St. Patrick's Cathedral, Interior

In 1853, Archbishop John Joseph Hughes of the Archdiocese of New York commissioned the American architect James Renwick, Jr., with his firm’s partner William Rodrigue (who was Hughes's brother-in-law), to design New York City’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral to replace the Archdiocese’s earlier, smaller building in lower Manhattan. Hughes was instrumental in fundraising for the new building. Construction started in 1858 on what was then a less populated site north of the city’s main residential and business areas. During the American Civil War in the 1860s, construction was interrupted; the cathedral opened in May 1879--a stunning structure clad in marble, albeit without spires due to a lack of funding. Stylistically, it incorporated German, French and English Gothic elements. In the 1880s, the archbishop's house and rectory were completed -- also designed by Renwick; the spires were added in 1888.



This dark interior view shows the nave looking towards the altar; the clerestory and Gothic vaulted ceiling occupies the top of the print. Barely visible in the dim shadows are some worshippers: a woman wearing a hat kneels between two children in the central aisle; a couple stands behind the pews at right, while a nun kneels in prayer behind the pews at left. The small remarque portrait in the bottom margin is of Archbishop Hughes (born Ireland, 1797–1864), who served as the first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York from 1850 until his death. His coat of arms (with Latin motto "CLAUDIT ET APERIT" [Closes and Opens] is etched in the margin beneath the interior scene, lower center. Although Archbishop Hughes did not live to see the grand new St. Patrick's cathedral built, his key role in its realization is recognized by this print, executed just after the spires were completed.