USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > Historical and architectural guide to the Cathedral of All Saints, Albany > Part 2
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Mention has elsewhere been made of the Cathedral League and its having added many thousands of dollars to the Build-
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ing Fund. When it was no longer necessary to work for this object, after having substantially increased the Endow- ment Fund, the League turned its energies toward the pro- curing of a new organ for the Cathedral. In little more than a year the necessary money was collected and the organ built. This was consecrated to the memory of the beloved first President, whose death in the meanwhile had occurred. Since then the League has worked with the object of paying the debt incurred in building the Deanery, and thus far about $18,000 has been secured to that end. Since the Presidency of Mrs. Corning that office has been successively filled by Mrs. James E. Craig and Mrs. William Bayard Van Rens- selaer. Since the latter's resignation in November the office has been temporarily filled by Mrs. George Evans.
In addition to all this an Embroidery School for Ecclesi- astic Work is now established and can vie with the best in the beauty of the work produced. The Woman's Auxiliary, the Guilds of St. Mary and St. Martha, the Men's Guild, the Boys' Guild, the Girls' Friendly Society, the Altar Guild and the Cathedral Farm all testify to the activity and wide interest of the work being accomplished by the various organizations in the Cathedral.
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Historical and Architectural Guide
THE CATHEDRAL
Contributed by ROBERT W. GIBSON
T' HE completion of the Choir of the Cathedral of All Saints closes the second period in the interesting story of its construction, and brings it distinctly nearer to the architectural expression it is intended to have. In the year of our Lord 1884 the corner-stone was laid, and four years later the edifice was ready for service. For fifteen years since 1888, when the Cathedral in provisional form was con- secrated, the most important improvements were the addi- tion from time to time of another stained glass window to the beautiful collection of memorials, and the almost con- tinuous work of the stone-carvers in slowly adorning the pillars and capitals and arches of the interior.
On December 24, 1891, the Great East Window was finished as far as the beginning of the traceried head. In 1901 a superb organ was given and installed upon the main floor in the Choir aisles because its permanent place in the tri- forium was not yet constructed. The various pillars having been built by the families whose dead they commemorate, were nearly all carved and adorned with appropriate details and designated by inscriptions which in themselves are of great interest and already give a historic value to the archi- tecture very unusual in so recent an edifice. So that in those fifteen years something had been done to advance the work.
The provisional form of the building was devised to pro- vide for immediate use the whole of the final floor space at a cost less than one fifth of the completed building. This was accomplished by building the main walls, pillars and arches up to the first stage, about thirty-five or forty feet
Cathedral ofAll Saints Albany I.V. Robert il Gibson Architect.
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high and then closing in with a brick clearstory of small pointed windows; and a temporary, but presentable, roof of timber. All towers, porches and other external adornments were, of course, omitted for the time, and some of the walls were of bare brick. The exterior was bare; in places the stone outer wall was lacking, and no pretense was made to architectural beauty in that deformed first conditon; but the interior showed already some fair proportions and imposing features and from the beginning had the impressive church- liness which is the first virtue of such a building. Some beautiful carved wood stalls from an old church in Belgium were used to furnish the Choir; and the pavements here being mosaic, and the pulpit and lectern and Bishop's throne being all handsome examples of appropriate work, there was in fact a Cathedral which had its own good character, and which was so far advanced in its availability that most of those using it had accepted its temporary condition.
Then in 1902 the workmen came again and work was re- sumed. It proceeded slowly because of delays caused by the disorganized state of the building trades, and in October, 1904, these latest efforts were accomplished. They included the completion of the Choir and the building of the Choir rooms, vestries, cloister, etc. The provisional roof was taken off the incomplete Choir and its walls were raised by adding the triforium and clearstory. It was closed in with its vaulted ceiling and steel and slate roofs and the great Choir arch was built at the crossing, and the grand East Window finished at the other end by the addition of its elaborate traceried head and the rest of the glass which hitherto had been omitted for lack of height. The side aisles of the Choir were also finished, their mosaic pavements and vaulted roofs built and the organ rebuilt in its proper chambers of the triforium. The remainder of the Choir stalls were built. The reredos was modeled in staff both as a study of its pro- portions and elaborations and as an appeal for its permanent execution in marble or stone with the sculptures, which, of course, are absent in the model.
