeos statement, see P 21 inf., f. 388r,
Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan.
19. Alexander, Collegio Borromeo, 418496. The history of the
Collegio found in my dissertation (17220) has been updated in
my recent article (Alexander, Collegio Borromeo, 3848).
20. Stefano Della Torre and Richard Schofield, Pellegrino Tibaldi
architetto e il S. Fedele di Milano. Invenzione e costruzione di
una chiesa esemplare (Como: Nodo libri, 1994). Stefano Della
Torre, Le architettura monumentali: Disciplina normativa e
pluralismo della opere, in F. Buzzi and D. Zardin, eds., Carlo
Borromeo e lopera della grande riforma: Cultura, religione e arte
del governo nella Milano del pieno Cinquecento (Cinisello Balsamo:
Silvana, 1997), 217226.
21. Mols, Charles, 488496. Paschini, Primo soggiorno, 1532,
77112, 137150. Pastor, History, vol. 15, 98122, 414. Pastor,
History, vol. 16, 103104, 395400.
22. Decretum de reformatione, canon 7, session 21 (16 July 1562).
Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ed. N. Tanner (London: Sheed
& Ward, 1990), vol. 2, 730731. Aurora Scotti, Architettura
e riforma cattolica nella Milano di Carlo Borromeo, LArte 5
(1972): 5974. Alexander, From Renaissance, 133152, 196200,
225240.
23. Placing the tabernacle on the main altar was the norm in the
diocese of Verona due to the episcopal legislation of Gian Matteo
Giberti (14951543), but it was not a universal practice in the
early years of Borromeos life. Christoph Jobst, Liturgia e culto
dellEucaristia nel programma spaziale della chiesa. I tabernacoli
eucaristici e la trasformazione dei presbiteri negli scritti
Chapel of the Collegio Borromeo, Pavia.
ecclesiastici dellepoca intorna al Concilio di Trento, in Lo spazio
e il culto: Relazioni tra edificio ecclesiale e uso liturgico dal XV al XVI
respectively) in John Alexander, From Renaissance to Counter- secolo, ed. Jrg Stabenow (Venice: Marsilio, 2006), 91126.
Reformation: The Architectural Patronage of Carlo Borromeo during 24. The best example that I know of is the basilica of Santa
Prassede in Rome. A scaled-down version of the fourth-century
7. Pastor, History of the Popes, vol. 15, 78, 8990. Pastor, History Constantinian basilica of Saint Peter, the mosaics on the arches of
of the Popes, vol. 16, 1136, 404411, 440441. Luigi Berra, the transept depict the Heavenly Jerusalem and worship of the
Laccademia delle Notti vaticane foundata da San Carlo Borromeo: Con Lamb as recounted in the Book of Revelation. They indicate the
buildings purpose and the parallel between the celebration of
tre appendici di documenti inediti (Rome: Max Bretschneider, 1915).
8. Chel sense delludire di maggiore virt, che non il the Mass in the church and worship in heaven.
vedere, Ottob. 2418, parte 2a, f. 592v., Biblioteca Apostolica 25. Della Torre, Architetture monumentali, 216226. Della
Vaticana, Vatican City (hereafter BAV). Qual senso sia pi Torre and Schofield, Pellegrino, 3136.
eleggibile, di vedere delludire, Ottob. 2418, parte 3a, ff. 26. Carlo Borromeo, Instructiunum Fabricae et Supellectilis
941r.942r, BAV. Ecclesiasticae (1577), Monumenta Studia Instrumenta Liturgica 8
9. Della bellezza, Ottob. 2418, parte 2a, f. 492r, BAV. Loose (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000), 5051.
translation by the author. See also Qual senso, f. 941v. 27. The best example of Borromeo perfecting a furnishing can
be found in his specifications for the confessional, which was
10. Della bellezza, f. 492r. Loose translation by the author.
11. Qual senso, f. 942v. Loose translation by the author. I somewhat different from the standard preVatican II model.
transcribed these orations and discussed them in my dissertation. Wieste de Boer, The Conquest of the Soul: Confession, Discipline and
Public Order in Counter-Reformation Milan (Leiden: Brill, 2001),
See John Alexander, The Collegio Borromeo: A Study of Borromeos
Early Patronage and Tibaldis Early Architecture (PhD diss., 84122. Alexander, From Renaissance, 181216.
University of Virginia, 2001), 251257, 296311. 28. Borromeo, Instructionum, 8081, 122123. Loose translations
12. David Mayernik described and defined the rhetorical by the author.
capabilities of painting and sculpture in A Vast, Immeasurable 29. Borromeo advocated employing an architect for determining
Sanctuary: Iconography for Churches, website of the Institute the proportions, structure and construction of churches, their
for Sacred Architecture (www.sacredarchitecture.org). The planimetric form, the form of ceilings and roofs, and much about
treatise of the Renaissance scholar, architect, and theorist Leon the size, shape, and location of doors and windows. Borromeo,
Battista Alberti (14041472) contains a couple of anecdotes about Instructionum, 1225.
how beautiful buildings led human beings to virtuous actions. 30. His text lauded the splendor of the [ancient] sacred
Leon Battista Alberti, On the Art of Building in Ten Books, trans. basilicas. (Borromeo, Instructionum, 67. Loose translation by
Joseph Rykwert et al. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1988), vol. 6.2 the author.) In addition to the Patristic references, the ancient
(156), vol. 7.3 (194). Roman basilicas inspired Borromeos discussion of porticoes,
13. Pius chose from among different designs for the Porta Pia, roofs and ceilings, and doorways. Borromeo, Instructionum, 425.
and also possibly for the Sapienza in Rome. See Giorgio Vasari, 31. Borromeo, Instructionum, 194195. Loose translation by the
Vita di Michelagnolo Buonarruoti, in Le vite dei pi eccellenti author.
pittori, scultori e architetti (1568; Rome: Newton Compton, 1991), 32. Borromeo, Instructionum, 45.
1252. Anna Bedon, La fabbrica della Sapienza da Alessandro 33. Borromeo, Instructionum, 67. Loose translation by the
VI alla fine del Cinquecento, in Roma e lo Studium Urbis: Spazio author.
34. Schofield, Architettura, 172. See also Alexander, From
Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, 1992), 471484. Renaissance, 202210, 236240.
14. Alexander, From Renaissance, 2731. 35. John Alexander, Shaping Sacred Space in the Sixteenth
15. Letter from Carlo Borromeo to the Fabbrica del Duomo, 9 Century: Design Criteria for the Collegio Borromeos Chapel,
December 1564. Copy found in Carteggio ufficiale, vol. 3, ff. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians LXIII.2 (2004):
177v.178r, Archivio storico diocesano di Milano, Milan (hereafter 164179. For Borromeos emphasis on visibility, see Borromeo,
ASDM). Loose translation by the author. For information on Instructionum, 4445.
the organs and their cabinets, see Francesca Ricardi, Le ante 36. C. Rudolph, The Things of Greater Importance, Bernard
dorgano del Duomo di Milano, Archivio storico lombardo 11.5 of Clairvauxs Apologia and the Medieval Attitude towards Art
(1988): 7798. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990), 619,
16. The variation allowed in Piuss and Borromeos patronage 5058, 227287. Schofield, Architettura, 137204.
was apparently typical for the contemporary context of 37. Borromeo, Instructionum, 89. Loose translation by the
reforming Catholic circles; see Gauvin Bailey, Between Renaissance author.
and Baroque: Jesuit Art in Rome, 15651610 (Toronto: University 38. Alexander, From Renaissance, 217223, 239240.
of Toronto Press, 2003), 336, 261269. Schofield, Architettura, 39. Letter from Carlo Borromeo to Nicol Ormaneto, 23
163168. See also Alexander, From Renaissance, 3544. September 1564. Carteggio ufficiale, vol. 3, ff. 155119, ASDM.
17. John Alexander, The Collegio Borromeo: Patronage and 40. Borromeo, Instructionum, 67. Loose translation by the
Design, Arte Lombarda, 144 (2005): 3848. author.
18. Both Tibaldi and Borromeo recounted Piuss selection of the 41. Borromeo, Instructionum, 1217.
architect. For Tibaldis statement, see Im.s quam professione 42. Alexander, From Renaissance, 202210, 236240.
ipse C execrar et inde sui oriunder, Cod. Metropolitana X, f.
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
 A r t i c l e s

C rown J ewel in the H ills

Saint Hugo Stone Chapel, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
William Turner

I
f you are looking for someone wife Alice, their respect for the abbey at was hand cut on site. A pilgrim first
to preserve and protect crown Cluny, and their memorial to their sons notes the circular driveway that leads
jewels, a visit and conversation with Hugo and Hubert who had recently one to the front of the building. The
Monsignor Anthony M. Tocco may died. They carved out a portion of their entrance of the church was created to
resolve any concerns as to how it may be Stonycroft Farm property for donation reflect the front of the Abbey at Cluny.
done. As he led a 2001 project to restore to the archdiocese. They chose Arthur Its outward arch directs the eye to the
this chapel to its original glory, as it des Rosier as their architect. Addi- inner relief over the doors, which recall
is titled in the short history of the event, tional land would later be donated by the abbey buildings with symbols in
the emphasis was to prepare a defense William VanDyke, paving the way for front picturing the achievements of
against the ravages of time. Not only the present church. Today the stone mankind, appropriately including the
has that aging been addressed, but even chapel is used for daily Mass, most of motorized vehicle. A large statue of
more has been accomplished. In what the parish weddings, Eucharistic devo- Saint Hugo sits on a pedestal above
the American Institute of Architects the arch. The Saint Hugo Cross is
in 1937 called one of the hundred found forming the air vents on the
representative and distinguished back and sides of the building. The
buildings in the United States, this use of this cross has been carried over
chapel stands as an example that into the new building. Though not a
what came before can be retained universally recognized cruciform,
when the new is built. Here is found it has become a symbol of the Saint
a visible testimony to the symbols Hugo community. The fifty-six-foot
and the Catholic identity held dear by tower is an outgrowth of the nave
parishioners in an over seventy-five- and transept and assists in giving the
year history. building its Norman dignity.
Saint Hugo parish, dedicated to Five stone steps lead visitors to the
the eleventh-century French Benedic- front door. Upon entering the vesti-
tine abbot, began to grow during the bule, a stone spiral stairway may be
Great Depression amid what would noticed on the left that leads down to
become the exodus of communities the unique crypt area. The McManus
from the city of Detroit. Bloomfield family petitioned Pope Pius XI to
Hills is hidden in peaceful wooded allow the burial of their sons in a
areas eighteen miles from down- crypt below the church they were
town. Strangely enough, the Saint building. Lay burial in a church was
Hugo property is often called the unheard of in the United States at
only parkland in the area. You would the time, but nonetheless the request
not suspect that as you look upon was granted by papal dispensation,
Photo: Jeff Garland

the thirty-eight acres of beautiful no doubt in recognition of this fam-

gardens and ponds on the grounds. ilys generosity and good works.
Fed by the Rouge River system, the The walls are of fieldstone taken
two tiny lakes of Saint Hugo with directly from the McManus estate.
their gushing fountains have pro- The interior of the Stone Chapel at Saint Hugo. The wood ceiling is supported by
vided an idyllic scene for weddings, stone pillars upon a stone floor. The
funerals, and the many parish events tion, funerals, and special liturgies that north wall contains eighteen burial
for over 3,700 families. It may be a do not need more than the 250 seating niches, seven of which are occupied.
well-kept secret, but it is undoubtedly capacity. In 1985 there were eleven The chapel facing the burial area has an
one of the flagship parishes of the arch- weekend Masses on the property, two altar, statues of Saint Thrse and Saint
diocese. of which were still held in the stone Joan of Arc, and a kneeling bench. The
The chapel itself was the parish chapel. McManus family hoped Masses would
church from 1936 until 1989, used The stone crafting of the church oc- be offered here for the deceased family
along with the original Saint Walters cupied four Italian artisans, who each members. The area is also used as a
chapel, a wood-framed building with chose one of the cardinal compass wedding ceremony preparation room.
an attached rectory. Literally pushed points for their labor. Their unique It is not a muted symbol as brides (in-
into a hill and built at a cost of more style of brick work is evident in each cluding Lee Iacoccas daughter) rise
than $250,000, the new edifice ex- of the areas they supervised. The style from the crypt to their wedding day!
pressed the faith of pioneer advertising is Norman Gothic, with a monastic in- A rope is noticed upon iron railings
executive Theodore McManus and his fluence. The Wisconsin Lannan stone as you climb the stairs. This theme, ap-
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 23
A r t i c l e s

proved by Mr. McManus, is continued Saint Francis. Two panels of Venetian and then thankfully uncovered in the
in the church on railings in the choir Mosaic are found on the back wall. recent restoration. Age has necessitated
loft with its Casavant organ, and in the On the south side the mosaic depicts the cypress beams to be supported by
sanctuary. The baptismal font in the the head of the Lord, and on the north steel braces. These dark bands seem
narthex was designed by Fr. Thomas side, the head of Mary from Titians to blend in well with the Norman sur-
McGlynn, O.P, a noted sculptor. The Assumption. The Stations of the Cross roundings. The length of the walls is
space of the church seems larger than originally intended for this church broken by the gigantic stone pillars.
the seating capacity allows because of were reported to be lost at sea. They This has created side chapels and pro-
the 140-foot-long wide-flung nave. A have been replaced with wooden reliefs vides an unobstructed view of the main
center aisle is flanked by rows of red upon wooden pedestals in niches. altar.
cypress pews. With expert crafting, a These were handcrafted from a solid The construction of the huge modern
torch had removed the sap in the wood, block of wood in the Austrian Tyrol. parish church in 1989 did not overshad-
and steel wool was used to scrub them While not in complete keeping with the ow the obvious beauty and presence of
before waxing and pol- the 1936 building. McM-
ishing. Butterfly tongue anuss church stands on
and grooving is another its own as a gem on the
feature that is found parish grounds.
here and then carried to The 2001 restoration
the new church building. project respected the tra-
Rows of pews are also ditions and sensibilities
found facing forward in of the Saint Hugo com-
each side of the sixty- munity, and this chapel
four-foot-wide transept, still honors the intent of
containing chapels with its founders. If Theodore
altars and altar rails. and Alice McManus
Other wood appoint- were alive today, they
ments include the black would be proud of the
walnut Oberammergau condition of the build-

