Almost exactly three years later, I returned and took some photographs of Holy Trinity Church in Hyde Park. The first time was a dramatic,
sunny midday shoot, while this time the long, golden rays of light from the setting sun cast the church in a totally different way.
It's a strange, but beautiful Gothic Revival church, with a profusion of rose windows on the nave, and not just on the front facade and transepts. The great thing about 19th Century revival styles is that the architects frequently did whatever they wanted, breaking rules as it suited them.
Above, St. Michael slaying the dragon adorns a pinnacle of a flying buttress, while below is one of the most fascinating and unique depictions of the Holy Trinity, where God the Father replaces the Virgin Mary in a Pieta scene. The Holy Spirit looks on from above.
Almost exactly three years later, I returned and took some photographs of Holy Trinity Church in Hyde Park. The first time was a dramatic, sunny midday shoot, while this time the long, golden rays of light from the setting sun cast the church in a totally different way.
It's a strange, but beautiful Gothic Revival church, with a profusion of rose windows on the nave, and not just on the front facade and transepts. The great thing about 19th Century revival styles is that the architects frequently did whatever they wanted, breaking rules as it suited them.
Above, St. Michael slaying the dragon adorns a pinnacle of a flying buttress, while below is one of the most fascinating and unique depictions of the Holy Trinity, where God the Father replaces the Virgin Mary in a Pieta scene. The Holy Spirit looks on from above.
The St. Michael statue pictured is the "intact" St. Michael; the one on the other side of the church is the one damaged in the Great Tornado of 1927 - his right arm and part of the sword are missing. The story goes that when the rest of the church was restored (it was heavily damaged), the pastor refused to restore the arm as "he had failed to protect the church" - and so it remains to this day.
ReplyDeleteThis is another of those beyond-magnificent churches of old St. Louis; they are just so impressive in their scale and the quality of the craftsmanship.
An very interesting site that has a LOT of info on this particular church, with a video and great photos, is http://www.papermodelkiosk.com/php/forum/entry.php?47-Holy-Trinity-Catholic-Church-Saint-Louis-Missouri
To me the details of a building are more interesting than the massive scale itself. Not to put architects down; but, Tom wrote a valid point about the craftmanship of the statue.
ReplyDeleteI think to understand a building people should look for the mythological or religious motifs more than just the building itself.