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Historical and Architectural Guide
The Choir is now complete except for the carving, both inside and out, of a number of capitals, finials, etc., and except that wall decorations, carvings or mosaics are intended to cover many plain surfaces.
The building as it now stands has a total length of about 320 feet, which, although not very great for a Cathedral, is yet noble in comparison with the 90 feet or 100 feet which limits most parish churches. The width is about 130 feet across the transepts and about 95 feet across the Choir and aisles, and about 75 feet across the nave and aisles. The height of the walls of the clearstory is about 80 feet from the street, and the cresting of the roofs is about 120 feet.
The above are all external sizes. The interior is composed of a nave 44 feet wide (to centers of columns) and a crossing and transepts of similar width and a Choir 39 feet wide with isles and ambulatory surrounding it.
The interior lengths are, for nave and crossing about 150 feet, for Choir about 90 feet, making 240 feet from the west doors to the reredos. Then the porches at the west end and ambulatories, etc., at the east make up the total before quoted. The height of the main vaulted ceilings is about 70 . feet from floor to ridge; the lantern at the crossing is to be about 115 feet inside.
The side aisles of the Choir are of usual proportions, but those of the nave are narrower than in ancient buildings, the width of the nave providing for the required seats and the aisles being used for passages only, so that no persons will be seated behind pillars. This arrangement permits of the use of pillars of old-time magnitude and solidity. Those of the nave have a diameter of seven feet, and the great dignity and impressiveness of the interior is no doubt due in a large measure to these massive architectural features.
In style the building belongs to the first period of pointed or Gothic architecture. While this style was and is truly international, each country shows some variety of character due to differences of climate and habits.
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A continental and somewhat Spanish character has been adopted in this design for various reasons. In the first place, the intense heat of the summer and the cold of the winter are best met in a building of massive construction with win- dows of moderate size; and, in the second place, the necessity of economy pointed to a style where effect is obtained by dignified masses of material, the elaborate ornament of skilled labor being added later as opportunity occurs. And this is a very appropriate and beautiful type of the early Gothic which, as a setting, permits of the use of the later forms in more richly finished accessories. This choice of style having been made, it was determined to concentrate the exterior richness in certain places, each one a focus, so to speak. For the exterior these are at the west end, with an echo at the east of the sanctuary end and a separate one in the façade of the north transept. Within, the Choir is richer than the nave and transepts, with the same feeling; and in the Choir all the ornament leads up to the altar and reredos with the grand traceried East Window.
The style permits of considerable richness in carved and molded work, while it does not absolutely demand them. Therefore it lent itself readily to the scheme for building a provisional structure which should be a part of the future complete edifice in such a way that very little would have to be taken down.
This requirement was met as follows, the nave and tran- septs being still in this condition :
First, all the foundations were laid, including those for the western towers. This entailed a considerable expense, as they are necessarily proportioned for the complete structure. They are calculated to carry a total load of 28,000 tons. Then the pillars and arches of solid cut stone were built, and the wall surmounting them, up to the sill of the triforium. The outside walls were all built to the same height. All these walls, ranging from 3 to 31/2 feet thick, are designed hollow, the outer portion of stone, and the inner of brick, destined
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Historical and Architectural Guide
to have marble, or mosaic, or painted finish, at some future day. Of the end walls of nave and transepts, only the inner or brick half was built, leaving buttresses and bonding places for the future addition of the outside stone, but completing a large portion of the internal stone work and enclosing the whole building with walls. Then the outer half wall of the triforium was built (which is the brick part to be eventually hidden by the aisle roofs), and the temporary aisles' roofs were put on below it instead of above, and the triforium thus converted into a temporary clearstory of brick. Above this a temporary roof is put over the whole with only a small ventilating flèche or spirelet by way of ornament. But this flèche, small as it looks, is, with the cross, 50 feet high above the roofs, and the top is 131 feet from the ground. The roof is of open timbers of simple but effective provisional con- struction. The temporary floor is also of wood.