Photo: Jeff Garland

crucifix carved by Anton ing and its symbols.
Lang, who famous- They would delight in
ly played Christus in the weekly Eucharistic
three productions of the devotions. Entombed
Oberammergau Passion The Stone Chapel is nestled in the gardens and ponds of St. Hugos here they wait for the
play. It is found over the thirty-eight acre property outside Detroit. last days to rise here. In
altar flanked by two lin- an age where often the
denwood angels. A railing above the original design, they nonetheless blend older traditions do not seem to be re-
altar and on each side of the sanctu- with the wood accoutrements. spected and the Catholic identity of pa-
ary provides a space where trumpet- Light in the church is nobly present- rishioners does not seem to be honored,
ers sometimes enhance the liturgical ed in the upright torches on the walls this restoration rather than renovation
celebrations. Upon the altar rests the of the nave and side chapels. They are has been true to the faith heritage and
forged-iron tabernacle with two guard- reminiscent of the type of torches that the Catholic identity of the people of
ian angels inset in gold mosaic. The peasants removed from their sockets Saint Hugo.
altar table has been brought forward for use in religious processions moving I asked Monsignor Tocco why he
in the sanctuary to facilitate the Ordi- outside. Even though they are well out had not, like so many others, just de-
nary Form. The use of small marble of reach, they are a fine, serviceable, molished the chapel to make way
pillars has been continued in the altar and practical decoration recalling the for the new. He answered me with a
and in the communion rail, which is history of such devotions. Other light- simple, knowing smile. It was good
topped by red cypress. Iron gates have ing has been added through the years to realize that here our crown jewels
been retained. The story is told of to complement the hidden lights in are safe, an example of how Catholic
the McManus family donating boxes the timbers and elsewhere. The lancet identity is increasingly regaining the
of gold tiles to enhance these pillars, stained-glass windows were hand- respect it deserves.
which Alice McManus felt were too blown in England. They add a jeweled
plain. She had the artisans train her effect, enhancing the walls, increasing W
Japanese houseboy to do the work of the light, and nourishing the atmo-
decoration. Sadly, after completing his sphere. Unused parts of the windows Rev. William Turner is a priest and pastor
work he was deported to Japan at the were incorporated in the Blessed Sacra- in the Diocese of Lansing, MI. Follow-
beginning of World War II. Today in ment Chapel of the new church. ing the completion of his doctoral degrees
his seventies, he still lives there. The open timber cypress and fir in theology and in cultural anthropology,
Other lindenwood statues in the ceiling was described at its concep- he has continued research as he listens to
transept include the Blessed Virgin and tion as of heavy wood roof supports, those who wish their Catholic identity to be
Saint Joseph over the side altars, and between which is laid thick cypress recognized in their church buildings and in
those of Saint Thrse, Saint Anne, the planking. This was covered with their Church.
Sacred Heart, Saint John Vianney, and acoustical tile in an earlier renovation email: DRWJPT@aol.com

24 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009

 A r t i c l e s

T he C hurch and the N eighborhood

Past, Present, and Future
Eric R. Osth

O
ver the past two centuries, a four-lane, one-way ring road was number of different uses: Sacred Heart
Pittsburghs beautiful churches constructed around the center of East Parish church and school; a mixed-in-
h a v e m a d e s i g n i f i c a n t Liberty, and three affordable housing come, mid-rise residential tower; a suc-
contributions to the citys architectural towers, designed in a reckless manner, cessful town center of neighborhood
character and quality of life. Great were built along the four-lane road. services; and a beautiful neighborhood
neighborhoods across the country, as Since the 1960s, the once prosperous of Victorian houses. All of these uses
in Pittsburgh, grew up around active neighborhood has deteriorated, and are set on tree-lined streets of a conge-
churches. However, over the past few East Liberty Presbyterians church nial human scale and a notable local
decades, many of our nations once character that encourages walking.
thriving churches have declined Although Calvarys congregation
or even been shuttered. While has had its ups and downs over the
the question of church health is decades, the church continues to
undoubtedly complicated, the story of thrive today.
two Pittsburgh churches may provide Pittsburgh is just one of the many
some clues as to the connection cities in which the condition of a
between neighborhood context and churchs neighborhood, its context,
congregation vitality. is symmetrical with congregational
East Liberty Presbyterian Church participation. Is it sheer coinci-
in Pittsburgh is a five-minute walk dence that thriving churches, such
from Calvary Episcopal Church of as Calvary Episcopal, are most often
Shadyside. The churches are re- found in intact, successful urban
markably similar: both are well-en- neighborhoods, like Shadyside?
dowed, exemplary French Gothic-in-
spired structures designed by Ralph The Effect of Context
Adams Cram. Calvary Episcopal of A healthy church congregation
Shadyside was completed in 1906 and a healthy neighborhood com-
and East Liberty Presbyterian in munity are indeed interconnected.
1935. In the early twentieth century, The shift towards new development,
both churches thrived, boasting full urban sprawl, and automobile effi-
congregations and vibrant surround- ciency over the last fifty years has re-
ing neighborhoods. Today they are sulted in residential places that lack
worlds apart; East Liberty Presbyte- walkable streets, mixed-use centers,
Photo: Eric Osth

rian Churchs membership has de- connectivity to neighborhood servic-

clined dramatically since the 1960s, es, and a distinct feeling of intimacy
while Calvary Episcopal of Shady- that was common in traditional com-
side continues to flourish. East Liberty Presbyterian Church is one of two munities. Where widespread place-
East Liberty was once a busy remarkable churches designed by Ralph Adams less growth is on the rise, a steady
center of Pittsburghs East End. East Cram. Only a few blocks from each other, the decline in church membership con-
Liberty Presbyterian Church sits at health of their congregations is symmetrical to sistently follows. When it comes to
the geographic center of its commer- the characteristics of their contexts. church health, urban context matters.
cial district. At its completion the Many of our nations best neigh-
church was fully endowed, contain- membership has significantly declined. borhoods are those developed prior to
ing excellent amenities for a congrega- Literally only a few blocks away, World War II and the automobile era.
tion that numbered over 1,500. In the Calvary Episcopal Church of Shady- At that time, development patterns
1960s, as the commercial district of East side is nestled in the beautiful neigh- were balanced, providing residents
Liberty began to lose business to new borhood of Shadyside, the pride of with an infrastructure that supported
suburban shopping malls, the center Pittsburghs East End. Calvary was walking, public transit, and the auto-
was transformed by a reckless urban- originally named Calvary Episcopal mobile. But what stands out most in
renewal program. The program in- of East Liberty, but the congrega- successful, historic neighborhoods is
volved tearing down neighborhoods of tion changed the name to associate the human scale and local character of
historic, residential fabric and replac- itself with Shadyside. Shadyside has the streets and the architectural form.
ing them with parking lots. Further had its own periods of decline, but its In such places, resident activities and
disconnecting the commercial center overall urban infrastructure has always services are usually found within a
from remaining residential neighbor- remained intact. Calvary Episcopal comfortable geographical radius of a
hoods, tree-lined streets were removed, Church sits at the intersection of a quarter mile (approximately a five-
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 25
A r t i c l e s
the quality of existing neighborhoods.
In many cases, fine-grained networks
of city streets, which were not built to
handle the suburban rush hour, were
replaced with an infrastructure de-
signed for heavy volumes of automo-
Photo: Ed Massery, Architect: Perfido Weiskopf Wagstaff + Goettel
biles traveling in and out of the city,
further damaging the character of our
great urban communities.
New suburban churches, instead of
nesting comfortably within pleasant
neighborhoods, have become vehicular
destinations with the dubious real-es-
tate parity of shopping malls. The resi-
dential patterns designed to represent
freedom have become patterns of en-
trapment; high-traffic congestion and
automobile dependence are limiting
the very liberation that automobiles
were marketed to facilitate in the first
Sixth Presbyterian Church considered place. Generic patterns of high-vol-
closing its doors until, through an ume traffic arteries and a disconnect-
entrepreneurial effort to redevelop its ed network of cul-de-sacs are neither
own land with residential condominiums, walkable nor memorable. These pat-
the churchs membership and financial terns completely disregard the charac-
security increased. teristics of traditional great places and
serve neither our communities nor our
minute walk). churches.
Churches are also an integral part of
these neighborhoods. In fact, church Current Development Practice
communities often played an inte- Many professionals recognize the
gral role in the creation and the con- relationship between healthy churches
tinuation of these neighborhoods. The and healthy neighborhoods. The Con-
urban patterns, whether developed pri- gress of the New Urbanism (CNU) is
vately or publicly, were often designed a consortium of architects, planners,
around public buildings of civic pride, and developers who consistently apply
including churches. Congregations basic town-making principles and re-
selected sites with distinguished hier- gional character to new and existing
archy and character. These churches communities across the nation. Some
flourished. of the most high-profile communities
and planning efforts along these lines
Deterioration of Neighborhoods and have included churches as a critical
Communities component of urban design.
Once the automobile became ubiqui- Seaside, a seminal New Urbanist
tous, change was inevitable. The auto- town on the Gulf of Mexico in Floridas
mobile offered unprecedented mobility panhandle, was one of the first new
and consequently the walkable quar- towns to exemplify traditional town-
ter-mile radius lost its influence. Dis- making principles and is often cited as
tance between neighborhood services a model town. In the design process,
that was once measured in feet is now the developer, Robert Davis, and the
measured in miles. New infrastructure designers, Andres Duany and Eliza-
based upon a culture of cars changed beth Plater-Zyberk, set out to create a
the landscape of the United States and community with all the positive quali-
the urban form for the worse. ties of pre-war precedents. Seasides
Unfortunately, the automobile had design prioritized walking and the
great market and political support pedestrian scale over automobile infra-
within cities. As people moved to the structure. The town, which was started
suburbs, city neighborhoods were in 1980 and is still developing today, in-
destroyed by poor planning and cludes fine-grained residential fabric, a
transportation policy. City govern- neighborhood center, offices, a school,
ments, eager to cash in on commercial and places for recreation. Seaside is
revenue, replaced residential zoning widely respected for its unique sense of
with commercial zoning, deteriorating place and high-quality, regionally in-
26 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
spired architecture. In fact, it is so suc-
cessful that local real estate values have
swelled to uncomfortable highs.
Seasides original master plan in-
cluded a prominent site for a town
chapel. The main streets and passage-
ways in the town are oriented toward
the water, and in an effort to provide
an inland focus for the community, a
high profile, axial location adjacent to
the town center was selected for the
chapel site. The town is not large; it is
approximately eighty-seven acres. Its
residential fabric was built over about
a decade and one-half is entirely com-
plete. Shortly after completion of the
first phase of residential construction,
residents of the town organized and
funded the design and construction
of the Seaside chapel building. The
success of the democratic group that
raised private funds to build a commu-
nity chapel is a testament to the will of
the neighborhood to include worship
within its boundaries. The design
of the chapel, by Merrill, Pastor, and
Colgan, is extraordinary. Although
the architecture contains no specific
denominational references, the chapel
is clearly Gothic inspired, which gives
the space a distinctive ecclesiastical
feel. Like Seaside, the chapel exempli-
fies the plurality of todays new towns,
holding nondenominational services
and community events. Today the
stunning chapel, funded by its congre-
gation, sits on its prominent location in
the significant town of Seaside.
Churches have been included in
designs for larger new towns as well.
Celebration, Florida, a town developed
by the Walt Disney Company, is a well-
regarded example of a large-scale New
Urbanist community. The town was
designed for an underutilized tract of
the Walt Disney Companys own land
outside of the Florida theme park.
Within the academic community, the
town was often criticized as disney-
fication of town making. However,
Celebration has proved itself to be a
successful town, illustrating that tra-
ditional town-making principles are a
sound foundation upon which to build
a year-round community much larger
than Seaside. The plan for Celebra-
tion, over 4,900 acres, included sites for
neighborhood churches. The sites were
sold to church groups of many differ-
ent denominations, and the church
structures were built through fundrais-
ing drives. Because community resi-
dents funded church construction, the
 A r t i c l e s

towns churches were some of the last
buildings to be completed within each
construction phase. Today the town of
Celebration and its church congrega-
tions are thriving.
The Kennecott Land Company
has made church sites a fundamental
part of its master plan for Daybreak, a
new town in South Jordan, Utah. The
Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS)
and the Kennecott development team
worked together to design neighbor-
hoods in which landmark sites were
designated for churches and every
residence was within a comfortable
walk of a church. The Kennecott Land
Company is also encouraging members
of other denominations to build
churches within Daybreak. An
interfaith chapel, entirely funded
by Kennecott Land Company,
will house a Montessori school
and provide space for various
religious groups while the town
grows. The goal is that as these
groups grow along with Day-
need of repair and its congregation
was dwindling. The church consid-
ered closing its doors. As a last resort,
the church constructed a separate con-
dominium building around back of
the existing building. This model for
development, although perhaps dif-
ficult to imagine, is particularly useful
in todays development context. The
design of the two buildings provides
the church with a new, improved con-
genial space, similar to great European
piazzas. The new condominium build-
ing is home to members of the church,
including a number of senior citizens.
Interestingly, the church itself does not
provide any parkingcongregation
ing patience and strategic business
acumen. However, the collaborative
nature of Christianity and the process
of community building is a natural
fit. Proactive participation in neigh-
borhood building, combined with a
healthy, entrepreneurial spirit can
benefit the long-term health of a parish.
At a national scale, the Catholic Church
and its membership would do well to
lend support to responsible neighbor-
hood development strategies, such as
those advocated by the Congress for
New Urbanism.
Today, our nation is at a critical junc-
ture. Many of our cities are struggling
to maintain core economies and the
suburbs are increasingly stressed.
A national research study by
Reed Construction has deter-
mined that the United States will
double its square footage by the
year 2030. Even if that number
is off by a factor of ten, it is still
a remarkable prediction. Our
nations cities are ripe for rede-

