Art & Architecture
Art at St. Paul’s NYC
The Church of St. Paul the Apostle is known for its ecclesiastical art, and contains interior elements designed between 1887-1890 by Stanford White and many large decorated side chapels. Later, stained glass windows were added by John La Farge.
Other artists who worked within include Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Frederick MacMonnies, and Bertram Goodhue, who is responsible for the floor mosaics.
Crucifix
Artist: Unknown
Medium: Cross made from monolith of black Belgian Granite with Corpus of bronze
Weight: 3 tons
Type: Sculpture
Date: 1897
Credit Line: Madame Louise Saniewska gifted to the church as a memorial to Rev. Fr. Augustine Hewitt
Location: In the chapel behind the high pulpit
High Altar
Artist: Stanford White (1853-1906)
Medium: Gold, Onyx, Alabaster, Mosaic, Numidian Marble
Type: Sculpture
Date: 1890
Credit Line: Rev. Fr. Arthur March Clark donated $12,000 as a gift from his Protestant father to the building of the Altar
Location: Sanctuary
Note: Around the inner rim of the baldachino are the words: Tu Es Vas Electionis, Sancte Paule Apostle (Thou Art a Vessel of Election, Saint Paul the Apostle)
Detail of High Altar
Artist: Stanford White (1853-1906)
Medium: Gold, Onyx, Alabaster, Mosaic, Numidian Marble
Type: Sculpture
Date: 1890
Credit Line: Rev. Fr. Arthur March Clark donated $12,000 as a gift from his Protestant father to the building of the Altar
Location: Sanctuary
Note: Around the inner rim of the baldachino are the words: Tu Es Vas Electionis, Sancte Paule Apostle (Thou Art a Vessel if Election, Saint Paul the Apostle)
Angel with Mandolin
Artist: Frederick MacMonnies (1863-1937)
Medium: Bronze (gilded)
Type: Sculpture
Date: Approximately between 1898-1900
Credit Line: Rev. Fr. Arthur March Clark donated $12,000 as a gift from his Protestant father to the building of the Altar
Location: On High Altar
Note: Date base on New York Times article July 7, 1900
Angel with Scroll
Artist: Frederick MacMonnies (1863-1937)
Medium: Bronze (gilded)
Type: Sculpture
Date: Approximately between 1898-1900
Credit Line: Rev. Fr. Arthur March Clark donated $12,000 as a gift from his Protestant father to the building of the Altar
Location: On High Altar
Note: Date base on New York Times article July 7, 1900
Angel with Violin
Artist: Frederick MacMonnies (1863-1937)
Medium: Bronze (gilded)
Type: Sculpture
Date: Approximately between 1898-1900
Credit Line: Rev. Fr. Arthur March Clark donated $12,000 as a gift from his Protestant father to the building of the Altar
Location: On High Altar
Note: Date based on New York Times article, July 7, 1900
Byzantine Pillars on Blue Background
Artist: John La Farge (1835-1910)
Medium: Glass
Type: Stained Glass
Date: 1889
Credit Line: Mrs. Jesse Albert Locke (Fr. Isaac Hecker’s niece)
Location: In the nave above the High Altar
Lancet Windows
Artist: John La Farge (1835-1910)
Medium: Glass
Type: Stained Glass
Date: Approximately between 1888-1890
Credit Line: None
Location: In the nave above the Crucifixion mural
The Martyrdom of St. Paul
Artist: Robert Reid (1862-1929)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Type: Mural
Date: Approximately be 1896-1898
Credit Line: Donation of 2018 restoration by Sheila Gray
Location: St Paul’s Altar
The Baptistry
Artist: John La Farge (1835-1910)
Medium: Marble
Type: Sculpture
Date: 1890
Credit Line: Donated by John Augustine Daly (American Dramatist)
Location: At the entrance of the church
The Baptism of Christ
by Bellini (copy)
Artist: Alfred Alexander Lee
Medium: Oil on canvas
Type: Mural
Date: 1947
Credit Line: None
Location: Above the confessionals
The Conversion of St. Paul
Artist: Lumen Martin Winter Lumen Martin winter Norton (1908-1982)
Medium: Roman traverstine stone and venetian glass tessarae
Type: Bas relief
Date: 1958
Credit Line: None
Location: North Bay
Note: On the wall outside the church.
