The marble
altar was made by S. Klaber & Company from a design by Heins
and La Farge, architects. The design incorporates many types of
marble from different areas of the world, including Vermont, Georgia,
Belgium, Africa, Italy, and France. The altar cross is bronze covered
with a dull rose gold. The cross is richly ornamented in Gothic
style with grapevine motifs symbolizing the blood of Christ. It
is studded with garnets and amethysts. The cross and candlesticks
were made by Gorham & Company.
The reredos is made of caenstone. Its three cherubim hold a banner
bearing the words And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us, the manifestation of the Incarnation of God. On either side
of the scroll, four angels rejoice at this Incarnation message and
play msical instruments in celebration. A central mural, above the
reredos, continues the theme of an angel choir. They are singing
Gloria in excelsis Deo. The mural is by Henry Wynd Young.
On either side of the central mural are two murals by John LaFarge,
who painted them in situ. They depict the Adoration of
the Magi at the manger in Bethlehem.
High above the altar alcove are three sets of clerestory windows
by Henry Wynd Young. The center set features a sacrificial lamb
standing on the scroll of the Seven Seals, as described in the Book
of Revelation. The flanking north windows to the left show examples
of the well-known post-Reformation figures Martin Luther, John Knox,
John Bunyan, and Florence Nightingale (note her nurse's cap). On
the south (right) side are three pre-Reformation saints: Elizabeth
of Hungary, Edward the Confessor, and Francis of Assisi (with a
rabbit). Also shown is John Rogers, an English Protestant martyr.
To the north of the chancel area, you will find the baptismal font.
It has an inlaid shallow bowl of Sienna marble supported by an inlaid
marble pillar inscribed with a Greek cross and the legend In
hoc signo spec mea (In this sign is my hope). Standing
in the middle of the bowl is a bronze statue of a youthful John
the Baptist. He holds a reed cross in his left hand and is raising
his right hand as if to speak. Behind the font is a broad entablature
containing a passage that begins Even baptism doth also now save
us. The angels represent the Church militant and the Church
triumphant. The baptistry group of statues was made by the Irish-born
American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who also was reponsible
for the statue of General Sherman at the entrance to Central Park. |
