St Stephen's Church

Links for this Information
http://www.churchcrawler.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/nyc03/nyc0310.htm
http://www.clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=241401&&
http://www.carmelitereview.org/issues/v43n2/more-on-scapular-mural.php
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DEFDD153CF936A35751C1A9669C8B63
http://holyartworks.com/
http://holyartworks.com/ststephenchurch.html
http://www.sacredplaces.org/PSP-InfoClearingHouse/articles/Church%20of%20Our%20Lady%20of%20the%20Scapular%20and%20St.htm
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article//20050822/202/1514
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GRP/GRP039.htm

Architect:- James Renwick Jr. 1818–95, American architect, b. New York City, grad. Columbia, 1836.
Location:- 151 East 28th Street. Between 3rd and Lexington Avenue.
Date:- 1854
Style:- Romanesque. Between 1840 and 1900, the round-arched medieval style that preceded the Gothic appealed to religious fervor and picturesque sensibilities, becoming a popular prototype for Christian churches in America.
Construction:- Brownstone facade, Cast Iron interior.

Richardsonian Romanesque (1870-1895)
Style named for Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886). It is a revival style based on French and Spanish Romanesque precedents of the 11th century. (Romanesque preceded Gothic in European architecture.) Richardson's style is characterized by massive stone walls and dramatic semicircular arches, and a new dynamism of interior space. Continuity and unity are keynotes of Richardson's style. The Richardsonian Romanesque eclipsed both the IInd Empire Baroque and the High Victorian Gothic styles; the style had a powerful effect on such Chicago architects as Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, and influenced architects as far away as Scandinavia.
Style Definition
The late 19th and early 20th century style of Romanesque is a revival of an early medieval style, which was in turn a revival of Roman architecture. This was one of the most popular forms of architecture in the United States during the 1880s, and along with the Chicago School it was the first style applied to tall buildings. Many courthouses and public buildings were built in Romanesque, even in small rural towns.
Distinguishing features include turrets, rounded arches, hipped or pointed roofs, and very heavy rusticated stonework. Proportions in this style tend to run large, both in the overall building form and in the size of the details.
The founder of this style was Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson, and to this day it is frequently called "Richardsonian Romanesque". His successor firm Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge contributed to its development, while many smaller firms throughout the United States like Long & Kees adopted the style.

St. Stephen's Church -- Will It Ever Be A Landmark?
By Gary Papush
August 22, 2005
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article//20050822/202/1514
Hundreds gathered in the Capitol rotunda in Washington D.C. this summer, beneath the painting of George Washington and allegorical figures representing the 13 colonies, to mark the 200th birthday of the painter who created it, Constantino Brumidi. Several senators spoke, paying tribute to a man who, Senator Hillary Clinton said, "came to this country to find a better life and, in the greatest tradition of our nation made an indelible mark on our history."
But while Washington has heralded Brumidi, New York, the site of his other major American work, has been less kind. Brumidi's paintings grace the interior of Our Lady of the Scapular and St. Stephen's Church on East 28th Street. But despite 40 years of effort by preservationists, the building is still not a designated landmark. Many in the community, including those of us on Community Board 6, hope the bicentennial of Brumidi's birth will spur the city Landmarks Preservation Commission to act. We think the church is worthy of preserving and would like to see the process that began with Landmarks hearings in the 1960s, move forward.
The delay at St. Stephen's, as the church is popularly called, brings into focus a problem facing landmarking in New York. All too often the landmarks commission, perennially short of staff

and money, does not act until a crisis is at hand. The case of St. Stephen's also serves as an example of the limits on what the community boards can do in such instances. A Romanesque brownstone church, St. Stephen's was designed and built from 1850 to 1854 by noted architect James Renwick, who also designed St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, Grace Church in Greenwich Village and the original building of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. But it is the interior of St. Stephen's that is truly remarkable. Light pours through 100 stained glass windows created by Meyer of Munich, Germany. And then there are the Brumidi's. These include murals - such as a large crucifixion scene over the altar - and paintings depicting a variety of religious themes, including the Stations of the Cross. Brumidi also employed trompe l'oeil. What seem to be sculptures of figures such as David on closer examination turn out to be paintings. Similarly what on first glance looked like columns and stonework throughout the church were actually paintings. Much of this work, though, was covered over in the 1940s.
As he worked at St. Stephen's, Brumidi was also busy at the Capitol, creating not only the paintings in the rotunda but other works in the building, including much of the frieze of American history. Brumidi finished his painting at St. Stephen's but died in 1880 before he could complete his Capitol frieze.
Beyond its artistic merit, St. Stephen's played a role in New York's religious and political life. In 1860, it was the largest Catholic parish in the country with 24,000 members. The pastor at the time, Edward McGlynn, had an interest in the arts and brought Brumidi to the church. Later McGlynn became active in social and economic issues of the day, taking positions that ran counter to the teachings of the Catholic Church at the time. This led to his excommunication and departure from St. Stephen's.

