An Episcopal Church in the Anglican Communion
A House of Prayer for All People

The Triptych

The large triptych over the High Altar is the joint work of Arthur E. Street and Edwin A. Abbey, an American pre-Raphaelite painter. The center panel represents the Crucifixion; the left wing, the Nativity; the right the Resurrection with Christ appearing to Mary in the garden. The symbol of the Incarnation is introduced into the framework. Edwin Abbey was an American who lived and worked in London, and he was a member of the Royal Academy in England. With John Singer Sargent he painted the murals for the Boston Public Library. Like many of the furnishings and fittings in the church, this piece was designed and created expressly for the place it occupies.

The Icon of the Annunciation

This Greek icon probably dates from the XVIIth century. The Angel Gabriel appears to Mary, who is in the domestic act of spinning, to announce that she will give birth to a son named Jesus. David and Solomon look on, forefathers of Christ and representatives of the Old Covenant. The black sun in the upper part of the scene represents the essence of God, indefinable and unknowable; the rays represent His energies (in the form of the Holy Trinity) which are manifestations of His essence and can therefore be known. The figures at the bottom are fourth century bishops - Gregory, Basil, John Chrysostom and Athanesius, all opponents of the heresy of Arianism which contested the total divinity of Christ and therefore undermined the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Their presence attests to the triumph of Christian orthodoxy.

The Black Madonna

The Black Madonna is often considered the Patron of Poland. There is also one at Le Puy, the most major of the starting points in France for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella. This painting of the Madonna and Child is a replica of the "Black Madonna of Czestochowa." The original painting, which is in the Paulite Monastery of Czestochowa, was based on a 5th century Byzantine icon though according to legend the painting was the work of St. Luke! It was partially destroyed in the early 15th century by robbers who stripped the image of precious stones and slashed and broke the panel. The work was then repainted in 1434.

Our replica, based on this painting, is the gift of Colonel Leon Slawinski who was active in the Resistance during World War II and vowed to offer replicas of the Black Madonna if he survived.

Après l'Office by Jean Béraud

Towards the end of the 19th century "la belle époque", James Gordon Bennett, Jr., owner of the Paris Herald (forerunner of the IHT), employer of the reporter Henry Stanley of "Dr Livingstone I presume", and member of the American Cathedral, donated a painting by Jean Béraud: "Après l'Office à l'Église de la Sainte-Trinité, Noël 1890" (After the Service at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Christmas 1890). Note that the church, just finished, was not yet a cathedral.

Béraud depicts people in their winter finery in front of the cathedral under a light snowfall, perhaps on Christmas Day. To our knowledge this is the only painting of the Cathedral by a known artist and is part of the Cathedral's heritage. Since Béraud and Bennett were contemporaries, it is believed that Bennett commissioned the painting.

After a definitive Béraud show at the Musée Carnavalet, in which our painting was presented as the "pièce de résistance" we decided for security reasons to leave the painting on loan to the Musée Carnavalet, and a photograph of the painting is on display at the Cathedral. For a few years the original was in a gallery with other Béraud paintings and this was closed on some days. Now the painting has been moved to La Galerie de Liaison, which is open daily.

Musée Carnavalet, 23 rue de Sévigny, Paris 3e (Marais). The nearest métro is St. Paul. The museum is open from 10 AM until 5:40 PM every day except Mondays and holidays

The Roussillon Master Triptych

Above the altar in the Chapel of the Martyrs, is the 15th century Spanish retable (alterpiece) attributed to the Master of Roussilion who was perhaps Jaubert Gaucelon who lived in Perpignan from 1398 to 1434. Whatever its provenance, it is a fine example of Spanish Italo-Gothic style of the late 14th century to mid 15th century. The center panel shows the triumphant saint with the Holy Family looking down from above. The side panels depict the martyrdom of Saints Justus and Pastor, Castillian boys of 8 and 13, who were decapitated in the Diocletian persecution in the year 304. It is rare in the iconography of the Middle Ages that martyrs be represented as children, hence the two are shown as young men.

The Visit of the Magi

Attributed to the Italian master Jacopo Bassano (1515-1592), though it is perhaps of the school of Bassano, this painting has the qualities of the master's style - long, thin figures, odd colors, strange compositions, a pastoral background which threatens to overwhelm the central theme, and ragged, impressionistic strokes which foreshadow El Greco. The Visit of the Magi was a popular medieval theme. While the Bible mentions "wise men from the East," it was not until the Middle Ages that the number, ethnic origins and offerings of the Magi were clearly established in Church tradition.

The Lectern

The lectern, in the form of a brass eagle, was designed by George Edmund Street and donated by Mrs. George D. Morgan. The eagle is the symbol of St. John.

The Cathedra

The Bishop's Seat, or Cathedra, was designed by Arthur Edmund Street and was given by Mrs. Robert J. Niven (née Marie Louise Vanderbilt) as a memorial to R.J. Niven. It is in English Hopton-Wood stone and is situated in the chancel to the left as you face the altar.

The Cosmati floor

The records of the design of Cathedral floor unfortunately no longer exist, but it is reminiscent of the mosaic floor in Westminster Abbey, regarded as the finest example north of the Alps produced by the famous Cosmati masonry artists, six Roman families who worked during the 12th and 13th centuries. The intricate paving and inlay of the Cathedral's floor are in their style.

