St. Bartholomew’s Church is an Episcopal church that is located between 50th and 51st Street in Manhattan. The architectural plan was made by Bertram G. Goodhue. The church was erected in 1917-1918. It is composed of two main structures, the main church and the Community house. In October 2016 the church and the Community house acquired National Historic Landmark status.
The building is surrounded by glass-box skyscrapers that serve as business headquarters or offices. Waldorf Astoria, a luxury hotel, is another landmark building that is located at 50th Street across St. Barts. Compared to the surrounding buildings, St. Barts functions as a place of Christian worship. The church is approximately four stories high and its highest point is a dome. The rounded dome is a striking contrast between the design of the church and the verticality of the surrounding skyscrapers.
The semicircular stained window in the red brick wall along with the gallery make the building distinct from the surrounding skyscrapers. The cross that is placed on the dome of the building is also a distinct feature, however the dome is not evidently apparent from Park Avenue. The viewer should cross one of the two cross-roads in order to see the dome of the church.
The architecture of the church is based on a combination of Romanesque and Byzantine elements. The cruciform plan of the church as well as the triple portal, the “Romanesque portal”, are characteristic elements of the Romanesque architecture. The use of barrel vaults and the bay in the interior are associated with the construction of early medieval churches. The Byzantine influence is evident at the round dome in the exterior and with use of mosaics in the interior.
The general plan of the church is a Latin cross and consists of four parts; the nave which is the main isle of the church, the transept which is an aisle perpendicular to the nave, the apse where the altar is located, and lastly the vestibule or narthex which is a transitional zone in the entrance of the church.
The facade of the church is located on the east side of Park Avenue. There is a flight of stairs that lead the visitors in front of three wooden doors. Behind these doors are the three bronze doors of the church, which feature scenes from the lives of saints, including those from St. Bartholomew’s life who is the patron of the church. These doors allow the entry to the vestibule. Each wooden door, in the exterior, has its own tympanum. Below the doors there is a continuous frieze which features scenes from the crucifixion. The tympanum of the left door features Virgin Mary holding infant Jesus. The tympanum of central door features a sculpture of Jesus Christ with angels worshipping him and holding a crown above his head. Below the central tympanum, the frieze features the actual Crucifixion scene with Christ on the cross. These two contrasting images allow the viewer to perceive Christ in his full glory. Jesus wearing the crown in the central tympanum has defeated death which is displayed in the frieze as the Crucifixion. The tympanum of the right door features two infants, Jesus and his second cousin, St. John the Baptist. Above the doors hang two flags, the American flag and the flag of the Episcopal church. The flag of the Episcopal church informs the visitors from afar that this is a Christian place of worship.
The narthex is made of white limestone. In contrast to the narthex, the wall of the nave is made of red bricks and the use of the limestone is only limited to frame window arches. At the highest part of the western wall there is a gilded medallion that features three knives which are the emblem of St. Bartholomew’s. Below the medallion there is an arcaded wall passage, a dwarf gallery. The dwarf gallery surrounds the church. At the bottom corners of the gallery there the coat of arms of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and of Canterbury?? . The western wall of the nave features a window made of stained glass. The window, enclosed by an arch, is divided into five parts by fours statues. The statues are those of St.Paul, St. Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther King and one of a prominent Episcopal bishop.
The northern and southern walls of the nave and transept are made of red bricks. Each wall contains three large windows enclosed by an arch using limestone. The southern wall of the transept at 50th Street features a majestic rose window made of stained glass that allows light into the interior. The window covers all the visible part of the wall from 50th street. However, there is no window in the northern transept wall. Instead there is a large cross made by alternating bricks with limestone. In the center of the cross there is a medallion which features the “ Lamb of God”. The edges of the cross feature the four symbols of the Evangelists. Both the rose window and the cross signify to the passersby that the building is a place of worship. The eastern wall is made by red bricks and features the apse.
Overall, the alternation between red bricks and limestone differentiates the church from the surrounding skyscrapers which are build mainly from glass and metal or from limestone like Waldorf Astoria. The dwarf gallery and the semicircular stained window attracts the attention of the passersby. Finally, the tympani which depict Jesus and the relief depicting the Crucifixion inform the passerby that this is a place of Christian worship. In order to enter the narthex the visitor will have to climb a flight of stairs to reach the three doors of the vestibule. Visitors climbing the stair appear like climbing towards the open arms of Jesus in the central tympanum.