So, given such an illustrious architectural, artistic and social history, why hasn't the landmarks commission acted on the designation? After all, no one has publicly come out in opposition to the idea.
For one thing, the building has not been in any immediate danger. My experience with the Landmarks Preservation Commission is that it rarely rejects a building for landmarks designation after holding a public hearing. Even if there is not enough support to landmark the building, the commission will usually not vote to deny the application -- unless the owner wants to tear the structure down. This seems to largely be a question of staff and money. Even in good financial times, certain city agencies get the short end - and the Landmarks Preservation Commission is among them. In the case of St. Stephen's, the Archdiocese of New York, which owns the building, has never expressed any interest in altering or destroying it. And so the landmarks commission has never been forced to act.
And landmarking St. Stephen's poses at least one major problem. The hearings in the 1960s dealt with designating the exterior of the building a landmark, but much of the current research and interest in the building centers on the interior, particularly the murals. The city's landmarks law does allow that interiors or parts of interiors of buildings be designated as landmarks - but, perhaps because of constitutional concerns about the separation of church and state -- not if the building is an active house of worship. And mass is still held at St. Stephen's every day.
A campaign is underway to raise millions of dollars needed to restore the murals. Some of the framed paintings have already been restored. Apparently there are some federal funds available to restore interiors of houses of worship - as long as the money goes to art and architecture, rather than promoting religion. Protecting the exterior of the church by designating it a landmark might generate publicity that would help the fundraising campaign for the murals.

This year, two things sparked renewed interest in getting landmark status for St. Stephen's. One is the Brumidi bicentennial. The 200th anniversary of his birth seemed to present a good opportunity for honoring Brumidi's work and doing what we could do, within the bounds of the law, to protect it. The other is that the archdiocese has been closing schools and merging churches. Although they have not said they have any plans to close St. Stephen's - which is already the result of a merger between two congregations - the downsizing has renewed concerns about the fate of St. Stephen's
Responding to these events, the community board examined the issue for about two or three months earlier this year. Then, we passed a resolution endorsing landmarks designation for the facade of St. Stephen's, supporting the restoration work on the murals, and urging that the interior be landmarked if St. Stephen's ever ceased to be a church. Our interpretation of the law is that the restriction on landmarking for churches, synagogues, mosques and so on only concerns active houses of worship. If the congregation was no longer in the St. Stephen's building -- even if the archdiocese still owned it -- we feel the interior would be eligible for landmarking, but I guess that would be for the lawyers to determine.
As much as the community board supports landmarking for the church, our role, unfortunately, is limited. The city charter gives the community boards only the authority to recommend. Our resolutions have the power to express the point of view of the community but they do not have the power of law.
This is in contrast to changes in land use or zoning, the city's process -- the Unified Land Use