Photo: Cooper, Robertson, & Partners

break, they will establish more velopment and our suburbs will
churches of their own. In Day- require reconstruction. It is criti-
break, churches have become an cal that redevelopment is respon-
active partner in development sible and sustainable, and that it
efforts, resulting in obvious ben- promotes the core values of great
efits for both the community and place making in order to support
the church congregations. both healthy neighborhoods and
healthy church communities.
Urban Infill around Dwindling The plan for Celebration, over 4,900 acres, included Here lies an opportunity
Churches sites for neighborhood churches. for leadership by the Catholic
Through active participation Church. As a society, we yearn
in local planning efforts, church com- members travel by bus, walk, or park for communities that connect us to
munities across the nation can promote on surrounding streets. our daily necessities and our neigh-
responsible, human scale development Following the construction of this bors, but we do not always follow a
surrounding an individual parish. A condominium building, Sixth Presby- development path that will adequately
parish can also develop its own excess terian Churchs membership increased, meet these needs. Meeting community
land in partnership with private plan- and since that time, new construc- needs goes hand-in-hand with building
ners. Such development brings resi- tion and revitalization around the site healthy churches. Through secular and
dents closer to the church itself, uti- has increased at great rates. Had the church leadership, we have an incred-
lizes land efficiently, and makes sound church shuttered, it would likely have ible opportunity to rebuild our nations
financial sense. In Pittsburgh, Sixth set back the entire neighborhood. Al- communities and congregations at the
Presbyterian Church did just that. The though this example is urban by same time. When it comes to church
church revived its congregation, re- nature, many churches can benefit from health, urban context matters.
filled its financial coffers, and, at the this type of proactive strategy. Around
same time, assisted in the revitalization the country, specifically in the suburbs, W
of the commercial intersection of one of church parking lots are conspicuously
the great neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. oversized for that once-a-year Easter
Squirrel Hill, home of Sixth Pres- Sunday, holding excess land with an Eric R. Osth, AIA, LEED AP is a principal
byterian Church, has always been a unrealistic goal of future growth. By and the architecture studio director at
neighborhood of diverse incomes, ac- utilizing this excess land in an aestheti- Urban Design Associates in Pittsburgh,
tivities, and religions. Squirrel Hill is cally pleasing manner, a church can PA. He is a member of the Congress of New
esteemed for its pedestrian-friendly actually improve membership and the Urbanism and the Institute of Classical
streets and rich architecture. It is well financial status of the parish itself. Architecture and Classical America and
served by public transit and its adja- a member of the Board of Directors for
cency to Carnegie Mellon University. The Future the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American
In the early 1990s Sixth Presbyterians Community development is a diffi- Institute of Architects.
roof and structure were in desperate cult and complicated business, requir- email: eric.osth@urbandesignassociates.com
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 27
A r t i c l e s
S acred A rt
Is It Art and Is It Sacred?
B
orn in Denmark in the 1950s,
I came of age in 1960s society,
surrounded by all the clichs
of liberal atheism that resulted in my
experience of a spiritual void. This
void was not filled until I converted
to the Catholic faith many years later
at Westminster Cathedral in London.
Being in the arts and having been
deeply involved in the staging of a
large exhibition on the Jesuits and the
baroque, I came to realize the importance
of the sacred image in proclaiming the
faith, so vital today, especially given the
prevailing absence of intellectual inquiry
and reading among the young.
Turning from the seventeenth
century to our own historical period, I
perceived that we are now faced with
so-called Catholic art that more often
than not states what Christ is not,
rather than what He is. It is an art form
(if one can call it art) where often the
tragic, the absurd, and the rejection of
the true Christ become their own new
and perverse trinity. This has become
a pseudoreligion of its own, in which
the atheist, humanitarian artist has
been elevated to the role of dogmatic
priest.
As a response to the recent crisis
in vocations, I have started, with the
support of various priests, to use my
artistic knowledge to create a book,
which will published in several lan-
guages, entitled The Catholic Priest:
Image of Christ Seen through Twenty Cen-
turies of Art. Through 550 works of art
of all periods since the days of the Cat-
acombs, this book seeks to explain the
priesthood through the visual image
with the hope of attracting vocations
to this most important and beautiful
ministry. Needless to say, the dilemma
quickly arose as to which works of art
should be included to represent our
own times.1
To understand why the great ma-
jority of Catholic art over the past
half century has been a monumental
failure, one has to understand not only
how society has evolved, but also how
this change has been reflected in what
is termed contemporary art. Two
recent books that address this issue
28
of T oday
Steen Heidemann
are Christine Sourginss Les Mirages
de lArt contemporain (La Table ronde,
Paris 2005) and Aude de Kerross L'Art
cach (Eyrolles, Paris 2007). The latter
Study for Station 6 of Via Dolorosa by
James Langley, USA. Series commissioned
by St. Paul Catholic Church in Pensacola,
Florida and installed in February 2009.
provides a good description of how
contemporary has emerged and devel- also elsewhere, contemporary art has
oped:
Ordinatio by Neilson Carlin, USA, 2008. cultural vacuum, but anyone daring
Commissioned for the book The Catholic to speak uplike the little girl in the
Priest by Steen Heidemann.
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
The dominant movement today is
conceptual art, which nominates itself
as contemporary. It is not an art
form in the traditional sense of the
word, but a named ideology based
on the statement by the artist himself
that this is art, all confirmed and
approved by the establishment. This
has been baptized contemporary
art, fruit of the arbitrary, and does not
pretend to have an essential or truthful
character. However, this infinite
diversity does exclude one specific
element: art. Contemporary art is
strongly based on several forbidden
key elements: the use of hands to
modulate and transform materials with
Photo: James Langley
its positive metamorphic outcome; the
articulation of the form and meaning
in an organic unity; the beauty and its
mysterious manifestation: aura, the
glory of sensitivity. Most people still
believe they are in the continuation
of the avant-gardes of modern art
and have not perceived the reality of
the situation.
In France, but in various degrees
become the official and only acceptable
form of expression. This is in the secular
as well as in the Catholic sphere. This
art is part of a commercial mecha-
nism in which the often poorly in-
formed and politically correct opinions
of government bureaucrats determine
the allocation of funds for the purchase
of artworks esteemed by intellectual
and fashionable art critics, ignorant
nouveau riche investors, and trendy,
predominantly Anglo-Saxon, mondi-
alistic art galleries. It is a totalitarian
system, where art has become another
financial commodity with which to
speculate. The concept of art serving
nothing but itself has been born. There
is no transmission of knowledge, no
recognition of the past, and there is
Photo: Neilson Carlin
certainly nothing for the art student
to learn, given the perceived risk that
learning might de-nature his spon-
taneous talent. Contemporary art is a
story of the emperors new clothes who
realized that the emperor was naked
 A r t i c l e s

will be either ignored or regarded as able galleries such blas-

ignorant. It is a money racket that has phemies against Christs
little to do with art and has nothing to message of truth and
do with the transmission of Christs beauty as Andres Ser-
message. ranos crucifix in a vat of
Contemporary art offers no refer- urine and the Austrian
ence to beauty, truth, or goodness; Hermann Nitschs mock-
and thus can have no idea of a moral eries of the Catholic Mass
aesthetic. It can have no place in the (to take only a few ex-
Church, not just for aesthetic reasons, amples), they have also
but because it was conceived with the created an ambience in
intention of serving nothing other than which a lack of form and

Photo: Rodolfo Papa

the fallen ego. In fact, much like the cor- the expression of mental
rupted angels, the motto of contempo- and spiritual twistedness
rary art could easily be non serviam. have gained respectabil-
This tension was already visible in ity. It is as if beauty and
the nineteenth century, when some of truth had been replaced The priest who sees himself in Christs image
the most skilled artists, especially in by ugliness and perver- by Rodolfo Papa, Italy.
France, turned their talents away from sion as the medium for
sacred art. The secular took control and depicting the sacred! Contemporary culture of spiritual death. It is inter-
has not let go since. Impressionism art is supposed to be contextual. It esting to note that Salvador Dalis Last
gave way not only to a style of paint- is the context that often crowns the Supper and Crucifixion are the only two
ing, but also to a philosophy of life. artwork, and its revolutionary trans- twentieth-century paintings of a reli-
Even within the Church, at a time gression becomes sacred or meaning- gious subject that have won universal
when she is in particular need of artists ful. A toilet shown in a fashionable acclaim. They are still seen in all poster
able to convey Christs message clearly, London gallery becomes immediately shops around the globe. No contempo-
one senses a marked lack of a philoso- an artwork, while seen in a place of rary art painting of a Christian nature
phy and theology of art. Without most public amenities it remains what it is. has even come near these in status.
people realizing it, two thousand years So-called real artists in the world of A good Christian artist, especially
of Christian art have been quietly, but contemporary art may express them- one who expresses himself figura-
firmly, pushed aside. It is a silent apos- selves spiritually, but only if they show tively, is to the media a dead artist,
tasy that Christine Sourgins describes that they have second thoughts about an object at best of pity and fit to be
in terms of a pseudoreligion: religion, especially the Christian reli- placed in a museum as merely folk-
Priest, prophet, artist of contemporary gion. Hence ambiguity and/or irony lore. Two years before Andy Warhol
art, he is also king. But his kingdom are much welcomed elements. The died, he created a work entitled Repent
is that of passions, which is the New Age icons of Alex Grey constitute and Sin No More! The question arises
distant, but direct, inheritance as to where we are to turn from
of the age of Enlightenment. For here in order to express Christs
contemporary art the passions are message artistically in a way that
the spiritual. The transgression the ordinary faithful can com-
that enables us to go above prehend. There are artists who
our ordinary perceptions of have had the courage to stand
matters, is for contemporary art out and create artworks where
a true transcendence. One is, as Christs message is clearly and at-
a conclusion, confronted with tractively represented without a
an inverted religious, who still ten-page written supplement to
thinks as a religious. understand them! Their work is
For most contemporary art what Aude de Kerros terms the
there is no resurrection and hidden art. The media simply
Photo: Philippe Lejuene

nowhere is the Redeemer to be ignores them, as if they did not

found. Contemporary art results exist, or rather as if they were
in a mental castration, or perhaps, mere decorators, and certainly not
quoting George Orwell in 1984, artists.
the prevailing mental condition According to Aude de Kerros,
must be controlled insanity. And The Obscure Night of St. John of the Cross there are indications that in
what contemporary art ultimate- by Philippe Lejuene, France. America contemporary art has
ly constitutes is an attack on the been largely accepted for what
Christian faith, which is the foundation an ideal reply. The smashing (some it is, a sort of merchandise, and what
of our society and its culture. years ago) of Michelangelos Piet one would term real art retains its own
The current anti-aesthetic principles perhaps offers an emblem of a world place. However, as she concludes, one
and the new orthodoxy of provocative bent on destroying the true, the good, will have to wait until a semantic dis-
iconoclasm in artistic circles have not and the beautiful and supplanting tinction is made separating contempo-
only brought to museums and fashion- Christ with an agenda steeped in the rary art from real art. One could then
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 29
A r t i c l e s

start to evaluate non-conceptual art Gallery of Victoria, Australia, 1998),

and each individual artist. This is im- a work was displayed that depicted
portant in general, but it is vital for the a woman as a crucified Christ. Such
Church to clearly mark the boundar- blasphemous images cannot orient the
ies. faithful, as Sourgins suggests, toward
Were this milestone to be achieved, prayer, devotion, or an authentic
what would it mean for Christian art? sense of Christianity in line with the
The first consideration would be to teaching of the Church. Many an ex-
realize that art cannot be produced cellent artist in the past has been a
in the same way in which one orders great sinner, but their faith permitted
a car or a piece of contemporary art. their works to embody the divinity of
It is a kind of gift that cannot be had the Trinity. An artist need not be the
through materialism. It requires the perfection of sanctity in order to be a
gift of faith. Wherever that presents good Christian artist, but faith does
itself, Christs message as expressed bring about a transformation. During
in art finds its proper expression. It the nineteenth century Christianity

Photo: Sergio Ferro

is beyond the scope of this article to still represented something of a social
enter into a detailed and profound foundation that, despite its shortcom-
discussion on Christian art, however, ings, did animate society in general
I should like make some suggestions, and did have an underlying influence
the first articulated well by Rodolfo The Baptism of Christ on many artists dealing with sacred
Papa, artist and teacher at the Pontifi- by Sergio Ferro, Brazil. themes. Though often not masterpiec-
cal Academy for the Arts in Rome: es in a spiritual sense, some paintings
The Church does not have an artistic ian sense and quickly become an image did retain a certain Christian aura.
style of her own, because it is not that might just as well adhere to New However, one has to conclude that
important how to say something, but Age concepts as to Christian realities. this is no longer the case. The best
it is important what you want to say Painters, for example Giovanni Battista one can hope for in most artists in the
or communicate; it is easy to know Gaulli (il Baciccio) have in the past twentieth century is a kind of cosmic
what to do: Rem tene, verba sequuntur
tackled this subject with success, com- mysticism. Many intellectuals dealing
[Grasp the subject, the words will bining the flood of light with Christian with this question have forgotten that
follow]. I think that only figurativefigurative symbolism. Some recent the Christian artist can be the instru-
art is able to speak about Christian examples are included here, namely, ment of divine grace. Fra Angelico is
mysteries. Catholic art has expressedworks by Philippe Lejeune and Agns reputed to have stated that To paint
itself in many various styles in the Hmery. One may have a preference Christ, one must live Christ, or as the
past, but all of these are figurative.
for the sober monastic expressions American artist James Langley sees it:
Some will argue that the abstract can
of the Middle Ages, the exuberant The ultimate point of reference
be used beneficially to depict aspects of
baroque, or some of the more sentimen- for the Christian artist is neither
the truth that are not specifically narra-
tal works of the nineteenth century, but contemporary culture nor ones self,
tive. In fact the non-figurative can un-a Catholic welcomes all these forms of but rather the discovery of beauty in
derline the mystery of the infinite and expression as part of the same unity the encounter with Christ. Proceeding
the mystical with an intensity that no centered on Christ. The problem arises from the experience of the radiant
other form can accomplish. The danger, when contemplating recent works of God-man as clothed in the Divine
however, is that, if totally abstract, the
contemporary art where the underly- Liturgy, the Catholic approach
artwork can quickly lose its Trinitar- ing spirit has been destroyed. to the making of religious art is
Christine Sourgins grounded in the common experience
writes that the of a received tradition to which ones
visible becomes own contribution is humbly added.
worthy of God for To accept that tradition implies a
the reason that God study and appreciation of how other
made himself visible; artists have seen the image of God. Art
this could be the forms that hold originality and self-
basis of Christian expression as paramount begin with
art. According to a disordered understanding of the
Sourgins, the figura- freedom of the children of the children
Photo: Giuseppe Antonio Lomuscio

tive painter needs of God. As such they risk producing

faith and knowl- art, as we have seen in recent decades,
edge of the truth to that distorts and is literally irrelevant
execute his or her art. to the Christian experience.
At one of the largest It can of course be argued that hope
exhibitions held in and faith can find expression even
recent years to focus in contemporary art. The argument
St. Alphonso Liguori by Giuseppe Antonio Lomuscio, Italy. mainly on Chris- might follow that we now live in times
tian topics (National when the direct Christian approach is