The Angel of the Resurrection
Artist: Lumen Martin Winter (1908-1982)
Medium: Botticino Marble
Type: Sculpture
Date: 1958
Credit Line: None
Location: North Bay
Note: Beneath this sculpture lies the tomb of Fr. Isaac Hecker
The Ambry
(part of the Baptistry)
Artist: John La Farge (1835-1910)
Medium: Marble
Type: Sculpture
Date: 1890
Credit Line: Donated by John Augustine Daly (American Dramatist)
Location: Near confessionals
Bruges Madonna
Artist: Michelangelo (1475-1564)
Medium: Bronze
Type: Sculpture
Date: June 29, 1890
Credit Line: Gift from Marchesa Cecile de Wentworth
Location: In front of St. Patrick’s Chapel
Note: This positive copy of the original Bruges Madonna was made with permission of the Belgian government, and cast by the foundry Gruet, Paris, France. This is one of two copies that exists in the world. The second one is in St Cuthberth’ss in Edinburg, Scotland
Detail of Bruges Madonna
Artist: Michelangelo (1475-1564)
Medium: Bronze
Type: Sculpture
Date: June 29, 1890
Credit Line: Gift from Marchesa Cecile de Wentworth
Location: In front of St. Patrick’s Chapel
Note: Signature at the base of the Bruges Madonna reads: Presented to St. Paul’s Church by Mrs. Cecilia E. Wentworth June 29th 1890
The Crucifixion
Artist: William Laurel Harris (1870-1924)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Type: Mural
Date: 1906-1908
Credit Line: None
Location: Above the portal
Note: The painting is 60 ft wide in 20 feet high held together by nearly 1 ton of lead. The artist took two years to single-handedly paint this work. At the time it was the largest religious painting in the United States.
The Resurrection (study)
Artist: Earle Nieman
Medium: Oil on paper
Type: Study
Date: 1971
Credit Line: Donated to the church in 2009
Location: Above the St. Catherines Altar on the North West side of the church.
In All Things Extremely God Fearing
Artist: Bertram Goodhue of Goodhue, Cram and Fergusson
Medium: Levantine and Tinos Marble
Type: Mossaic
Date: 1924
Credit Line: None
Location: On the floor at the Church entrance
Christ Healing the SIck
Medium: Bronze
Type: Bas relief
Date: 1937
Credit Line: Gift from artist to Fr. Peter Moran
Location: South Bay
Sanctuary Lamp
Artists: Sculpted by Philip Martigny (1858-1927) amd designed by Stanford White (1853-1906)
Medium: Bronze
Type: Sculpture
Date: 1890
Credit Line: Mrs. Josephine Hecker (Fr. Isaac Hecker’s sister-in-law)
Location: Near the high altar suspended from the ceiling
The Architecture of St. Paul’s
The Church of St. Paul the Apostle, located at the southwest corner of Columbus Avenue and 60th Street in Manhattan, was built in 1875-85. Commissioned by the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle, commonly called the Paulist Fathers, it is an austere and imposing Medieval Revival style design, loosely based on Gothic and Romanesque sources.
The new parish quickly outgrew this building and in the mid-1870s a new structure was planned.
The rock-faced grey granite stonework was salvaged from various structures in Manhattan, including sections of an embankment of the Croton Aqueduct that was originally on the Upper West side and the Croton Distributing Reservoir at 42nd Street, as well as Booth’s Theater, which stood at Sixth Avenue and 23rd Street until 1883.
When the church was dedicated in January 1885, however, it was far from complete. The towers had yet to attain their current height and few major decorative features had been installed, including the jamb statues that flank the entrances and the stained glass windows. The American muralist Lumen Martin Winter designed the impressive marble and mosaic bas-relief in the broad recess between the towers. Commissioned to celebrate the parish centenary in 1959, this colorful artwork depicts the “Conversion of Paul” on the road to Damascus.