Review Process, or ULURP -- requires that the community board review and pass resolutions supporting or opposing the recommended change. The city does not have to follow our recommendation but the very fact that it is required by law to get our opinion gives our viewpoint more influence than it would otherwise have.
Decisions on landmarks, though, are not part of this process. The community board does not have to be consulted.
Any courtesy or consideration the Landmarks Preservation Commission gives to the community boards is voluntary on their part. Community Board 6 has passed resolutions asking that landmarks be put under some sort of review similar to ULURP where an application would have to go to the community board for recommendation before landmarks ruled on it. This would require that they have our input, but, unfortunately, this idea hasn't gone anywhere. In the meantime, we do try to consider any landmark decisions that arise in our area.
We have had more success with the so-called Certificate of Appropriateness, which comes into play when an owner wants to make changes to a landmarked building. Owners applying for one are told to first go to their community board. This is a voluntary process and a new policy, but, as far as we are concerned, it is working so far.
Despite the limits on our role in designating landmarks, we do get involved. St. Stephen's is one example. Another is Stuyvesant Town. Met Life, which owns the housing complex, is opposed to making the development a landmark, including the outside green spaces, or ovals. The community board did vote to landmark, but the Landmarks Preservation Commission has not yet put it on their calendar. When they do act on this, on St. Stephen's and on other landmarks issues on the East Side, we at Community Board 6 hope they will consider our recommendations.
Gary Papush is chair of the parks and landmarks committee of Community Board 6 on Manhattan's East Side.
Church of Our Lady of the Scapular and St. Stephen
This Romanesque Revival-style church, built in 1854 to the designs of architect James Renwick, Jr., is an example of robust architecture that set the pace for the Victorian Romanesque. Equally important is the church's painted interior decorative scheme that was executed after the Civil War by the renowned artist, Constantine Brumidi (1805-1880), considered the last master of the Italian Baroque tradition. Renwick's strongly articulated tripartite composition inventively employs a lively pattern of repetitive round-arched motifs derived from the mature German Romanesque cathedrals.
Inside, plastered cast-iron columns with elaborate foliated capitals support multi-ribbed vaulting. The nave is lit by over 100 figurative painted stained glass windows by Meyer of Munich installed in the 1860s. After completing over $1 million in roofing and waterproofing work in the last year, the parish is now planning the conservation of the interior.The church is nationally significant for its decorative scheme commissioned in 1866 from Brumidi, consisting of a huge mural of the Crucifixion over the High Altar, forty-five murals and paintings around the walls, and a scheme of architectural illusion, called trompe l'oeil.Brumidi is renowned for his extensive murals in the U.S. Capitol that were recently restored.
The grand conception for the interior at St. Stephen's is a rare surviving example of Brumidi's work in churches. Initial probes by conservator Constance Silver of Preservar indicate that the overpainted trompe l'oeil scheme can be reclaimed. The urgency of conservation treatments for the flaking wall paintings has spurred the parish to begin a pilot project this summer with internally raised funds that will restore the100-foot entry. A conservation plan will also be developed for the interior painting and stained glass.
The building is located at 149 East 28th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues, in the Gramercy Park area of Manhattan. The sanctuary is normally open to the public for an hour before and an hour after each daily Mass (Monday through Friday 11.30:00 a.m-2pm; Saturday 4:00 p.m..; and on Sundays from 7:30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.). For additional information, call the Parish Office at (212) 683-1675.

Constantino Brumidi
Constantino Brumidi, 1805-1880, was born in Rome and studied painting and sculpture at the Academia de San Luca. He painted frescos in several Roman palaces and in the 1840’s he was commissioned by Pope Gregory XVI and later by Pope Pius IX to work at the Vatican. In 1852, at the age of forty-seven, Brumidi emigrated to the United States. “I no longer have any desire for fame and fortune,” he remarked upon arriving in the United States. “My one ambition and my daily prayer is that I may live long enough to make beautiful the Capitol of the one country on earth in which there is liberty.”
His Apotheosis of George Washington in the Capitol Rotunda reflects that spirit of freedom, with his magnificent fresco of a seated Washington surrounded by a semi-circle of 15 maidens. Seated at his right is Liberty and at his left a trumpeting winged Victory. The other 13 maidens represent the original 13 states. It is an allegorical fresco of George Washington, whose deeds and virtue have found him worthy of ascending into Heaven.
Brumidi dedicated 27 years to decorating the United States Capitol building. He executed frescos in the north corridor, now called the “Brumidi corridor.” The Presidents room, the

Senate reception room and many other committee rooms and corridors are adorned with his work. Many biographers refer to him as the “Michelangelo of the Capitol.” The 108th United States Congress unanimously recognized the life and work of Constantino Brumidi (HCR 264 & SCR 61). Some 43 murals, paintings and trompe l’oeil were completed at St. Stephens while Congress was in session. When in recess, he would return to the Capitol to complete his work there, earning the same $8 and $10 per day as the legislators.
Brumidi is recognized not only as the last great Baroque artist but also as an expert in trompe l’oeil, “trick of the eye” illusionary painting. His St. Michael, Archangel, is an extraordinary example of two-dimensional art which gives the illusion of being a three-dimensional marble sculpture. One of his most fascinating and spiritually engulfing murals is the largest crucifixion mural (22 ft x 44 ft.) in the United States. Located behind the altar at St. Stephen’s, an unusual aspect of his work is the placement of Mary Magdalene in the center of the mural, directly beneath the Crucifixion.
Our Lady of the Scapular and St Stephen (151 East 28th Street) This brownstone church was built in 1854 in a Romanesque style to the designs of James Renwick Jr. Outside it looks rather dull but the painted interior comes as a complete surprise. Thin cast-iron columns divide the interior into nave, aisles, crossing and transepts, and chancel with double aisles, the outer ones with galleries. The piers also carry large foliated capitals and a fine lierne-vault with bosses.
The frescoes and murals are all the work of Constantine Brumidi, commissoned in 1866 and including a huge altarpiece of the Crucifixion in the style of the Italian baroque. In addition most of the windows have stained glass from Meyer & Co of Munich, Germany, and installed in the 1860s.