Saint Paul the Traveller's Chapel

St. Paul the Traveller's Chapel was organized in 1925. The space was always intended to be a chapel for smaller services. Later the needlepoint kneelers were made, with scenes of St. Paul's life showing him as being let down in a basket to escape Damascus.

Baptismal font

The Font, made of Hopton-Wood stone, was given by Dr. and Mrs Theodore Evans in memory of her father, John P. Howard.

Stained glass windows

The stained glass windows are the work of the firm Bell and Beckham of London, designed by James Bell, and completed between 1883 and 1893. Each window represents part of the text of the Te Deum Laudamus (found on page 95 of the Prayer Book) which is, as the title indicates, a hymn of praise to God and to Christ - "All creation worships you... the glorious company of apostles praise you, the noble fellowhip of prophets praise you, the white-robed army of martyrs praise you."

Lancet windows

The great triple lancet window over the high altar illustrates the fourteenth versicle of the Te Deum: "Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ." The center lancet portrays Christ in Majesty seated on the "throne set in heaven." In the left and right lancets are represented the "four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold" (Revelation 4:4). Between the six grouings of the elders with their harps are set out the "Holy, holy, holy" acknowledgement of the four beasts. This triple lancet window was the gift of George P. Clapp.

West window

The great "West" window (it is really at the east end of the Cathedral, but since all churches are supposed to face east, even though some of them do not, it is traditionally called the West window) was a gift of Benjamin Hart, a convert to Christianity from Judaism. It is thirty feet high and eighteen feet wide. It was completed in 1887. It is dominated, in its central light, by the seated figure of Our Lord holding an orb surmounted by a cross, a representation of God's power in all the earth. Above this figure in small lettering is the opening versicle of the Te Deum: "We praise Thee, O God". The second half of the versicle encircles the head of Our Lord: "We acknowledge Thee to be the Lord." On either side of this figure are a series of human figures representing the four corners of the globe. In the upper left three lights are figures of kings and bishops illustrating the peoples of Europe. In the lower left three lights are Africans: Egyptians and Black Africans. In the upper right three lights are Asians (Arab, Chinese, Ottoman). The lower right three lights depict North and South Americans: a Spanish conquistador, a North American Indian, an Argentinian cowboy. Separating the upper and lower figures is the second versicle of the Te Deum: "All the earth doth worship Thee, the Father everlasting," which is repeated at the base of the window. At the top center is the third versicle: "To Thee all angels cry aloud" and continuing in the rondel above "The Heavens and all the powers therein" with four angels and the four elements. In the left and right trefoils are the signs of the Zodiac, which were used in Medieval times in church art and are an indication that to Our Lord belong all times and seasons.

The State flags

This photograph shows the fifty-two flags hanging in the nave of the Cathedral, which are the flag of the United States, those of the fifty states and the flag of France. At the rear is the great "West Window"

The Cole Porter piano

Mystery surrounds this extraordinary piano, a Steinway, serial number 121776, one of only a few pianos in the world in imitation of the Louis XIV style of construction and decoration. We know that it was constructed in Hamburg as a "normal" piano; with three legs and an ebony finish. It was sold on October 15, 1906, and delivered to a certain E. Moulle Company in Paris, where it received its current extraordinary painting and leg structure: it imitates, almost exactly, a famous Johannes Rûckers dating from 1628, now in the Chateau de Versailles. At some point it was purchased by Howard Sturges, a close friend of the great Cole Porter. Both Porter and Sturges had apartments on the Rue Monsieur, in Paris' 7th arrondissement. One can only imagine how often Porter played this piano, and after it was given to the Cathedral at the time of Sturges' death, in the 1950s, it became known to us as the "Cole Porter Piano."

Although the health of the interior (the key action, tuning, etc.) of the instrument has been maintained over the years (most recently by Pianos Magne), the exterior did not receive the same attention, most likely because of its extraordinary nature. The Cathedral's arts association, Les Arts George V, agreed to undertake a project, completed in September 2004, to restore the original beauty of the piano's exterior painting and make repairs to its ailing structure. The project was supervised by Les Arts George V, Cathedral Organist-Choirmaster Edward Tipton, and specialist Isabelle Chochod, and included art restorers, woodworkers, and guilders. Financial support was provided by Les Arts George V, Barbara Watson Pillsbury, and the Living Stones Capital Campaign, and the Mona Bismark Foundation.

Kneelers and cushions

All the kneelers and cushions were the result of a parish needlepoint project initiated in 1960 by Mrs. Amory Houghton, whose husband was the American Ambassador to France from 1957 to 1961.

The Cloister

The Cathedral cloister was dedicated on May 30, 1923, by Marshal Ferdinand Foch and the American Ambassador, Myron T. Herrick, in the presence of President Raymond Poincaré as a memorial to the American soldiers and civilians who died in World War I. On June 24, 1994, Philippe Mestre, the French Minister of Veterans and War Victims, and The Honorable Pamela Harriman, United States Ambassador to France, inaugurated the seven marble plaques lining the cloister, work of the artist Rudy Bass, to the memory of all nationalities, civilians and soliders, who died or disappeared in Europe during World War II.

The Dean's garden

The Dean's Garden in the Cloister is maintained by the Garden Guild for visitors to our Cathedral and for the congregation, who enjoy the beauty of the garden during summer Sunday coffees and occasional parties.

Statue of a boy

The statue of a young boy with birds is by Beverly Seamans. It was a gift to the Cathedral from The Reverend Frank and Mrs. Strasberger.

Statue of a Victory sheathing her sword

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