Through the bronze doors the visitors enter the narthex. The narthex is a rectangular structure before the entrance to the nave. It is a remnant from the Byzantine and Romanesque architecture. The ceiling of the narthex features five pendentive domes made of mosaics which display scenes from the Genesis. The mosaics feature golden tesserae. The use of mosaics is an influence from Byzantine architecture.
From the narthex the visitor passes through three doorways to the main church building. The main building is made of grey stone with limestone details, in contrast to the red bricks of the exterior. The main building consists of a main aisle, the nave, and two side aisles. At the western wall, immediately above the three doorways there is a wooden construction that is the largest organum in New York. It is supported by six columns whose capitals feature musicians. The northern and southern walls of the nave are constructed using the typical basic unit of Medieval constructions, the bay. The bay consists of three vertical parts, the arches, the triforium and the clerestory. The arches separate the nave from the two side aisles and feature sixteen columns in total. Each column has a specific capital that depicts a different theme. The triforium is located above the arches and it is a narrow passageway with arches that open into the nave. In St. Barts. the windows of the triforium feature scenes from Christian life, like the Baptism and Marriage. Immediately above the triforium is the clerestory which is the third story of a church featuring small lancet windows that depict singing cherubs.
In the center of the transept is located the dome of the church. It is a dome that features Byzantine architectural elements as it uses a squinch, which is a variation of a pendentive, to support the dome. However, unlike Byzantine churches, the squinch does not directly support the dome, but a construction that resembles a tower. On top of the tower is the dome. The decoration of the dome features interlaced gilded timbers, which is rather unusual as most Byzantine domes depict in mosaic either Jesus or the Holy Trinity. This design adds an element of devoutness and mysticism.
At the eastern wall of the main church is the apse. The apse is a semicircular construction that is at the end point of the church and is the place where the altar is located. At St. Barts, the apse features at its top a gilded mosaic which displays one of the most common Byzantine themes, the Transfiguration of Jesus. Underneath the mosaic are five blind windows. Below the windows are marble inlays and in the centre there is a white cross beneath the altar. To the south of the apse is the marble pulpit which bears statues of the prophets and the emblems of the Evangelists. This is a direct parallelism of the priests preaching like the Evangelists and prophets preaching the word of God. To the north of the apse is the lectern which features an eagle siting on earth denoting the universality of the word of Jesus.
The holiest place of the building is the apse because it features the altar where the Eucharist takes place.The gilded dome with its strange design immediately draws the attention of the visitor who just entered the nave from the narthex. The visitor sees first the dome which lies above the transept and afterwards focuses on the white cross behind the altar and the mosaic depicting Jesus in his full glory. Additionally, the choir and the apse are raised by some steps from the floor. To further mark the holiness of the place, the altar is separated from the choir by a white parapet which is around thirty-five inches tall. This parapet allows the separation and seclusion of the priest who performs the ritual of the Eucharist behind the altar, in a way that the holiness of the ceremony is conserved. Nevertheless, the ceremony is visible to the faithful sitting in the narthex, hence everyone is part of the ceremony but at a different degree.
Concluding, the exterior design of the building makes it stand out from the rest of the buildings in Park Avenue. The architect has made clear to the viewer that this is Christian place of worship, even though not every element of its exterior architecture is visible.The Romanesque plan of the church differentiates it from the nearby Neo-Gothic cathedral of St. Patrick’s. From my point of view, the rather simple exterior design of the church with its red bricks and white narthex and its more even design, without highlighting neither the height nor the width of the church, make the church appear more welcoming than the tall vertical towers of St. Patrick’s cathedral. Furthermore, the white stone in the interior and the use of golden mosaics, which are a direct reference to Byzantine art, make the interior aesthetically pleasing and appealing to my perception of it as a place of worship. The overall simplicity of the design of St.Barts with the right proportion of Byzantine ornaments make it a distinct building in New York and account for its designation as a National Historic Landmark.