30 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009


no longer viable and that the Chris-
tian message can only be perceived
in the absurdity and the despair of
contemporary art. And yet, while it
is indeed challenging today to be a
Christian, the last two thousand years
have shown many other periods of
direct or indirect persecutions; one
must not lose courage to stand up and
be counted. Contemporary art typi-
fies an anti-Christian counterculture,
in which one may contemplate the
Crucified Christ but not His Resurrec-
tion. As Christ stated He who is not
with me is against me (Lk 11:23). A
compromise between Christianity and
contemporary will inevitably lead to
paintings as in the aforementioned
Australian exhibition, where the
image of the Trinity is hidden by the
absurd, the tragic, and nihilism.
Is it possible, then, to still look
toward contemporary art as a possible
place to find art forms that will serve
Christs message? As Anthony Visco
has written, Would you look to devil
worshippers for liturgical consultants
on the rites and rituals of the Church?
Would we look to atheists for prayer
advice on the spiritual exercises of Saint
Ignatius? Why then look towards con-
temporary art that has decidedly made
itself not serve the Church and wonder
how it might fit in? Some Catho-
lics deem themselves courageous
when they commence a dialogue with
contemporary art, but however well-
intentioned they may be, their efforts
can never bear real fruit, as the roots
of the tree are rotten to the core. They
argue further that contemporary art
will encourage a new spiritual search
and hence a deeper understanding of
the truth. For them, people should be
adventurous and try to understand the
new and unconventional. Intellectuals
may have a field day arguing this, but
will their arguments make any sense to
the ordinary faithful? Some Catholics
will then continue the debate saying
that many an artist such as Giotto was
revolutionary in his day, and so why
should contemporary art not be accept-
ed in the Church? This is obviously a
point that for all the reasons stated in
this article does not require an answer.
The Catholic and universal Church
longs for a renaissance, not to be con-
fused with a simple renovation. Some
will argue that to question contempo-
rary art and to look for an alternative
would lead to a triumphal type of neo-
fascist propaganda. This is to take the
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
Photo: Ugo Riva
Verbum caro factum est
by Ugo Riva, Italy.
easy and comfortable stance and not to
confront the reality of Christs message
of going out and converting the world.
The Church has faced difficulties
before, and she will find a new way
forward where Christian art will again
serve the word of Jesus in a pedagogi-
cal, intelligible, and effective fashion: a
manifestation of hope and promise, as
Pope Benedict XVIs recent encyclical
Spe salvi describes. One will have to dis-
tinguish between religious, sacred, and
liturgical art, but overall one should
not be afraid to recognize those art
forms that best express Christs various
messages as well as the devotional
needs of the faithful in different cul-
tures and parts of the world. A work of
art in Spain will obviously not meet the
criteria of a person in Armenia, but the
underlying spirit should be the same.
The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, in
a letter of November 25, 2008, to Arch-
bishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president
of the Pontifical Council for Culture
and the Pontifical Commissions for the
Cultural Heritage of the Church and
for Sacred Archeology, expressed the
necessity of relaunching a dialogue
between aesthetics and ethics, between
beauty, truth, and goodness. Indeed, a
Vatican pavilion is being planned for
the 2011 Venice Biennale, a major inter-
national festival of contemporary art.
A r t i c l e s
At the heart is a need to return to
the Eucharist as the wellspring of ar-
tistic expression. In the words of
Anthony Visco, The reality of the
Eucharist must be reaffirmed in our
world today. With Christ, the Eucha-
rist is still a scandal, something to get
over. Without this, all art becomes
mere decoration or ornament of
the ego. In order to be missionary,
the Church needs to re-incarnate in
art the mystery of Christ in a clear
manner and expose it courageous-
ly to a world that has apostatized.
Though sacred art can not effect sal-
vation, nor contain the reality of the
priesthood or the Mass, it can show
the way. It should render service to
the faith, to understanding of God,
who has spoken to man through Holy
Scripture. The semantic difference
between renaissance and renova-
tion urgently needs to be addressed.
We are beginning to see a renaissance,
as some bishops have comprehended
the issue and have had the courage
to commission architects and artists
worthy of their name. Further encour-
agement might also be gleaned from
the fact that this years famous New
York autumn sale of contemporary art
was a financial flop; this might prompt
collectors to reassess what real art is all
together and transfer the center of at-
tention away from this American city,
where over the last few decades money
and current ideologies have been the
only criteria. The work of some prom-
ising new artists has been illustrated
here, to show that real art is beginning
to rise out of the ashes. A true search
has commenced.
W
A native of Denmark, Steen Heidemann
was educated in England earning degrees
in art and architecture at Oxford and an
MSc in management from Reading. A
convert, he later married a French woman.
He currently organizes international art
exhibitions.
1. The above-mentioned book on the Catholic priesthood has
led to the beginning of a collaboration with the Pontifical
Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and the
modern department of the Vatican Museums to try and evaluate
the current situation and to aim at finding a new way out of the
current desert in Catholic art. The latter initiative will lead to an
exhibition. I am in contact with many Latin, mainly figurative,
artists, but few American artists. Should anyone read this article
and be interested in contributing, I encourage them to write
sending samples of their work to Steen Heidemann, 41 rue de
Bayeux, 14740 Bretteville-lOrgueilleuse, France.
31
A r t i c l e s

T amquam C or in P ectore
The Eucharistic Tabernacle Before and After the Council of Trent
U. Michael Lang

I
n recent years, historical research
has paid considerable attention to
the relationship between liturgy and
architecture. Much of this scholarship
has focused on Late Antiquity and
the Middle Ages, 1 but there is also
growing interest in the periods of the
Renaissance and of the Catholic Reform
both before and after the Council of
Trent (15451563), as is evident from
the proceedings of a conference held at
the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence
in 2003. 2 The editor of the volume,
Jrg Stabenow, identifies two main
developments that transformed the
typical church interior in the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries. First, elements
that divided the building into different
sections were removed in order to create
a unified space. By contrast, medieval
churches were structured by a complex
system of partitions, especially the rood
screen separating the nave from the
choir. Secondly, the tabernacle placed
in a central position on the high altar
was adopted as the common form of
Eucharistic reservation and became
the focal point of baroque church
architecture.3
The word tabernaculum was already
used in the Middle Ages to indicate the
receptacle for the Blessed Sacrament of
the Altar. William Durandus notes in
his highly influential Rationale divino-
rum officiorum (1282) that, in imitation
of the Ark of the Covenant and of the
Tent of Meeting (Exodus 2526, 33:711
and elsewhere), in some churches an
ark or tabernacle (archa seu tabernacu-
lum) is placed, in which the Body of the
Lord and relics are kept.4 The biblical
association is significant, since the Tent
of Meeting was Gods presence among
the people of Israel in the desert. More-
over, the prologue to the Gospel of John
tic tabernacle on the high altar is programme. The bishop wrote in his
usually associated with the liturgical Constitutiones, with reference to various
reforms that were implemented after psalm verses:
the Council of Trent, especially by St. And as the eyes of a maid to the
Charles Borromeo, whose efforts to hands of her mistress (Ps 122[123]:2),
renew religious life in his Archdiocese so should be the eyes of those who
of Milan became exemplary for the stand around the table of the Lord
Catholic Church as a whole. However, (cf. Ps 127 [128]:3), always with fear
this practice had already been promot- and trembling toward the most high
ed by reforming bishops before Trent and most precious sacrament, which
and can be traced back to fifteenth-cen- is there on the high altar; they should
tury Tuscany. High-altar tabernacles weep for joy about it, and rejoice
were introduced in several churches devoutly in their weeping, and they
of this Italian region, including the should see how sweet is the Lord (cf.
cathedrals of Volterra (1471) and Ps 33[34]:9).7
Prato (1487); perhaps the best-known In a similar mould, Pier Francesco
example is the transferral of the older Zini in his biography of Giberti, pub-
tabernacle of Vecchietta to the high lished in Venice in 1555 with the title
altar of Siena ca-
thedral in 1506,
where it replaced
Duccios Maest.5
The new ar-
rangement was
vigorously pro-
moted by Gian
Matteo Giberti,
bishop of Verona
from 1524 to
1543. Gibertis
Constitutiones,
which were
issued in 1542
with the ap-
proval of Pope
Paul III, aimed
at a reform of
ecclesiastical life
in his diocese
and in many
ways anticipated
post-Tridentine
developments. 6
Reserving the
Blessed Sacra-
Photo: donna_and_dave@flickr.com

states that the Divine Word was made ment on the high
flesh and dwelt [literally, pitched his altar in the centre
tent] among us (John 1:14). Finally, in of the church,
the Apocalypse the heavenly Jerusalem where it would
is evoked with the words: Behold the be exposed for
dwelling of God is with men, which the veneration of
reads in the Latin Vulgate: Ecce taber- both clergy and
naculum Dei cum hominibus (Revela- laity, formed an The older tabernacle of Vecchietta was transferred to the high altar
tion 21:3). important part of of Siena cathedral in 1506, where it replaced Duccios Maest.
The placing of a fixed Eucharis- Gibertis pastoral

32 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009

 A r t i c l e s

Boni pastoris exemplum ac specimen sin- minster in December 1555 and January Borromeos ideas on church archi-
gulare, describes the position of the tab- 1556. The legatine synod decreed that tecture are expressed most succinctly
ernacle on the high altar as being like the Holy Eucharist should be reserved in his Instructiones fabricae et supel-
the heart in the breast (tamquam cor in either in the middle of the altar or at lectilis ecclesiasticae of 1577,12 which
pectore).8 The tabernacle was intended is end.11 was composed by a group of authors
to be the heart of the church both in a The Council of Trent also empha- under his auspices. On the question
spatial and in a spiritual sense. Giberti sized the role of bishops in implement- of Eucharistic reservation, the Instruc-
applied this principle to his own ca- ing ecclesiastical reforms and man- tiones refer to the decrees of the first
thedral in Verona and prescribed it for dated the edition of revised liturgical provincial synod of Milan held in
every parish church of his diocese. books, a work that was carried out by 1565, which stipulated that in all the
The Council of Trent, which met the popes in the years to follow. These churches where the Blessed Sacrament
from 1545 to 1563, did not give spe- factors resulted in a standardization of was reserved, including the cathedral,
cific directives on church architecture liturgical life, which made the new way it should be placed on the high altar,
and furnishing. However, unless some necessity or
by affirming traditional grave reason would speak
Eucharistic teaching, the against it.13 The archbishop
conciliar decrees gave clear of Milan set the example
theological indications that by transferring the Blessed
were to shape the construc- Sacrament in his own ca-
tion of the new churches thedral from the sacristy
and the restructuring of to the high altar. While
already existing ones. The Borromeos Instructiones
canons of the Decree on were widely received in
the Eucharist, dating from the post-Tridentine period,
the Councils thirteenth there was still some flex-
session on 11 October ibility about the place of
1551, confidently asserted Eucharistic reservation. It

Photo: University of Notre Dame Architecture Library

the Catholic position in is worth noting that the
the face of Protestant criti- Caeremoniale Episcoporum
cism, especially that of of 1600 recommended that
Martin Luther, who had the Blessed Sacrament
argued earlier that Christ should not be kept on the
was present in the sacra- high altar, or on another
ment of the Eucharist only altar where the bishop was
during the actual liturgical to celebrate Solemn Mass
celebration when it would or Vespers. 14 However,
be received in faith by the I do not think this can be
communicants. The canons taken to indicate a critique
of Trent restated the teach- of the high-altar tabernacle,
ing of the Fourth Lateran Giberti applied this principle of the tabernacle as the heart of the as Christoph Jobst suggests
Council of 1215 about the church in his own cathedral in Verona and prescribed it for every in his magisterial study of
real and abiding presence parish church of his diocese. the subject.15 The prescrip-
of Christ under the form tion is not concerned with
of bread and wine after their consecra- of Eucharistic reservation on the high the general arrangement of churches,
tion by the priest. Hence there is the altar spread throughout the Catholic but with the rubrics of specific celebra-
need for an appropriate and secure res- world. Historians have often have con- tions. At most, one could argue that in
ervation of the consecrated hosts after centrated on the contribution made by pontifical liturgies the older custom of
Mass, which are also used for bringing Saint Charles Borromeo (15381584) to Eucharistic reservation being separate
Holy Communion to the sick.9 Canon the development of church architecture from the altar is reflected.
seven speaks in apparently general and furnishing after Trent. Borromeo The Rituale Romanum of 1614 has a
terms about the reservation of the Holy has been presented as a model reform- relevant paragraph in its Praenotanda
Eucharist in sacrario. In medieval ing bishop, who implemented the Tri- on the Most Holy Sacrament of the
use, the word sacrarium could indicate dentine decrees in the Archdiocese Eucharist, which says: The tabernacle
any place for Eucharistic reservation, of Milan with exemplary diligence. ought properly to be covered with a
including the sacristy. However, in Without reducing the role of this great canopy, and nothing else kept therein.
the context of Trent, it would be safe bishop, it would seem appropriate to It should be placed on the main altar
to assume that many Council Fathers place his work into a larger cultural or on another where it can be viewed
would have understood sacrarium to context. The high-altar tabernacle was readily, so that due worship may
mean the altar tabernacle.10 This idea by no means an innovation of Borro- be rendered this great sacrament. 16
had already obtained some currency, meo, and we have also seen that most Even here, there is flexibility about the
as is evident from the synod convoked of the theological reasoning behind this placing of the tabernacle: it can be on
by Cardinal Reginald Pole, legate of the practice had already been circulating the high altar or on another altar of
Holy See in England, and held in West- for some time. the church that is appropriate for the

Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 33

A r t i c l e s
veneration of the sacrament. Similar
instructions can be found in the acts of
many diocesan and provincial synods
that were held in the first half of the
seventeenth century. For instance, the
Synod of Constance in 1609 decreed
that the Blessed Sacrament should be
reserved either on the altar itself, ac-
cording to the Roman custom, or on the
left side of the choir near the altar.17
However, the placing of the taberna-
cle on the main altar according to the
Roman use was gradually adopted
throughout Europe as part of the Tri-
dentine reform.
A variety of factors contributed to
this development: first, the Councils
clear and confident reaffirmation of
the Catholic doctrine of the Real Pres-
ence in the face of Protestant criticism;
secondly, the increasing popularity
of Eucharistic devotions (Benediction
of the Blessed Sacrament, Eucharistic
processions, Forty Hours Devotion);
thirdly, the flourishing of baroque art
and architecture not just in Europe but
throughout the Catholic world, with
its emphasis on visibly expressing the
truths of the Faith, especially the Real
Presence;18 and fourthly, the standard-
ization of liturgical books after the
Council of Trent, with Roman practice
being the model for the whole Church.
Seen in its cultural and artistic
context, it is evident that this develop-
ment was not initiated by the Council
of Trent but was part of the common
tendency in Renaissance and baroque
church architecture to create a unified
space in which the high-altar taberna-
cle was indeed, in the words of Bishop
Gibertis biographer, tamquam cor in
pectore.
W Antenore, 1960), pp. 122166.
Rev. Uwe Michael Lang, a native of
Germany and priest of the Congregation of
the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in London,
is the Coordinator of the Masters program
in Architecture, Sacred Art and Liturgy
at the Universit Europea di Roma/Ateneo
Pontificio Regina Apostolorum and a
Consultor to the Office for the Liturgical
Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. He
has published in the fields of Patristics
and liturgical studies, including Turning
Towards the Lord: Orientation in
Liturgical Prayer, San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 2nd edition 2009.
email: um.lang@btinternet.com
34
1. See, for example, S. de Blaauw, Architecture and Liturgy Anspruch Carlo Borromeos und die mailndischen Verordnungen zu
in the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Archiv fr Bau und Ausstattung von Kirchen (Mnchen: Tuduv, 1984), pp.
Liturgiewissenschaft 33 (1991), pp. 134, and Cultus et dcor: 113, 318319. Caspary, Sakramentstabernakel (see above, n. 5),
Liturgia e architettura nella Roma tardoantica e medievale. Basilica pp. 9, 124, n. 20, notes that a contract made for the collegiata of
Salvatoris, Sanctae Mariae, Sancti Petri, Studi e testi 355356, 2 Empoli, Tuscany, in 1484 states: tabernacul[um] sive sacrari[um]
vols., (Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1994); Kunst poniturum super altare.
und Liturgie im Mittelalter: Akten des internationalen Kongresses 11. Paretur locus vel circiter medium altaris, vel ad eius cornu, in quo
der Bibliotheca Hertziana und des Nederlands Instituut te Rome sacrosancta eucharistia sub serra sancte custodiatur, ne in eam impii
(Rom, 28.30. September 1997), ed. N. Bock, S. de Blaauw, C. L. sacramentarii aliquando impetum faciant; Sacrorum conciliorum nova
Frommel, and H. Kessler (Mnchen: Hirmer, 2000) (= Rmisches et amplissima collectio, ed. J. D. Mansi, vol. 35 (1902; repr. Graz:
Jahrbuch der Bibliotheca Hertziana, Beiheft zu Band 33 [1999
2000]), especially the articles of W. Jacobsen, Altarraum und
Akademische Druck und Verlagsanstalt, 1961), col. 479. I owe
this reference to Professor Eamon Duffy, Cambridge.
Heiligengrab als liturgisches Konzept in der Auseinandersetzung 12. C. Borromeo, Istructionum Fabricae et Supellectilis Ecclesiaticae
des Nordens mit Rom, in Kunst und Liturgie im Mittelalter, pp. Libri II, Monumenta Studia Instrumenta 18, (Vatican City:
6574, and U. Nilgen, Die Bilder ber dem Altar. Triumph und Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000), lib. I, c. 13, pp. 3738.
Apsisbogenprogramme in Rom und Mittelitalien und ihr Bezug 13. See Acta Ecclesiae Mediolanensis ab eius initiis usque ad nostram
zur Liturgie, pp. 7589; W. Jacobsen, Organisationsformen aetatem, ed. A. Ratti, vol. 2 (Milan: Ex Typographia Pontificia
des Sanktuariums im sptantiken und mittelalterlichen Sancti Iosephi, 1892), col. 46.
Kirchenbau: Wechselwirkungen von Altarraum und Liturgie 14. Caeremoniale Episcoporum. Editio Princeps (1600). Edizione
aus kunsthistorischer Perspektive, in Klnische Liturgie und anastatica, Introduzione e Appendice a cura di A. M. Triacca M.
ihre Geschichte: Studien zur interdisziplinren Erforschung des Sodi, Monumenta Liturgica Concilii Tridentini 4 (Vatican City:
Gottesdienstes im Erzbistum Kln, ed. A. Gerhards and A.
Odenthal, Liturgiewissenschaftliche Quellen und Forschungen
Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000), lib. I, p. 53.
15. Jobst, Liturgia e culto (see above, n. 6), p. 121.
87 (Mnster: Aschendorff, 2000), pp. 6797; U. M. Lang, 16. Hoc autem tabernaculum conopaeo decenter opertum, atque ab
Conversi ad Dominum: Zu Geschichte und Theologie der christlichen omni alia re vacuum in altari maiori, vel in alio, quod venerationi
Gebetsrichtung, Neue Kriterien 5, 4th rev. ed. (Freiburg: Johannes, et cultui tanti Sacramenti commodius ac decentius videatur, sit
2006); S. Heid, Gebetshaltung und Ostung in frhchristlicher collocatum; Rituale Romanum. Editio Princeps (1614), edizione
Zeit, Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana 82 (2006), pp. 347404. anastatica, Introduzione e Appendice a cura di M. Sodi J. J.
2. Lo spazio e il culto: Relazioni tra edificio ecclesiale e uso liturgico Flores Arcas, Monumenta Liturgica Concilii Tridentini 5 (Vatican
dal XV al XVI secolo, ed. J. Stabenow Kunsthistorisches Institut in City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2004), p. 49 (titolo IV, c. 1, par.
Florenz/Max-Planck-Institut (Venezia: Marsilio, 2006). 16).
3. J. Stabenow, Introduzione, in Lo spazio e il culto (see above, 17. vel in ipso altari, secundum morem romanum, vel in latere sinistri
n. 2), pp. 923, at pp. 1113. Still valuable is the seminal work of
J. Braun, Der christliche Altar in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung,
chori prope altare; cited after Braun, Der christliche Altar (see above,
n. 3), p. 593.
vol. 2 (Mnchen: Alte Meister Gnther Koch, 1924), pp. 574623; 18. Cf. the exemplary study of C. Hecht, Die Glorie: Begriff, Thema,
see also M. Righetti, Storia liturgica, vol. 1 (1964; Milan: Ancora, Bildelement in der europischen Sakralkunst vom Mittelalter bis zum
1998), pp. 546553. Ausgang des Barock (Regensburg: Schnell und Steiner, 2003).
4. William Durandus, Rationale divinorum officiorum I, 2, 4, ed. A.
Davril and T. M. Thibodeau, Corpus
Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis The Dome at Christ The Redeemer Church, Houston
140, (Turnhout: Brepols, 1995), p. 30:
in cuius rei imitationem, in quibusdam
ecclesiis super altare collocatur archa seu
tabernaculum in quo corpus Domini et
reliquia reponuntur.
5. H. Caspary, Das Sakramentstabernakel
in Italien bis zum Konzil von Trient:
Gestalt, Ikonographie und Symbolik,
kultische Funktion (Mnchen: Uni-
Druck, 3, 1969), pp. 5267.
6. See C. Jobst, Liturgia e culto
dellEucaristia nel programma spaziale
della chiesa: I tabernacoli eucaristici e
la trasformazione dei presbiteri negli
scritti ecclesiastici dellepoca introno
al Concilio di Trento, in Lo spazio e il
culto (see above, n. 2), pp. 91126, at
pp. 9293: also E. Cattaneo, Influenze
veronesi nella legislazione di san Carlo
Borromeo, in Problemi di vita religiosa
in Italia nel Cinquecento: Atti del convegno
di storia della Chiesa in Italia (Bologna,
26 sett. 1985), Italia sacra 2, (Padova:
7. Et sicut oculi ancillae in manibus
dominae suae, ita eorum in circuitu mensae
domini astantium oculi, semper cum
timore, & tremore ad praecelsum, & super
STUDIO DORO LLC
omnia praeciosum sacramentum, ibi super
altare Magnum existens, in eo congaudendo
TIMELESS ART, TODAY
lachrymantes, & lachrymando devote
gaudentes & videntes, quam suavis est
dominus; Giberti, Constitutiones (1542),
titulus secundus, cap. 6, c. 7v; cited after Sacred Images & Furnishings
Jobst, Liturgia e culto (see above, n. 6),
p. 94. in Mosaic, Mural, & Gold Leaf
8. See Jobst, Liturgia e culto (see above,
n. 6), p. 98.
9. Council of Trent, Session XIII (11
Contact: Greg Haas
October 1551), canons 6 and 7; Fourth
Lateran Council (1130 November, President. Studio DOro LLC
1215), Constitutiones, 20. De chrismate et Parishioner, Sacred Heart CoCathedral
eucharistia sub sera conservanda. With studios in Houston & Rome
10. On the problem of interpreting
studiodoro@sbcglobal.net
sacrarium, see S. Mayer-Himmelheber,
Bischfliche Kunstpolitik nach dem
281-772-2130
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Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
 A r t i c l e s

T he E lusive S pire
The Cathedrals of Saint John the Baptist and Saint Finbar
Ralph Muldrow

T
he golden glow of late-day sunlight in 1821 came to
bathes the hand-carved stars on Charleston to
the ruddy brownstone ashlar serve the diocese
of Saint John the Baptist Cathedral in of the Carolinas
Charleston, SC. The astral allusions and Georgia;
merge with the robust pinnacles lining he probably
the sides of this fine cathedral, designed brought the idea
by the prolific nineteenth-century church of honoring Saint
architect Patrick Keely. As the pinnacles Finbar with him.
and buttresses march down the side of Patrick Keely,
the church, we come to Broad Street, born in 1816 in
where there is space enough to stand County Tipper-
back and view the tower of the church, ary, Ireland, im-
which climbs to a great heightover migrated to the
eighty feetand yet still longs to regain United States in
much more height. 1842 and quickly
An earlier church on the site was became one of
called the Cathedral of St Finbar, the major archi-
named for an Irish Saint who was the tects of Catho-
son of an artisan father and a lady of lic churches in
the Royal Irish court. While living in America.1 He
a monastery in Kilkenny, he was given followed in the
the name Fionnbharr, meaning white footsteps of Au-
head, because of his light-colored hair. gustus Welby
He became the founder of an abbey Northmore
that became the City of Cork, Ireland. Pugin, author

Photo: Glenn Keyes Architect

The Right Reverend John England was
consecrated in Cork Cathedral and
of Contrasts, or a
Parallel Between
the Noble Ed-
ifices of the
Fourteenth
and Fifteenth
Centuries, The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, designed by Patrick Keely
and similar and constructed in 1890, will at last be completed by a spire
Buildings of designed by Glenn Keyes Architect.
the Present
Day, Showing the Present Decay of trusted with the design of the cathe-
Taste (1836) and True Principles of dral, then called the Cathedral of Saint
Pointed or Christian Architecture John the Baptist and Saint Finbar. 3
(1841). Pugin was swimming Bishop England was succeeded in
against the tide of industrializa- 1844 by the Right Reverend Ignatius
tion with his zeal for Gothic ar- Reynolds, who built a brownstone
chitecture as an iconic connection church. The cathedral was completed
to a better, more graceful time in 1854, and it was designed by Keely.
and much more appropriate for a Sadly, the cathedral only survived a
Christian nation.2 few years before being ruined in the
Bishop England purchased the great Charleston fire of 1861; the Civil
Photo: Ralph Muldrow

A lack of funds caused the spire atop the entry
tower to be deleted from construction.
site of a much-loved garden in War and its aftermath caused the ruin
Charleston called New Vaux- of the cathedral to stand for decades.4
hall and built a wooden structure The ruined church had a very tall spire
there to house the church during before the great fire. The church stood
the planning and fundraising for a as a ruin until the great earthquake of
grand cathedral. Bishop England 1886 toppled the remains of the tower.
did not live to see his hopes come A new cathedral was begun in
to fruition. Patrick Keely was en- 1890, again by Keely, but it took until

Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 35

A r t i c l e s

merous other weight epoxied wood inspired by ship-

examples, had to building technology. The new spire
forego the spire will double the height of the church
designed by to 166 feet and place it in a league with
Keely as a cost- other tall churches such as Saint Mi-
saving measure; chaels, adding another spire to the
drawings for his skyline of the Holy City, as Charles-
design have not ton is nicknamed. The design was pre-
been found. But sented to the City of Charleston Board
very recently, of Architectural Review and was well
there has been received.
an initiative by The spire will cap the churchs
the church to capital campaign, which has already
raise funds, in- included restoration of the stained-
cluding targeted glass windows and has had ongoing
funds to build restoration of its brownstone cladding.
the steeple. The The brownstone was completely re-
Charleston firm pointed and failing areas were treated
of Glenn Keyes individually. Brownstone expert Ivan
Architects has Mijer consulted on the restoration. The
designed a fine brownstone cladding is six inches deep
eighty-five-foot- over brick masonry, and some pieces
high spire that are delaminating, as brownstone is
will meet rel- apt to do. Replacement or repairs are
evant modern being made, depending on the situa-
c o de s . Prior tion. Jahn patching mortars are being
attempts have used in some areas, whereas Dutchman
gone awry, in- replacements are called for in other
cluding an im- areas. Where the brownstone is in
pressive spire tension, pigmented cast stone is being
design by one used.7
of Charlestons The proudest restoration element
best-known ar- will be the spire, not seen in over a
chitects, Albert hundred years. The innovative ap-
Simons, in the proach of Glenn Keyes and his design
1930s. Now team will allow for the much hoped
that the church for, but quite elusive, spire for the Ca-
has managed to thedral of John the Baptist.
Photo: Ralph Muldrow

raise the funds,

the design must W
take into account
current codes
and require- Ralph Muldrow is an architect and the
Prior attempts to finish the tower have gone awry, including ments, as well Simons Professor of Architecture and
an impressive spire design by one of Charlestons best-known as the less than Historic Preservation at the College of
architects, Albert Simons, in the 1930s. optimum soil- Charleston in Charleston, SC. His design
bearing capacity. and preservation work includes numerous
1907 to complete the much anticipated The firm of Glenn Keyes Architect, churches.
church. Like its predecessor, this new with engineering consulting by John Prof. Muldrow would like to thank Glenn
building was clad in brownstone from Moore of 4SE engineers, has created a Keyes and Adrienne Jacobsen for their as-
Connecticut. A lack of funds, however, filigree-like structure that is built with sistance in the preparation of this article.
caused the spire atop the entry tower to a core structure made of steel, with email: muldrowr@cofc.edu
be deleted from construction. Yet the engineered laminated plywood forms
cathedral was not unassumingthe and copper cladding. The result is in 1. Jeffrey Howe, Houses of Worship: An Identification Guide to the
interior was built with Portland free- keeping with the tradition of the spire History and Styles of American Religious Architecture (San Diego:
stone and the precedent for the stylistic while meeting the required 135 mile- Thunder Bay Press, 2003).
2. Michael Lewis, The Gothic Revival (New York, Thames and
details was fourteenth-century English per-hour wind resistance, as well as Hudson, 2002), p. 86.
Gothic, known as decorative Gothic.5 maintaining a strong connection to 3. John Poston, The Buildings of Charleston (Columbia, SC,
The existing truncated entry tower is the existing tower. This structure is University of South Carolina Press, 1997).
4. Ibid, p.209.
over eighty feet tall. designed to be much lighter in weight 5. The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, circular on the
Keely designed over six hundred than a stone spire would have been.6 history of the church.
churches during his career and over The new steeple will be fabricated 6. Interview with Glenn Keyes, architect, July 2008.
7. Ibid.
twenty cathedrals. This one, like nu- off site in several pieces using light-

36 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009

 A r t i c l e s

B earers of the H eavenly J erusalem

Vatican II and Development in Church Architecture
Denis McNamara

W
hen I give presentations
in parishes or teach in the
classroom, I am often asked
many intelligent questions by students,
building committee members, architects,
pastors, and parishioners. These
questions have given me great insight
into the needs and desires of the People
of God. The questions that follow are
among those most frequently asked, and
shorter summary answers are provided
here for the reader's convenience.
decades. In recent years, designs for
new traditional Catholic churches have
been appearing with greater frequency.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe
in La Crosse, WI, the university chapel
at Thomas Aquinas College, CA, and
the monastery of the Benedictines in
Clear Creek, OK, have proven that tra-
ditional architecture is possible today.
Scores of other projects are doing the
same. The process of reaching back-
of legitimate traditional design.
The most important consideration
in building a traditional church is to
hire an architect who specializes in
traditional work. Many architects will
promise something traditional to a
church client by adding a few pointed
windows or extra moldings to an oth-
erwise modernist design. This sort of
design should be completely rejected
or else the result will be the strip mall
classical or Disneyland Gothic.