The seating accommodations are as follows: Stalls for clergy, 153; stalls for choir, 50; seats for congregation, 1,500 permanent, with possible increase for special needs to 2,300; total accommodation, 2,503. No galleries will be used.
There are several buildings partly detached around the eastern part of the Cathedral. The clergy and general ves- tries and choir room are on opposite sides of a small cloister, and to the south the Dean's and Bishop's vestries. These are among the parts recently built.
The Choir just completed is in the fully developed phase of the early Gothic architectural style. The pillars are simple and massive, alternately round with shafts attached, and square with shafts. The arches are richly carved with enriched moldings and capitals. The triforium shows tracery of early character, each bay having two arches with shaft and subarch in each. The windows are all traceried with geometrical forms, mostly circular, and all distinctly of the early type. The Great East Window is, of course, the chief adornment of the east end. It is 22 feet wide and 64 feet high to the top from the floor, the sill being 22 feet high. The lower part has mullions dividing it into five compart-
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ments, the middle one being larger than the other four; over these a great rose of stone tracery fills the arch. It is com- posed of an inner circle and 16 little shafts radiating from it and supporting as many arches, and on these 16 circles with flower-like cuspings; the whole, filled with pictorial stained glass, is a striking climax of the window effects, both inter- nally and externally. The east end is square, and the altar, a block of Carlisle stone 12 feet long, is surmounted by a reredos the whole width of the Choir and reaching up to the beginning of the window. The reredos is of decorated Gothic style, a composition of elaborate niches, canopies and pedestals, intended to be filled with symbolic sculptures.
It is undeniable that the most beautiful and poetical of the ancient cathedrals and churches are those in which succes- sive ages have contributed, group by group, each its own examples of its best work; and that some of the most per- fect specimens, entirely of one period, suffer by it in a cold- ness and monotony. As mediaval architecture progressed from its severe and massive early forms through the graceful strength of the middle period into the light and elaborate details of the later climax, it took by natural laws the same course by which the growth of any one building is developed from a simple main structure with strong elements of form in the lower parts and in the supports and enclosures into a richer and more fanciful mood for its upper and lighter features and for its furnishings, in which strength is of less import.
It is because of this coincidence of growth, no doubt, that the different periods of ancient work are so satisfactorily blended. Not only the instinctive feeling of the artist has prevented discord, but the fact that the later work is always the lighter-that the dainty is always superimposed upon the strong-is what unifies the whole result. The reverse of this may be imagined. An edifice with its original structures in a light and elaborate style might be given additions of a severe and early type in these days of archæological experi- ment, and there would inevitably result a chaotic mixture,
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Historical and Architectural Guide
an unnatural disorder utterly unlike that growth of inimitable interest which the old cathedral shows. The order of prec- edence is both historical and structural. If we allow rather than compel the design to take a natural course nature is a kindly guide.
Here at Albany this architectural progression has been crowded into a few years, but the growth is apparent; first the sturdy foundation and plain strong beginning, and then after a period of repose the suggestion of ornamental work to adorn the edifice more richly than was intended.
The architect sees in this an inspiration, and keeping in mind the laws just explained adopts for certain parts the later and richer effects. The first example in the carved wood stalls is very successful. These are very late in style but they are in absolute harmony, and the organ and throne and some other work have been made in accord. The principle is exemplified. The new designs show, therefore, the great lan- tern over the crossing considerably changed. Less severe and a little lighter it gains much in grace. It is twelve- sided-almost circular in effect with flowing tracery and crocketed pinnacles and the interior carved and ornamented and including much more glass. The added study of this feature is well repaid.
The southern tower of the two of the west front has been also lightened and enriched so that while in general outline the two are similar, yet in the upper parts the detail is varied-as poetically expressed in description of an ancient group, these are King and Queen.
