ROMANESQUE
ALTHOUGH THE GREAT CENTURIES OF ROMAN­ESQUE ARCHITECTURE were the eleventh and twelfth, the heart and soul of this architecture is best grasped by going back to the eighth century. Western Europe was in chaos. Rome had been reduced from a population of one million to ten thousand. Cattle grazed through the streets. Civil strife and invasions continued to devastate most of Europe.
The year 800, with the crowning of Charlemagne as Roman Emperor, is a good symbolic year to see the beginnings of a new societ^y that began to rebuild Western Europe. Charlemagne extended the triangle formed by the Rhine. The Loire and the Mediterranean Sea to include all the mid-continental Germans and bound them by strong ecclesiastical and political ties to Rome. The monasteries not only advanced learning and legal systems but through administrative and economic development formed the groundwork for the emerging society.
Creative Carolingian architecture was the test tube from which emerged the fully articulated style called Romanesque. If Roman architecture is best illustrated by the basilica (horizontal, self- contained and inward-looking), the new architecture is best described by an impulse to verticality. At first it was simply practical. Towers became increasingly important as defenses and refuges from the marauding Vikings. Wood, which was first used because it was cheaper and builders had lost the skill of stone vaulting, gave way out of sheer necessity to stone. Many churches were burned either by accident or by hostile invaders. Unlike Roman architecture, these new churches were becoming dynamic elements in the landscape.
Born in the rural areas away from the decaying cities and nurtured in the monasteries, this style of architecture would find its highest expression in the politically powerful monastery at Cluny in France and in the great pilgrimage church of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
With its massive walls and ground- hugging stability, its style reflected well the needs and feelings of the times. A unifying force in a fragmented society, it tried to represent the splendor of the Heavenly Jerusalem on earth and to prepare humanity for the life hereafter. In its art and sculpture, it tried to reflect the perfect beauty of the wisdom of God rather than the accidents of nature, and to lead the imperfect mind to an understanding of the invisible and perfect beauty of God.
As society changed and became less fragile, Romanesque would give way to the Gothic. Gothic, born on the Ile-de-France in the city of Paris, would try to deny the weight of stone by creating a fantasy of light and space. With its technological breakthroughs of ribbed vaults, pointed arches and flying buttresses whole churches would soar upwards. The interior would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of the sacred stained glass windows. The human spirit wanted to soar up to God.
RICHARDSONIAN ROMANESQUE
ROMANESQUE WAS VERY POPULAR in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Although few public buildings were built in this style in Yonkers, many churches were. There were many variations of Romanesque. Looking at the churches of St. Nicholas of Myra and St. Mary's, both Romanesque and both built at the same time, one is immediately struck by how different they are. The only thing in common seems to be the rounded arch.
The Romanesque that is St. Mary's is a very distinctive style called Richardsonian Romanesque, named after one of the greatest American architects, Henry Hobson Richardson. He was the second American to study at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Stranded in Europe at the outbreak of the Civil War, lie fell in love with the Romanesque churches of Southern France, especially Aulnay-de-Saintonge. He con­sidered Gothic not as a logical successor but an interruption of Romanesque. Returning to America he married and lived on Staten Island, commuting to his office in Manhattan. He became a close friend and collaborator with Frederick Law Olmsted. America's leading landscape architect and the designer of Central Park. In 1874 he moved to the Boston area and became very successful after designing Trinity Church in Boston. He had a gift for recognizing and nurturing young talent. e.g., Stanford White.
By 1882 Richardson was recognized as the leading architect in America. He built many important churches and civic buildings in the decade before his death in 1886 at the age of 47. So admired are his works toda^y that man^y call his style American Roman­esque. After his death, man^y architects emulated his style. Lawrence J. O'Connor, the architect of St. Mary's church and rectory, was one of them. The distinctive characteristics of largeness and simplicity, rock-faced masonry trimmed with a different kind of stone, and "a sense of weight and massiveness reinforced by the depth of the windows are trademarks of Richardson's style. As Richardson matured lie began to simplify form and to eliminate archeological details.
Replacing Victorian Gothic and Second Empire styles, it was a style that was especially favored by the upper classes in the last three decades of the nineteenth century. It was also widely used in many public buildings throughout the nation. Some chose this style for their churches because to them it was a symbol of a simpler and more vigorous Christianity. In a rapidly changing America, others may have chosen this style for their residences and public buildings because it provided the same feelings of stability that it gave to the society which created this architecture centuries before.