Didnt the Second Vatican Council Isnt using traditional styles for
do away with traditional, beautiful architecture just copying the past?
churches? What about noble Isnt there room for new development
simplicity? in church architecture?
The documents of the Second There is always room for devel-
Vatican Council relating to art and opment in Catholic architecture, just
architecture are in complete continu- as there is always room for devel-
ity with the Churchs great tradition, opment of doctrine as we come to
even as they set certain guidelines for understand better the revelation of
the liturgical renewal. The document Christ. But simply absorbing current
on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum trends in theology is not an answer;
Concilium, asked that sacred art be they must always be tested against
composed of signs and symbols of the inherited teaching of the Church.
heavenly realities that were meant The same is true in architecture.
to be expressive of Gods boundless The Church welcomes new technol-
beauty (SC, 122). It also asked that ogy and styles of the current day,
Photo: Denis McNamara

all sacred arts be in accordance with provided that they bring due honor
faith, piety, and cherished traditional and reverence to the rites (SC, 123).
laws (SC, 122). It is interesting to Using new artistic and architec-
note that the Council never used the tural conventions simply because
phrase noble simplicity to refer to they are new does not always engage
liturgical art and architecture. It ac- Dedicated in 2009, St. Michael the Archangel a proper level of theological inquiry.
tually asked that churches strive for Church in Leawood, Kansas exemplifies the use Similarly, using old forms just to be
noble beauty (SC, 124). The term of traditional designs in new churches and of antiquarian is not adequate either.
noble simplicity was mentioned in signs and symbols of heavenly realities. New traditional architecture should
the Councils documents in relation never be an exact copy of an old
to the rites (SC, 34). So, beauty is in fact ward to seek out high style, star ar- building. The past serves as a treasury
the goal of new church architecture, ac- chitect modernism (despite its use from which to draw, and we should
cording to the documents of the Second at the cathedrals in Los Angeles and not be afraid either to depart from it
Vatican Council. Oakland) has emerged as a strik- where necessary or use it quite faith-
ingly outdated mode of building new fully when appropriate.
Is it possible to build traditional churches.
churches today? Can we afford it? Does Traditional architecture need not Since the people are the living stones
the architectural and artistic talent be more expensive than other quality of the Church, why would we need
exist? ways of building. Cutting-edge mod- anything other than a simple meeting
Since the advent of postmodernism ernism is often extraordinarily expen- hall for Mass?
in the 1960s, the architecture world sive because of its demands for custom The people are indeed the living
has been reexamining the place of tra- materials. Traditional architecture stones of the earthly Church. However,
ditional forms for new work. A large can be elevated with more elaborate the documents of the Second Vatican
and flourishing movement generally designs and richer materials, or it can Council remind us that the Sacred
known as New Classicism has been op- be reduced with simpler designs and Liturgy is an exercise of the priest-
erating successfully for more than two materials, which nonetheless partake ly office of Jesus Christ, head and
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 37
A r t i c l e s
Photo: Denis McNamara
This mural designed and executed by Felix
Lieftuchter in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in
Wheeling, West Virgina, shows a foretaste
of the glory of heaven and the Wedding
Feast of the Lamb.
members (SC, 7), where we take part
in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy
which is celebrated in the holy city of
Jerusalem toward which we journey as
pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the
right hand of God, a minister of the
holies and of the true tabernacle; we
sing a hymn to the Lords glory with
all the warriors of the heavenly army
(SC, 8). The job of liturgical art and ar-
chitecture is to make a building that
not only serves the needs of the earthly
congregation, but also allows them,
through the use of sacred images, to
see the full community of the liturgy:
angels, saints, the Trinity, and even the
souls in purgatory. The building itself
is a sacrament of the city of heaven, de-
scribed in scripture as orderly, perfect-
ed, radiant, gem-covered, and golden.
A church building, therefore, aids in
our full, conscious, and active partici-
pation by showing us by way of fore-
taste the very realities in which we are
participating. The church building not
only shows us our earthly reality, but
allows us to glimpse the realities of our
destiny at the end of time when God
has completely restored the world.
The upper room of the Last Supper was
a simple place for the Passover meal.
Jesus never wore fancy vestments or
38
drank from gold cups. Why should we Didnt the early Christians worship
do this in the liturgy? Shouldnt we in simple private homes? Why, then,
give money to the poor instead? should we build elaborate public
Because the Sacred Liturgy is in buildings?
one sense a memorial of the Last Though scriptural evidence speaks
Supper, many people often think that of the earliest Christians breaking
the liturgy is supposed to imitate the bread in their homes, it also speaks
earthly lifetime of Christ. However, it of them returning frequently to the
should be remembered that at the In- temple for prayer. A number of the
carnation, Christ veiled his divinity important discourses and cures in the
and power with only a few exceptions, Acts of the Apostles happen within
such as his miracles and the Transfigu- the temple courts. Because Herod was
ration. The Catholic liturgy is not pri- a client-king of the Roman Empire, the
marily a recall of the earthly Christ, but temple was a grand, high-style archi-
a foretaste of the heavenly Christ of the tectural ensemble of the type common
Second Coming. The fourth-century in imperial Rome. Christ and the
bishop Saint Cyril of Jerusalem wrote apostles walked on the temple mount
of Christ: At the first coming he was amid Corinthian columns, classical
wrapped in swaddling clothes in a moldings, and a large basilican hall
manger. At the second coming he will called the Royal Stoa, which contained
be clothed in light as in a garment. In wood carvings and looked almost in-
the first coming he endured the cross; distinguishable from early churches
... in the second coming he will be in in fourth-century Rome. Christianity
glory, escorted by an army of angels. was not only born into Israel, but also
We look then beyond the first coming into the Roman Empire, well before
and await the second. The earthly the emperor Constantine converted to
liturgy recalls the shadows of the Last Christianity and made it the religion of
Supper and Passover, but more impor- the empire.
tantly, it serves as an image of the re- But even if Christianity had been
alities of the heavenly Wedding Feast born in a cultural vacuum, it would
of the Lamb. The earthly chalice is still need to develop an art and archi-
not only a recall of the cup of the Last tecture that could serve as sacramental
Supper, but of the glorious, golden, bearers of the heavenly Jerusalem. So to
radiant feast of heaven. Similarly, the revert to building churches as houses
church building should show us the today is to embrace a false antiquarian-
order and perfection of heaven. ism that says older is always better.
Building beautiful buildings should The church building is not primarily a
never be a substitute for feeding the house, but rather a ritually public and
poor and nursing the sick, but it is not sacramental building where the many
an either/or question. The poor and gather to anticipate the glory and per-
the sick are also expected to participate fection of heaven.
in the liturgy, and they deserve access
to the foretaste of heavenly reality as What are the ideas we should consider
much as anyone.
Moreover, the
poor are the
least likely to
have beautiful
homes and per-
sonal artwork. A
beautiful church
gives them a
refuge of beauty,
which they need
Photo: Denis McNamara
more urgent-
ly than do the
wealthy. Serving
the poor means
serving their
human need for This reconstruction of the Temple Mount shows how classical
liturgical beauty architecture was a part of the designs of religious structures used
as well as food in the earliest days of the Church.
and shelter.
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
 A r t i c l e s

when thinking about the design of the which is why the priest kisses it as he came back into use. To say ambo is
altar? enters the church. To kiss the altar is to to use the very language of active par-
In recent decades, the altar in a kiss Christ. ticipation in the public proclamation
Catholic church has usually been de- As a sacramental sign of Christ, the of scripture that the Second Vatican
scribed as a table of the community. altar is treated in a way that makes its Council desired.
In one sense, this is true. A Catholic Christ-ness most evident. It is made At the ambo we are spiritually nour-
altar is indeed the table around which of stone and is affixed to the floor, sig- ished with the revealed word of God,
the earthly congregation gathers to nifying the permanence and eternity of just as at the altar we are nourished par
worship God. But the altar is also a sac- the Son of God. It is marked with five excellence with the Body and Blood of
rament, a visible sign of otherwise in- small engraved crosses indicating the Christ. For that reason, an ambo should
visible realities. And the prime reality five wounds of his body. When the altar exhibit a clear relationship in design
is this: the altar is the glorified table of is dedicated by the bishop, it will again and materials with the altar itself.
our future heavenly banquet as well as be treated as a body: sprinkled with
a symbol of Christ himself. holy water like a Baptism and rubbed What should we consider when
The book of Revelation tells us that with sacred oils in an anointing, which planning our baptistry?
the future holds for us an eternal cel- indicates Christ as the Anointed One In the early centuries of the Church,
ebration with God and the heavenly of God. It is then dressed in white baptistries were often buildings sepa-
beings when the rescue mission of linen altar cloths, signifying the white rate from the main body of a church.
God is complete. God will be all in robes of heavenly beings, while at the Those who were not yet baptized
all and his divine presence will com- same time showing that the table is were not yet considered citizens of
pletely restore everything. the Church, and as such re-
The results of the Falldeath, ceived their Baptisms outside
sorrow, suffering, sinwill be the church, then processed
overcome and God will be fully into the church building in
reunited to his creation once triumph. Many such baptis-
again; the two will become tries exist to this day in the
one. For this reason, the heav- great churches of the world. As
enly celebration is called the centuries passed, Baptism was
Wedding Feast of the Lamb. often reduced to a sprinkling
Christ, the Bridegroom, has of water on the head of a child,
become one with the Church, and fonts began to shrink and

Photo: Denis McNamara

his Bride. The heavenly cel- lose their architectural signifi-
ebration that ensues is not cance. In the twentieth century,
completely unlike the wedding Baptism was understood anew
receptions we have on earth, as a sacrament of birth, death,
where festivity reigns and and ritual washing. The full-
we share a banquet eaten on The altar at St. Michael the Archangel, before it is ness of the sign was seen as
a beautifully decorated table, dedicated, awaits the reception of relics. As a symbol of better expressed in immersing
dressed with linens, candles, Christ, the altar is built with materials that signify the (immersion) the catechumen in
and flowers. But the altar sig- permanence, perfection, and sacrifice of the Son of God. water rather than a mere sprin-
nifies a feast of eternal, cosmic, kling (infusion), and the notion
and heavenly importance: Christs prepared for the greatest feast ever cel- of larger fonts in which adults could
mission to re-join God and creation is ebrated. From this table is served God walk became popular. In the years after
complete! So our worship is a celebra- himself in the Eucharist. the Second Vatican Council, a greater
tion, a doing on earth what is done in emphasis was placed on Baptism as an
heaven. The sacred meal of the liturgy, What issues should we consider when entry into the ecclesial community, and
then, happens on a table in a church designing our ambo? so baptistries became more prominent
building, which indicates eternal im- The origins of the ambo trace back and were often located within the body
portance, permanence, radiance, and to the early Church where it was set of the church, sometimes at the rear of
perfection. We become accustomed to apart and reserved for the public proc- the churchs central aisle. While this
heaven by doing the things of heaven, lamation of the scriptures and the sub- made baptistries more visible, it made
even while still on earth. sequent preaching on those readings. it awkward for funeral and bridal
However, the celebration of Mass An ambo, then, is more than a lectern processions. Because many pastors
is also a sacrificial feast. It therefore or pulpit; it is something of a sanctu- wanted their baptistries to be visible at
requires not only a table, but also an ary for the word of God. As such, it the Easter Vigil, fonts were then often
altar as a place of offering. The feast is is not only functional, but also a sign located in the front of the church.
hosted by Christ whose body is simul- to those who see it that something im- There is no one correct place to put
taneously the place of offering (the portant happens within it. Although it a baptistry in a church, but the place-
altar), the offerer (the priest), and that dropped out of use in the course of the ment should adhere to several princi-
which is offered (the victim). Christ Churchs history to be replaced primar- ples. First, the location of the baptistry
then is the truest altar. Our earthly altar ily by a preaching pulpit in the years should suggest entering the church
conversely signifies Christ and gives us before the Second Vatican Council, the as one receives this sacrament of Initia-
the old expression the altar is Christ, proper ambo was revived and the term tion. The recent trend of putting baptis-
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009 39
A r t i c l e s

tries in the sanctuary behind Though highly influen-

or next to the altar should tial in the late 1970s through
by all means be avoided; the 1990s (and even today
Baptism signifies the entry in some circles), this is no
into the church, not the longer the prevailing notion
final destination. Second, of church architecture. In
since Baptisms in large par- fact, the Catechism of the
ishes usually involve many Catholic Church specifically
family members and mul- states that churches are not
tiple children, giving ad- simply gathering places, but
equate seating and good signify and make visible the

Photo: Denis McNamara

sight lines to the baptistry Church living in this place,
is important, though not es- the dwelling of God with
sential. Third, since Baptism men reconciled and united
is a preparation for fulfill- in Christ (CCC, 1181). In
ment in the Eucharist, some other words, a church is an
connection with the altar The architecture of Cincinnatis Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains, image that shows the reali-
is desirable, either in sight renovated by Edward Schulte in the 1950s, reveals the presence of ties of the heavenly future
lines or materials. the heavenly beings in the liturgy. when Gods reconciliation
The baptistry is a place of with humanity is complete.
important sacramental activity, so its times and was particularly eager to be In the late 1960s and forward, then,
materials and design should announce a leaven for the world after the Great many people who accepted this redefi-
that fact. The fiberglass tub baptistries Depression, two world wars, the Holo- nition of the church as a meetinghouse
seen in recent years should absolutely caust, and the use of nuclear weapons. for the communitys sacred meal then
be rejected. The octagonal shape of the While the Church sought to be an an- saw old altars, altarpieces, statues, and
baptistry connects to a longstanding tidote to the destruction of the early murals as relics of the old way of
tradition of symbolizing the eighth twentieth century, many strains of the understanding the Church. In order to
day, the day after Gods seventh day art world moved toward a nihilistic or best express the new notion of a church
of creation, signifying the eternal rest mechanistic understanding of technol- as meeting house, they removed and
of the glorified paradise of heaven. ogy as the answer to modern problems. destroyed many precious artifacts.
Since Baptism provides the entry point In the elite circles of architectural phi- Under Pope Benedict, the Church has
to that paradise, the architecture itself losophy and practice, the machine and come to understand better the Second
should give a foretaste of that glory. But the factory (and their materials of glass, Vatican Council as a call for reform
the glory of Baptism arises out of the steel and concrete) became the model within a hermeneutic of continuity
symbolism of the baptistry as womb for new buildings. Though this mecha- rather than rupture, and people are
and tomb. The centralized plan of the nistic understanding of buildings was learning to see the value of many tradi-
baptistry harkens back to the ancient often foreign to sacramental theology, tional forms in the Church once again.
form of tombs, which were often round building a church that embraced the However, it should be noted that an
buildings based on the shape of burial modern world was often seen as a good uncritical look at the past should be
mounds. Baptism provides the entry by individual pastors and bishops. discouraged. There were in fact many
to new life, but only as a death to Only later did people start to see that reforms that were needed before the
the old self, where one descends down some of the principles of modernism Council, and careful theological exami-
several steps, as if descending into needed to be rethought for ecclesiasti- nation is required in restoring old
burial. After the ritual cleansing with cal use. We are now living in that post- forms in order to avoid simply repeat-
baptismal water, the newly baptized modern time when many churches are ing preconciliar excesses.
person then rises up the steps on the re-engaging with beauty and tradition
other side, indicating a rebirth as a new once again. W
creation, out of the tomb, which is si- Interestingly, after the Second
multaneously like coming forth from Vatican Council, a strain of theology Denis R. McNamara, Ph.D. is an architec-
a mothers womb, born again, in the emerged in the Church, which rede- tural historian specializing in American
proper sense of the term. fined churches as meetinghouses church architecture. He is the assistant di-
and found its inspiration in the so- rector and faculty member at the Liturgical
Why did we build so many ugly called house churches of the time of the Institute of the University of Saint Mary of
churches after the Second Vatican apostles. Although this sort of uncriti- the Lake / Mundelein Seminary, and serves
Council? Why did we take out the cal antiquarianism had been widely as a liturgical design consultant. The
marble high altars from older churches condemned by Church authorities over above is excerpted from his forthcoming
and paint over the murals? the centuries, including Pope Pius XII book on church architecture, due out from
In the early and mid twentieth in Mediator Dei, many Catholic theolo- Liturgy Training Publictions, Chicago in
century, the culture still had a great gians nonetheless argued that a church Fall 2009. Dr. McNamara published his
trust in modernity and its notions of building had no import other than as a first book Heavenly City: the Archi-
progress. The Church, too, desired to place of comfortable hospitality, a skin tectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago
prove that the Faith could find expres- for liturgical action, which need not (LTP) in 2005.
sion in our own day as it had in other look like anything else past or present. email: denismcnamara@yahoo.com