The exterior view shows the north transept also modified; the entrance arch enlarged into a cavernous portal and the upper gable treated with sculptures and niches flanked by great pinnacled buttresses, while the middle part is adorned by a circular window copied from that at Lincoln, which is quoted by many critics as one of the most beautiful examples of Gothic tracery. This is the only portion of the Albany Cathedral which is directly and closely copied from an ancient model. The original is a later addition to an early
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building, illustrating the grafting of the two periods one upon the other; Lincoln in other parts has examples with about the same degree of difference. Litchfield, too, and Norwich have similar treatment. At Ely, Peterboro and Gloucester the earliest and the latest periods are seen together, so that some of the results are too abrupt and scarcely united in expression.
At Canterbury the contrasts are of wonderful and romantic beauty. Fergurson says, "In some, as Wells and York, the increase in richness from the western entrance to Lady Chapel is appropriate and adds to the effect of the church more than if the whole were uniform throughout. This is particularly felt at Lincoln, where the simplicity of the early English nave and Choir blossoms out into the chaste beauty of the Angel Choir at the east end. It follows so immedi- ately after the rest as not to produce any want of harmony, while it gives such a degree of enrichment as is suitable to the sanctity of the altar and the localities which surround it."
This is the lesson by which it is sought to allow time and circumstances to add interest and charm to the Albany Cathedral.
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AVERAGE BREADTH
EXTERNAL LENGTH
EXTERIOR DIMENSIONS
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ALL SAINTS CATHEDRAL, ALBANY, N. Y. GROUND PLAN. 1905.
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CLOISTERS
DESCRIPTION OF THE CATHEDRAL IN DETAIL
THE WINDOWS
T HE windows of the Cathedral that are thus far filled with stained glass are all either gifts or memorials and are fitting specimens of modern art. The Rose Window in the west is by John La Farge of New York. The six large windows in the nave, commemorating six of the oldest Dutch families in America, are by Messrs. Burlisson and Grills of London, England, as are also the lesser windows of the transepts. The great Rose Window in the north transept is by Mr. Maitland Armstrong of New York, and that in the south transept by Messrs. Clayton and Bell of London, England. All the windows in the Choir aisles and the Great East Window are also by the latter firm. The small window in the north end of the Ambulatory is by the late Mrs. Henry Whitman of Boston, Massachusetts.
The windows of the Cathedral are designed to commemo- rate the leading events in the life of our Lord while on earth and His glorified life, as well as the angels, prophets, martyrs, doctors, saints and others whose lives are identified with the history of the church. The nave and transepts con- tain the windows with angels, prophets, etc .; the Choir aisles the types and story of our Lord, and the East Window the summary of all the others.
Beginning at the west entrance, and taking first the north side of the nave, then the north transept, the north Choir aisle, the Great East Window, then the south Choir aisle, the south transept and the windows on the south side of the nave, the descriptions are as follows :
The Rose Window over the west door represents the Saints in Glory. It was the gift of the Clarkson family of Potsdam, N. Y.
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Historical and Architectural Guide
In the nave the first, bearing the name of Van Vechten, 1683, is the Virgin's Window, which has the figure of St. Agnes, a Roman martyr of the fourth century. She was a young girl, thirteen years of age, who was brave and fearless in persecution and death. The other panels represent her re- fusal to offer incense to a heathen goddess in order to marry the prefect's son, and her martyrdom by sword, as the flames refused to burn her.
The second window, with the name Schuyler, 1633, is the Window of the Holy Women, represented by St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland, A. D. 1098, granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, and Queen of Malcolm Canmore. The upper panel represents her welcome by King Malcolm Canmore to his palace at Dunfermline. The middle panel, her meeting with the Scottish clergy and urging important reforms in the services. The third panel gives the story of her death, with the Black Rood (Cross) of Scotland held before her as an emblem of her earnest faith. This cross was regarded as one of the most sacred relics of Scotland. It was carried into the battle of Neville's Cross (1346) and captured by the English, who placed it in Durham Cathedral. It was lost during the so-called Reformation, under Cromwell.
The third window, with the name of Gansevoort, 1660, below, is the Soldier's Window, represented by St. Alban, the protomartyr of England. During the fourth century he was converted by a priest to whom he gave shelter. He is first seen in the full dress of a Roman soldier, then giving shelter to the priest, Amphibalus, who was fleeing from persecution, and last, "laying down his life for his friend," having ex- changed clothes with him in order that he might escape.