ARCHITECTURAL TOUR OF ST. MARY'S CHURCH
BEGIN BY GOING TO OUR PARKING LOT and look up at the church. There are six semi-circular "additions" to the church. These six rounded additions include the sanctuary, two side altars, the chapel, an addition to the chapel (the baptistery), and a small tower or turret (a winding staircase to the chancel organ loft). Walk to the entrance of the church on South Broadway. There are three more additions: the tall massive tower, a slender turret (another staircase) and the wider smaller tower on the northeast corner.
The three main entrances, the side entrance, and the front of the rectory are all topped by rounded arches supported by a series of columns. This "roundedness" and "additional" characteristic are the hallmarks of the style of architecture called Romanesque.
Look at the front facade of the church. Thanks to our recent cleaning, we can now see more clearly the sculptured figures. In the tympanums over the front doors are figures of the Last Judgment Angel, The Suffering Christ, Mary and Cherub Angels. A little higher up there are two small beautiful pieces of sculpture: Noah's Ark, and the Face of God (who looks angry). Over the lanterns are two finely sculptured heads of childlike angels. Can you find the third? Higher up to the right is a ferocious looking Marcan Lion.
These themes were common at the time that Romanesque was being developed. The destruction and chaos of the Dark Ages led many to believe that the year 1000 C.E. would be the end of the world as predicted in the Bible.
Look closely at the four corners framing the large circular stained glass window. The different kinds of intricate sculptured designs remind one of the beautiful illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages.
Compared to the more elaborate Romanesque sculpture of the latter half of the eleventh century, St. Mary's represents an earlier and simpler style typical of the first Romanesque churches. This simplicity is caused by a very definite order and symmetry that is characteristic of the Romanesque style. However, because every­thing is in proportion, he careful that you do not miss the many distinctive features of the church's exterior and interior, If you look closely at the entire front facade, ^you will see many Corinthian columns. The smaller ones form an arcade across the front. This arcading is repeated inside the church on the wood of both choir lofts and in the triforiums. If you look closely at the front of the church your eyes will begin to pick up at least ten different types of designs on the stone borders and lintels. Because everything is done in proportion. the overall effect is one of order and logic. It emphasizes the theme that the earthl^y world ma^y be disorganized but God's kingdom is not.
The main blocks of stone are rough-hewn brownstones. Legend has it that this roughness st^yle came from the fact that the first Romanesque churches and buildings were made from stones taken from Roman ruins. The larger stones are brown and the smaller ones have a reddish tone to them. They were cut from quarries in Belleville and Newark. N.J. The trimming which is used on the arches, lintels and other structural features is red sandstone imported from England. It is interesting to note that the brownstone used for the rectory (built seven years later) contains more red than the church's brownstone, making the overall effect less dramatic. The tower is especially noteworth^y not only for its powerful effect but also for the man^y levels and designs carved into the stone. Rising to a height of 160 feet and built on a massive foundation of brownstone on the outside and brick on the inside, it is a separate structure from the main body of the church. This tower is not intended to serve any function within the church except as a landmark to catch one's attention. Driving west on Nepperhan Avenue one first sees the tower piercing the western skyline. We can easily imagine how it must have dominated Yonkers before the advent of high-rise buildings. The initial plans were to delay the construction of the tower until well after the main church was built. The builders soon saw that the powerful and dramatic effect that they wanted to achieve was lost without the tower. It is interesting to note that on the highest level where the bells are now placed there are four large empty pedestals. The original plans were to place on these pedestals statues of the four evangelists.
Entering the church, one notices the absence of the huge pillars that were once necessary to support such a building. Thanks to the technological breakthroughs of the late nineteenth century. the interior columns are strong enough to bear the weight of the building without being massive. They allow a clear view of the sanctuary from the side aisles.
The center aisle (nave) is flanked by the triple combination of piers crowned by rounded arches, triforiums (sets of three columns) and a clerestory (stained glass windows near the ceiling). All are connected not by a flat ceiling but by a ribbed groin vault. The gradual discovery of the possibility and then the creation of "vaulted" ceilings is a fascinating story of human ingenuity.
The combination of richly colored stained glass windows and the beautiful quartered oak wood of pews, pulpit and organ lofts (and their especially beautiful rows of small columns) gives a warmth and intimacy to the church that is often missing in large churches.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux criticized the more elaborate Roman­esque and Gothic churches of his day because they distracted the faithful. He would have approved of St. Mar^y's. Although there are some very remarkable details in our church, the overall effect is one that is conducive to pra^yer and worship.