40 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009


A ll G reat W orks of A rt are an E piphany of G od
From Pope Benedict XVI's Dialogue in Bressanone
O
n August 6, 2008, during his two-
week retreat at the seminary near
Bressanone, Italya town at the
foot of the Alps near the Austrian border
and a long-time vacation locale for
Benedict XVI and his brother Monsignor
Georg Ratzingerthe Holy Father met
with four hundred priests of the Diocese
of Bolzano-Bressanone at the Cathedral
of S. Maria Assunta for an open
question-and-answer session. The
questions on beauty and the protection
of creation and the pontiffs responses
are reproduced below.
Question: Holy Father, my name
is Willibald Hopfgartner, I am a
Franciscan and I work in a school and
in various areas of guidance of my
order. In your discourse at Regens-
burg you stressed the substantial link
between the divine Spirit and human
reason. On the other hand, you also
always underlined the importance
of art and beauty, of aesthetics. Con-
sequently, should not the aesthetic
experience of faith in the context of
the Church, for proclamation and for
the liturgy be ceaselessly reaffirmed
alongside the conceptual dialogue
about God (in theology)?
Answer: Thank you. Yes, I think
these two things go hand in hand:
reason, precision, honesty in the re-
flection on the truthand beauty.
Reason that intended to strip itself of
beauty would be halved, it would be
a blinded reason. It is only when they
are united that both these things form
the whole, and precisely for faith this
union is important. Faith must continu-
ously face the challenges of thought in
this epoch, so that it does not seem a
sort of irrational legend that we keep
alive but which really is a response to
the great questions, and not merely a
habit but the truthas Tertullian once
said. In his First Letter, St. Peter wrote
the phrase that medieval theologians
took as a legitimation, as it were, a re-
sponsibility for their theological task:
Always be prepared to make a defense
to any one who calls you to account for
the hope that is in youan apologetic
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
for the logos of hope, that is, a transfor-
mation of the logos, the reason for hope
in apologetics, in response to men. He
was obviously convinced of the fact
that the faith was the logos, that it was
a reason, a light that came from cre-
ative Reason rather than a wonderful
concoction, a fruit of our thought. And
this is why it is universal and for this
The Cathedral of Bressanone where Benedict
XVI met with local clergy on August 6, 2008.
reason can be communicated to all.
Yet, precisely this creative logos is
not only a technical logoswe shall
return to this aspect with another
answerit is broad, it is a logos that
is love, hence such as to be expressed
in beauty and in good. Also, I did once
say that to me art and the saints are
the greatest apologetic for our faith.
The arguments contributed by reason
are unquestionably important and in-
dispensable, but then there is always
dissent somewhere. On the other hand,
if we look at the saints, this great lu-
minous trail on which God passed
through history, we see that there truly
D o c u m e n t a t i o n
is a force of good which resists the mil-
lennia; there truly is the light of light.
Likewise, if we contemplate the beau-
ties created by faith, they are simply, I
would say, the living proof of faith. If
I look at this beautiful cathedralit is
a living proclamation! It speaks to us
itself, and on the basis of the cathedrals
beauty, we succeed in visibly proclaim-
ing God, Christ and all his mysteries:
Here they have acquired a form and
look at us. All the great works of art,
cathedralsthe Gothic cathedrals
and the splendid Baroque church-
esthey are all a luminous sign of
God and therefore truly a manifes-
tation, an epiphany of God. And in
Christianity it is precisely a matter
of this epiphany: that God became
a veiled Epiphanyhe appears and
is resplendent. We have just heard
the organ in its full splendor. I think
the great music born in the Church
makes the truth of our faith audible
and perceivable: from Gregorian
chant to the music of the cathedrals,
to Palestrina and his epoch, to Bach
and hence to Mozart and Bruckner
and so forth. In listening to all these
worksthe Passions of Bach, his
Photo: L'Osservatore Romano
Mass in B flat, and the great spiri-
tual compositions of 16th-century
polyphony, of the Viennese School,
of all music, even that of minor com-
poserswe suddenly understand:
It is true! Wherever such things are
born, the Truth is there. Without an
intuition that discovers the true cre-
ative center of the world such beauty
cannot be born. For this reason I think
we should always ensure that the two
things are together; we should bring
them together. When, in our epoch, we
discuss the reasonableness of faith, we
discuss precisely the fact that reason
does not end where experimental dis-
coveries endit does not finish in
positivism; the theory of evolution
sees the truth but sees only half the
truth: It does not see that behind it is
the Spirit of the creation. We are fight-
ing to expand reason, and hence for a
reason, which, precisely, is also open to
the beautiful and does not have to set
it aside as something quite different
41
D o c u m e n t a t i o n

and unreasonable. Christian art is a ra-
tional artlet us think of Gothic art or
of the great music or even, precisely, of
our own Baroque artbut it is the ar-
tistic expression of a greatly expanded
reason, in which heart and reason en-
counter each other. This is the point.
I believe that in a certain way this is
proof of the truth of Christianity: Heart
and reason encounter one another,
beauty and truth converge, and the
more that we ourselves succeed in
living in the beauty of truth, the more
that faith will be able to return to being
creative in our time too, and to express
itself in a convincing form of art.
So, dear Father Hopfgartner, thank
you for your question; let us
seek to ensure that the two
categories, the aesthetic and
the noetic (intellectual), are
united and that in this great
breadth the entirety and
depth of our faith may be
made manifest.
Question: Holy Father,
my name is Karl Golser, I
the world in its totality? Twenty-three ceive it, we almost hear itand awaits
years ago Christians were accusedI human beings who will preserve it in
do not know if this accusation is still accordance with God. The brutal con-
heldof being the ones truly respon- sumption of Creation begins where
sible for the destruction of Creation God is not, where matter is henceforth
because the words contained in Gene- only material for us, where we our-
sissubdue the earthwere said to selves are the ultimate demand, where
have led to that arrogance with regard the whole is merely our property and
to creation whose consequences we are we consume it for ourselves alone. And
reaping today.I think we must learn the wasting of creation begins when
again to understand this accusation we no longer recognize any need supe-
in all its falsity: as long as the earthrior to our own, but see only ourselves.
was seen as Gods creation, the task of It begins when there is no longer any
subduing it was never intended as concept of life beyond death, where in
an order to enslave it but rather as thethis life we must grab hold of every-
task of being guardians of creation and thing and possess life as intensely as
developing its gifts; of actively collabo-
possible, where we must possess all
that is possible to possess.
Thus, I believe we must
strive with all the means
we have to present faith in
public, especially where
a sensitivity for it already
exists. And I think that the
sensation that the world
may be slipping away
because it is we ourselves
who are chasing it away

Photo: L'Osservatore Romano

am a professor of moral the- and feeling oppressed by
ology here in Bressanone the problems of Creation,
and also director of the In- afford us a suitable oppor-
stitute for Justice, Peace tunity in which our faith can
and the Preservation of the speak publicly and make
Creation. I am pleased to itself felt as a propositional
recall the period in which I Pope Benedict XVI listens to a question at Bressanones Cathedral initiative. Indeed, it is not
was able to work with you on August 6, 2008. merely a question of dis-
at the Congregation for the covering technologies that
Doctrine of the Faith. What can we do rating in Gods work ourselves, in the prevent the damage, even though it is
to increase the sense of responsibility evolution that he ordered in the world important to find alternative sources of
for creation in the life of our Christian so that the gifts of Creation might be energy, among other things. Yet, none
communities? What can we do in order appreciated rather than trampled upon of this will suffice unless we ourselves
to view Creation and Redemption as and destroyed. find a new way of living, a discipline
more closely united? If we observe what came into being of making sacrifices, a discipline of the
around monasteries, how in those recognition of others to whom creation
Answer: Thank you very much, dear places small paradises, oases of cre- belongs as much as it belongs to us
Prof. Golser. You have thus touched on ation were and continue to be born, it who may more easily make use of it; a
the theme of Creation and Redemption becomes evident that these were not discipline of responsibility with regard
and I think that this indissoluble bond only words. Rather, wherever the Cre- to the future of others and to our own
should be given new prominence. In ators Word was properly understood, future, because it is a responsibility in
recent decades the doctrine of Creation wherever life was lived with the re- the eyes of the One who is our Judge
had almost disappeared from theology, deeming Creator, people strove to save and as such is also Redeemer but, truly,
it was almost imperceptible. We are creation and not to destroy it. Chapter also our Judge.
now aware of the damage that this has 8 of the Letter to the Romans also fits Consequently, I think in any case
caused. The Redeemer is the Creator into this context. It says that the whole that the two dimensionsCreation and
and if we do not proclaim God in his of Creation has been groaning in travail Redemption, earthly life and eternal
full grandeuras Creator and as Re- because of the bondage to which it has life, responsibility for the Creation and
deemerwe also diminish the value been subjected, awaiting the revela- responsibility for others and for the
of the Redemption. Indeed, if God has tion of Gods sons: it will feel liberated futureshould be juxtaposed. I also
no role in Creation, if he is relegated when creatures, men and women who think it is our task to intervene clearly
merely to a historical context, how are children of God, treat it according and with determination on public
can he truly understand the whole of to Gods perspective. I believe that we opinion.
our life? How will he be able to bring can establish exactly this as a reality W
salvation to man in his entirety and to today. Creation is groaningwe per-