In the north transept is the Angel's Window (given by Dr. Trego in memory of his wife). It has the figure of St. Gabriel, and two scenes of angelic ministry, one to our Lord in the wilderness of temptation, and the other, angels bearing a soul to Paradise.
To the north is the Apostles' Window, given "in reverend and unfading memory of Mother Helen, first Superior of the
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Sisterhood of the Holy Child Jesus, from those who loved her longest and best." It has the figure of St. John in the upper panel, while below is pictured his vision on the Isle of Patmos, and in the lowest panel St. Paul preaching from Mars Hill.
The next window is the Prophet's Window, inscribed " Sarah Paine Cleveland, Edward Newton and Mary Spring Perkins, most dearly beloved; E. C. C. in pious and perpetual mem- ory." In the upper panel is a large allegorical figure of St. John Baptist and the Agnus Dei, the two lower panels showing St. John preaching and baptizing.
The Rose Window of the north transept is a memorial with the carved inscription: "Bleecker Wells Banks, died April 4, 1880, son of A. Bleecker and Phoebe Wells Banks. This window is a memorial of a short life on earth which passed in the freshness and purity of youth into the light of Life." The stone tracery is a reproduction of the famous Bishop's Eye in the south transept of Lincoln Cathedral.
IN THE NORTH CHOIR AISLE
Of the windows in the north Choir aisle the first is The Annunciation Window. In memoriam Mrs. Elizabeth Wads- worth Van Rensselaer, wife of Edward Burd Grubbe. Obiit, April 17, 1886. Aet. xxxviii, "I know in whom I have believed." Subjects: the promise to Abraham of "The Seed," and the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Prophets, Moses and Zechariah, with the texts, "I will put enmity between thy seed and her seed," and, "I will bring forth my servant, the Branch." The Apostles are St. Andrew and St. Peter, with the first two clauses of the Creed, and the legend in the angel's scroll, "Hail thou that art highly favoured."
The Nativity Window: In memoriam Mrs. Caroline Leslie Standish Weed. January. A. D. 1886. Aet. L, " Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." Subjects: Jacob's Ladder and the Nativity. Prophets, Isaiah and Micah, with the texts, "Behold a Virgin shall conceive," and "Thou
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Historical and Architectural Guide
Bethlehem Ephratah, out of thee shall He come forth." The Apostles are St. Matthew and St. James the Less, with the next two clauses of the Creed, and the legend in the angel's scroll, "Glory be to God in the highest."
The Epiphany Window: The gift of friends and relatives to "keep the memory of Amelia Amity Sage, who passed into the Light, Epiphany, A. D. 1877." Subjects: Balaam's Prophecy and the Epiphany. Prophets, Balaam and Hosea, with the texts, "There shall come a star out of Jacob," and "I will say unto them that were not my people, thou art my people." The Apostles are St. Philip and St. Paul, with the next two clauses of the Creed, and the legend on the scroll, "Peace on earth, good will to men."
THE EAST WINDOW
The upper part is intended to commemorate the various kinds of saints, especially those in some way connected not only with the Church of the Apostolic period, but with the Church of England in its earlier days. The central panel of the window represents the Holy Spirit (as a dove) as the source of all sanctity. The fourteen inner circles of the window are filled with the figures, first of St. Andrew, as the first called of the Apostles, and then, proceeding to the right, with the figures of St. John, St. James the Great, St. Paul, St. Philip, St. James the Less, St. Thomas, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew, St. Simon, St. Matthias, St. Jude, St. Barnabas, and St. Peter. Between the inner and outer circles are figures of cherubs. And the outer circle has in the first panel at the head St. John Baptist, and then, still following to the right, St. Luke, St. Alban, St. Agnes, St. Margaret, St. Chad, St. Cyprian, St. Augustine of Canterbury, the Venerable Bede, St. Catherine, St. George, St. Columba, St. Timothy, and St. Mark.
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