42 Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009


A L ife
R alph A dams C ram
The Architecture of Ralph
Adams Cram and His Office,
by Ethan Anthony. New
York: W. W. Norton, 2007.
256 pp., 200 illus. ISBN
9780393731040. $60.00.
Reviewed by Michael Lewis
T
he historian and the
artist bring different
questions to a figure
like Ralph Adams Cram.
The historian wants to
understand what social and
cultural forces compelled
a modern businessman-architect,
practicing in the twentieth century,
to make buildings in the style of the
fourteenth; the artist merely wants
to know if they are any good. Do his
buildings livelive in the artistic sense
or are they merely clever writing in a
dead language, like someone writing
Latin verse today? If the answer is that
his buildings do not live, then there is
hardly any point in trying to answer the
first question.
From the formation of his firm in
1889 to his death in 1942, Cram was
Americas most distinguished Gothic
revivalist. His works include New
Yorks still-unfinished Cathedral of
Saint John the Divine, the United States
Military Academy at West Point, and
a good deal of Princeton University,
along with some five hundred other
buildings and projects. This massive
output seems to have deterred schol-
ars and, with the exception of Crams
own charming My Life in Architec-
ture (1936), there is no comprehen-
sive account of his career or life. All
the more reason, then, to rejoice at the
publication of Ethan Anthonys hand-
some new monograph. At last we have
an accurate catalogue raisonn of all
of the works, painstakingly compiled
from the records of Crams successor
firm (which Anthony heads). The book
permits us finally to take the measure
of the architect in full.
Born in 1863, Cram spent five years
learning architecture in Boston in the
office of Rotch and Tilden, followed by
several study trips to Europe. During
a Christmas visit to Rome , the splen-
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
in A rchitecture
and H is O ffice
dor of Mass in
Saint Peters over-
whelmed him and
he convertednot
to Catholicism, an
inconceivable step
for a New Hamp-
shire Unitarian in
1886but to Epis-
copalianism. Upon
his return he es-
tablished his firm,
practicing with a
series of partners,
the most brilliant of
whom was the mer-
curial Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue.
In the early years of their collabora-
tion, Cram and Goodhue were literary
aesthetes, producing whimsical books
and superbly rendered architectural
fantasies. The dabbling ended in 1902
with the commission for West Point,
which raised them to the first rank of
American architects and forced a pecu-
liar change in their mode of work. The
terms of the project obliged them to
open an office in New York, managed
by Goodhue, who had to learn to col-
laborate at long distance with Cram
in Boston. Cram would work out the
plan and the rough massing, which
he passed on to Goodhue, who would
then shape and model the visible en-
velope of the building. The division of
responsibility brought out the particu-
lar strengths of each: Crams inspired
planning and Goodhues feeling for the
poetry of silhouette and surface.
In large measure it was the interplay
between these two rather different per-
sonalities that gave the firm its creative
tension and saved it from mere ar-
chaeological precocity. Anthony makes
clear just how different their personal
hands were by comparing several
designs where Cram and Goodhue
proposed a different epidermis, as it
were, for the same architectural body.
(Unfortunately, these pairs are repeat-
edly published on back-to-back pages,
making side-by-side comparison im-
possible.) Although the partners quar-
reled and parted in 1913, Cram never
denied the genius of Goodhue, who
never swerved from his vital original-
ity, he wrote following Goodhues un-
B o o k R e v i e w
timely death in 1924, while I suppose I
represented the reactionary tendency.
The crack about reactionary
tendencies was not entirely fair, for as
a Gothic fanatic Cram was unusually
open-minded. He was the first important
American architect to study seriously
the architecture of Japan, publishing his
Impressions of Japanese Architecture (1905),
as well as designing Tsuda University
in Hokkaido (1919). Looking at The
Architecture of Ralph Adams Cram, one is
struck by how stylistically variegated
the work actually is. Cram lacked the
architectural ego of Goodhue, and he was
happy to delegate design control to his
job captains, such as Alexander Hoyle,
who was called forward whenever
clients wanted something colonial.
Only in two respects does The Ar-
chitecture of Ralph Adams Cram fall
short. The usefulness of the catalogue
is sadly compromised by skimpiness:
the entries give only the location of the
project, a job number, and whether the
project is academic or ecclesiastical. For
example, the scholar wanting to see
what Cram did at Williams College,
my home institution, would find only
a listing of job numbers for seven aca-
demic buildings; he would have no
way of knowing that these comprised
three dormitories, a library, an alumni
hall, a theater, and a power plant. Given
that the firm is intact and possesses
complete records of these projects, it
would have been easy to provide more
detailed entries. Also distressing is the
haphazard bibliography, which omits
some of Crams most important texts,
including Impressions of Japanese Archi-
tecture and his coauthored monograph
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (1925).
Do Crams buildings live? The
question goes beyond the scope of
this review, but nowwith the long
overdue publication of this elegant and
thoughtful monographwe are finally
able to begin answering it.
W
Michael J. Lewis is Faison-Pierson-Stod-
dard Professor of Art at Williams College.
His most recent book is American Art
and Architecture (2006).
email: mlewis@williams.edu
43
B o o k R e v i e w
A S ense
F rom M eetinghouse
From Meetinghouse to Megachurch:
A Material and Cultural History,
by Anne C. Loveland and Otis B.
Wheeler. Columbia and London:
University of Missouri Press, 2003.
307 pp. ISBN 0826214800. $65.
Reviewed by Lauren Beaupre
D
o the increasingly
ubiquitous evangelical
megachurches that dot
the national landscape represent
something new in either Protestant
architecture or American culture?
In their book, From Meetinghouse to
Megachurch: A Material and Cultural
History, authors Anne C. Loveland and
Otis B. Wheeler respond to this question
with an emphatic No. Rather than
representing something new, Loveland
and Wheeler contend that evangelical
megachurches are part of an ongoing
evolution whose antecedents include
Puritan meetinghouses, revival tents,
tabernacles, and mainline Protestant
churches. A sense of continuity that
persists even as American church
architecture changes is the books major
theme.
In examining this continuity, the
authors reject the ahistorical way that the
popular media often treats megachurches
and seek to fill a historiographical
gap. Specifically, along with other
scholars such as Colleen McDannell,
they correct the lingering misconception
The largest to be featured in the book, the campus
of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee,
covers nearly 400 acres.
44
of S acrality
to
that Protestants do not have a well-
developed material culture. Despite the
work of scholars such as Dell Upton,
Louis Nelson, and Peter Williams, among
others, American Protestant architecture
remains understudied, but works such
as From Meetinghouse to Megachurch
help rectify the problem. Portions of
the book will remind readers of Jeanne
Halgren Kildes When Church Became
Theatre: The Transformation of Evangelical
Architecture and Worship in Nineteenth-
Century America (2002), which was
published after Loveland and Wheeler
sent their manuscript to publishers.
Loveland and Wheeler were still able to
use Kildes dissertation, however, and
her interpretations are evident. Since
Loveland and Wheeler take a longer
chronological view, though, their work
complements Kildes book well.
In fact, many of the books strengths
and weaknesses stem from
this broad chronological
scope. From Meetinghouse
to Megachurch begins in the
seventeenth century and
extends through the late
twentieth century. In cov-
ering such an impressive
length of time, Loveland
and Wheelers survey pro-
vides a much-needed intro-
Photo: Lauren Beaupre
duction to changes in Prot-
estant architecture through-
out American history. Of
course, as with any book of
this breadth, it necessarily
sacrifices some depth. Ad-
ditionally, as a material and
cultural history, it leaves
both religious historians and
M egachurch
architectural historians longing
for more detailed attention to
their specific concerns. Such is the
nature of scholarship.
In the end, the authors do tackle
a difficult question: What is the re-
lationship between megachurches
(that often seem to be little more
than glorified shopping malls)
and sacred space? For Loveland
and Wheeler, it seems clear that
most megachurches intentionally
tear down barriers between the
sacred and profane. Rather than
creating sacred space, the authors
claim that megachurch pastors simply
infuse their buildings with a sense of
sacrality. Unfortunately, the exact
distinction between sacred and sa-
crality is never made clear. Loveland
and Wheelers final interpretations
are somewhat ambiguous, and further
scholarship is undoubtedly needed.
Yet, overall From Meetinghouse to
Megachurch represents an important
step forward in the scholarship on
megachurches and Protestant architec-
ture more generally. In particular, the
authors provide readers with a good
introduction to the church growth
movement of the late twentieth
century. In addition, both the exterior
and interior spaces of church buildings
are considered. Visually, the book also
has much to offer. It includes historical
drawings, woodcuts, lithographs, floor
plans, and photographs, along with an
impressive collection of interior and
exterior photographs from modern
megachurches. The book is well
written and would be useful for schol-
ars in multiple disciplines. By placing
megachurches in their historic context,
Loveland and Wheeler have made a
significant contribution to scholarly
understanding of this diffuse and re-
markably significant phenomenon.
W
Lauren Beaupre is a Ph.D. student in the
History Department at the University of
Notre Dame. She is currently researching
the relationship between religion and urban
development in Memphis, Tennessee.
email: lnickas@nd.edu
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009

T ransubstantiated A rchitecture
P ainterly P erspective
Painterly Perspective and Piety: Reli-
gious Uses of the Vanishing Point from the
Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century, by
John F. Moffitt. Jefferson and London:
McFarland, 2008. 320 pp., 73 photos.
ISBN 0786435054. $45 softcover.
Reviewed by Duncan Stroik
T
he discovery, or rediscovery, of
linear perspective in the Italian
Renaissance is usually credited
to Filippo Brunelleschi, the architect
of the dome of the Florence Cathedral.
Another nearby monument that may be
the first existing example of one-point
perspective is the funerary chapel in
Santa Maria Novella painted by Masaccio
in 1428. In a complex and theologically
rich explication of Masaccios Holy
Trinity, with the Virgin, Saint John and
Donors, John Moffitt argues that the
point to which all of the lines converge
is placed at the bottom of the picture in
order to correspond with the elevation
of the host during Mass. Thus God the
Father stands on an altar and presents
his crucified Son to the viewer within a
perspectival architecture that converges
on the Eucharist. The consecrated host
becomes the liturgical focal point of the
chapel and of the painting.
Later, Raphaels Disputa in the
Vatican stanze has the Eucharist in a
monstrance as the focus of the paint-
ing and the saints disputa or discus-
sion. The consecrated host is again
the geometric vanishing point of the
saints, who are seated in an apse-like
semicircle, surmounted by the Trinity.
Likewise, images of the Last Supper
such as Leonardos famous painting in
Milan often focus on Christ and the Eu-
charist as the center point of converg-
ing lines. In Santa Maria presso San
Satiro, Milan, Leonardos friend the
architect Donato Bramante created a
transubstantiated architecture where
the trompe loeil sanctuary converges
like a painting in order to create the
semblance of a much deeper apse. The
architecture of Bramantes renovation
includes a coffered barrel vault, Corin-
thian pilasters and rondels inspired by
Masaccios Trinity (by way of Albertis
church of San Andrea in Mantua). Seen
from the central aisle the punto centrico,
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
and
or vanishing point, of the architecture
converges on the Corpus Christi within
a monstrance on the altar. This spiri-
tual vanishing point, which may be
related to the monstrance and to the
elevation of the host at Mass, is also
focused on the icon of the Virgin along
with the tabernacle (added later). Ac-
cording to this fascinating study, the
invention of one-point perspective is
inextricably tied up with the promotion
of the Eucharist and belief in transub-
stantiation during the Renaissance.
These ideas of host worship, are
further developed as a way for art
and architecture to focus on and give
importance to such a physically small
Masaccio's Holy Trinity
element as the Eucharistic host. One
example is the Spanish custodias pro-
cesionales, in which large Eucharistic
monuments are carried through the
streets to enable the faithful to see and
worship Christ in the Blessed Sacra-
ment. In liturgical language a custo-
dia is the receptacle that guards the
Sacred Host and which during the
Mass remains in sight of the faithful so
that they can contemplate the miracle of
transubstantiation, declared dogma by
the Catholic Church in 1215.1 Moffitt
calls these grand monstrances micro
architecture due to the fact that these
centralized tempiettos, or elaborately
crafted towers, are composed of tiny
classical elements that can reference
the architecture of the city. Like a mon-
strance, the custodia is meant to exhibit
and frame a small Eucharistic host and
B o o k R e v i e w
P iety
make it a visual focus. A magnificent
example is the custodia procesionale of
Seville, which has four levels depicting
statues of the Fathers of the Church;
the host itself with priests celebrat-
ing mass; the agnus Dei; and the Holy
Trinity with a statue of Faith on the
dome. There is a fascinating connec-
tion to the royal chapel of the Escorial
from the sixteenth century, in which
a small tabernacle is surmounted by
a larger one almost like a custodia sur-
mounting a monstrance. The chapel of
the Transparente by Narciso Tome in
Toledo Cathedral is a tour de force of
architecture, sculpture, and symbol-
ism done in the eighteenth century.
Above the altar and the framed statue
of the Madonna and child is the central
motif of the Gloria, the exposed Eucha-
rist from which explodes golden rays
of light and angels in ecstasy. Moffitt
interprets this baroque confection as
having an underlying architecture of
forced perspectives and multiple van-
ishing points which may be related to
anamorphic perspective. But funda-
mental to his argument is the analysis
of artwork composed upon a central
focal point, typically coinciding with
an object of devotion, such as the con-
secrated host.
Along with a number of oversights,
such as calling Saint Thomas Aquinas
the founder of the Dominican order,
some of the specific discoveries or textual
connections in this book seem merely
speculative. Images, though profuse,
could have been of higher quality.
However, the book offers a rich art-
historical and theological framework for
understanding perspective and its use
to explicate Scripture and Renaissance
and medieval texts. Painterly Perspective
and Piety reflects fascinating in-depth
research which shows the way in which
the Eucharist has been central to the
development of one-point perspective.
W
Duncan Stroik is Director of the Institute
for Sacred Architecture and Professor of Ar-
chitecture at the University of Notre Dame.
email: editor@sacredarchitecture.org
1. Carl Hernmarck, Custodias Processionales en Espana (Madrid:
Ministerio de Cultura, 1987), p. 10.
45
B o o k R e v i e w
F rom
A S election
Reformed Theology and Visual Culture:
The Protestant Imagination from Calvin
to Edwards, by William A. Dyrness.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Uni-
versity Press, 2004. 356 pp. ISBN
97805215407359. $37.99
William Dyrness explores the
roots of Reformed theology from
sixteenth-century Geneva to seven-
teenth- and eighteenth-century Puritan
New England. Though this tradition
impeded development of particular
visual forms, Dyrness argues that it en-
couraged others, especially in areas of
popular culture and the order of family
and community. Exploring the theolo-
gy of Calvin and others, Dyrness dem-
onstrates how the tradition created a
new aesthetic of simplicity, inwardness
and order to express underlying theo-
logical commitments.
W
House of Worship; Sacred Spaces in
America, by Dominique Browning and
the editors of House and Garden. New
York: Assouline Publishing, 2006. 248
pp. ISBN 2843238803. $45.00
This coffee-table book published
by the Cond Nast group brings to-
gether such varied American places of
worship as Bostons Trinity Church,
46
the P ublishing H ouses
of R ecent B ooks
Californias Crystal Cathedral, Ameri-
cas oldest synagogue in Rhode Island,
and a host of temples, tabernacles,
chapels, and country churches. Filled
with photographs of pew ends and
other quaint details and an ecumeni-
cal spirit, it allows the browser to travel
from a private chapel with stained
glass by Marc Chagall to a parish de-
signed by new urbanist Elizabeth Plat-
er-Zyberk to a 1960s concrete chapel in
New Mexico with a bell tower saved
from a Mexican mission with the flip of
the page.
W copal Church in the United States of
The Architecture of Eugene Liebert: Teu-
tonic Style in the American Midwest, by
H. Russell Zimmermann. LaCrosse,
WI: Franciscan Sisters of Perpet-
ual Adoration, 2006. 64 pp. ISBN
9780974140391. $20.00.
This sixty-four-page manuscript fea-
tures both historic and contemporary
images of Eugene R. Lieberts (1866-
1945) works. Recognized as the leading
progenitor of the Germanic styles in
the American Midwest in 1900, Liebert
executed designs in the German New
Renaissance style and the Jugendstil
(the Teutonic version of art nouveau).
Each of the three chapters, Residen-
tial Work, Commercial Work and
Schools, and Ecclesiastical Work,
includes many previously unpublished
images that illustrate Lieberts artistry
and all-encompassing design style.
Liebert was recognized for his atten-
tion to the smallest design elements
in his structures, and the manuscripts
illustrations highlight the detailed as
well as the grand scale of his designs.
W torically significant churches and syna-
Reaching Up to God: The Story of St.
Martins Episcopal Church, text by Lee
Adcock Hunnell. Photography by
Gary J. Zvonkovic. Houston, TX: St.
Martins Episcopal Church, 2006. 256
pp. ISBN 0978598601. $60.00
Reaching Up to God details the history
of St. Martins Episcopal Church in
Houston, TX, and the building of its
Sacred Architecture Issue 15 2009
towering new church, designed by
Jackson & Ryan Architects of Houston.
The pages of this book are filled with
expansive photographs of the interior,
recording the elaborate wood carv-
ings, each of the thirty-six stained-glass
windows and the magnificent "Gloria
Dei" organ. The book also discusses
the inspiration for the exterior and in-
terior designs of the church, as well as
the use of modern architectural, engi-
neering and construction techniques.
In addition to the story of St. Martins,
Hunnell includes a brief history of the
Anglican Communion and the Epis-
America.
W
W
Historic Churches of Mississippi, by
Sherry Pace. Essay and captions by
Richard J. Cawthon. Jackson, MS: Uni-
versity Press of Mississippi, 2007. 192
pp. ISBN 1578069408. $40.00
For this book photographer Sherry
Pace has compiled outdoor photo-
graphs of 133 of the states most his-
gogues. The selected images provide
a broad overview of the most note-
worthy buildings, with origins dating
from the 1820s through the 1920s, and
invite the reader to look more closely
at all of Mississippis historic houses
of worship. This collection of photo-
graphs preserves churches that were
either destroyed or damaged by Hur-
ricane Katrina on Mississippis Gulf
Coast.
 Sacred Architecture

Photo by Duncan Stroik; Ss. Trinit dei Pellegrini, Rome

We must not forget Sunday as the day of the Lord and the day of the liturgy, in order
to see - in the beauty of our churches, of sacred music, and of the Word of God - the
beauty of God Himself, and allow it to enter our own being. Thus our lives become
great, they become true life.
~Pope Benedict XVI
June 2009

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 Jesus
is the same for every one of us.
Yet, we recognize that each community
is unique and different.

New CoNst ruCt ioN, restorat ioN, reNovat ioN & saCred art

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