Second Presbyterian Church of Chicago
Encyclopedia
Second Presbyterian Church is a landmark Gothic Revival church located on South Michigan Avenue
in Chicago, Illinois
, United States
. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some of Chicago’s most prominent families attended this church. It is renowned for its interior, completely redone in the Arts and Crafts
style after a disastrous fire in 1900. The sanctuary is one of America’s best examples of an unaltered Arts and Crafts church interior, fully embodying that movement’s principles of simplicity, hand craftsmanship, and unity of design. It also boasts nine imposing Tiffany
windows. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1974 and later designated a Chicago Landmark
on September 28, 1977.
. Renwick later designed St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York
and the original building of the Smithsonian Institution
. Already in the late 1860s, downtown Chicago was becoming more commercial and less residential, and Second Presbyterian’s leaders began planning to follow its membership to the near South Side
. The Great Chicago Fire
in October 1871 destroyed the spotted church, adding urgency to the congregation’s move.
Many wealthy Chicago residents attended Second Presbyterian, including members of the George Pullman
, Silas B. Cobb, Timothy Blackstone
, and Philip Danforth Armour
families. These were men who moved to Chicago in the middle of the nineteenth century to make their fortunes and build a new metropolis on the prairie. Many were born in New England or New York State. Proud of their adopted city, they endowed cultural institutions like the Art Institute of Chicago
and the University of Chicago
. Robert Todd Lincoln
, the president’s son, was also a church member. When the South Side
emerged in the 1870s as the city’s premier residential neighborhood, the business elite built imposing houses on South Prairie Avenue
, South Michigan Avenue
, South Calumet Avenue and other streets.
at 20th Street (now Cullerton), the congregation again turned to James Renwick
. Renwick designed a church based on early English Gothic
examples, with a high-pitched gable roof, a rose window
in the east wall, and a corner bell tower. The stone is Joliet limestone with sandstone trim. Sculpture on the exterior is limited; the Four Evangelists
and the head of Jesus appear on the entry wall on Michigan and gargoyle
s loom from the bell tower. The interior was also thoroughly Gothic, with pointed arches leading to the side aisles, slender iron columns supporting the balcony, and extensive stenciling adorning the walls. The sanctuary in the new building was dedicated in 1874.
In March 1900, fire gutted the sanctuary. The church turned to one of its members, Howard Van Doren Shaw
, for the rebuilding. Shaw, 31 at the time, was a graduate of Yale University
and the architecture program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. After working briefly in the office of Chicago’s skyscraper pioneer William Le Baron Jenney
, Shaw established his own practice. Shaw also had traveled extensively in Britain and was familiar with the work of Arts and Crafts
architects like Philip Webb
and C. F. A. Voysey.
principles. Abandoning the original neoGothic approach, Shaw lowered the pitch of the roof, expanded the balconies, and used warm stained oak and plaster panels throughout. He planned an auditorium-style sanctuary, with no central aisle. This was appropriate for a congregation that emphasized preaching and musical worship. For the same reason, the pews are gently curved, providing good sight lines to the pulpit. The decorative program of the interior is rich, but subdued, emphasizing brown, buff, dusky crimson, and dull gold.
The church’s figurative art, with dozens of angels and two brightly colored saints in the lobby windows, is perhaps surprising for a Presbyterian congregation. This congregation, however, was culturally sophisticated and well-traveled. Many members had seen the great cathedrals of Europe and wanted their home church to make an equivalent artistic statement.
In line with the Arts and Crafts
ethos, Shaw and Bartlett designed every element of the new interior to work together to create a restful and harmonious whole. Attention was paid to every detail of pew carving, plaster casting, and fixture design. Leading Chicago area designers and craftsmen were employed for elements like the seven-armed electric candelabra flanking the pulpit (William Lau) and the graceful leaded-glass grapevine screen between the lobby and the sanctuary (Blanche Ostertag). Electric lighting was used throughout the sanctuary, and Shaw embraced the naked bulbs as design elements in the circular chandeliers and the fixtures hanging over the side aisles.
A number of recurring motifs tie the various interior elements together. The most obvious is that of the angel. Some 175 grace the interior, including the four heralding angels above the altar and those carved into the brackets from which the chandeliers hang. Another recurring motif is the grapevine, found in the pew ends, the light screen at the sanctuary’s rear, many of Bartlett’s murals, and the dull gold of the screen concealing the organ pipes. The congregation installed a Hutchings-Votey organ following the 1900 fire. The Austin Organ Co. reworked the instrument in 1917, providing it with a four-manual console. The organ today has 43 ranks and 2,600 pipes.
Second Presbyterian Church occupies a prominent place in Chicago’s social and industrial history and its artistic heritage. Its glorious interior is just beginning to be seen by a wider audience after decades of semi-obscurity. Tours featuring the art and architecture of the building are offered on a regular schedule. Use the "Friends of Historic Second Church" link below for detailed information.
.
The majestic 40-foot-wide mural behind the altar represents the tree of life
surmounted by a heavenly rainbow. Above that is a celestial orchestra in medieval robes. Bartlett’s care in blending decoration to the sanctuary’s architecture is evident; his rainbow echoes the curve of the ceiling. Bartlett’s work in the twelve bays of the balcony centers on the themes of praise, abundance, and sacred music. Texts from scripture are painted on the walls below the figures.
. Soon the bays began to be filled with specially commissioned memorial windows. Now, only the last bay on the north side of the church displays Shaw’s
work. Members of the congregation gave the other windows in memory of departed loved ones. Nine of the windows are by Louis Comfort Tiffany
’s firm and display many of the innovative glass-working techniques that he pioneered. Tiffany looked to get artistic effects from the character of the glass itself rather than by painting on the glass. He used folded glass, confetti glass, striated glass, and multiple layers of glass. Most of the windows portray Biblical scenes, while others have more stylized designs, and some are pastoral scenes. In the east end of the church is a boldly colored representation of the Resurrection
. Below it are the five scourges or Arma Christi
of Jesus.
The two Edward Burne-Jones
windows in the lobby tie Second Presbyterian directly to the British Arts and Crafts Movement
. Burne-Jones was a close associate of William Morris
, founder of the Arts and Crafts
in Britain. Morris and Co. crafted these two windows from the designs of Burne-Jones. The subjects are St. Margaret of Antioch
, in robes of rich crimson, and St. Cecilia
, in blue robes, a portable organ in her arms. These windows were displayed in the William Morris Memorial Room of Chicago’s Tobey Furniture Co. before being purchased by the Franklin Darius Gray family and made into memorials. Burne-Jones windows are rare in the United States; these are the only ones known outside of the East Coast.
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
in Chicago, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some of Chicago’s most prominent families attended this church. It is renowned for its interior, completely redone in the Arts and Crafts
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
style after a disastrous fire in 1900. The sanctuary is one of America’s best examples of an unaltered Arts and Crafts church interior, fully embodying that movement’s principles of simplicity, hand craftsmanship, and unity of design. It also boasts nine imposing Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements...
windows. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1974 and later designated a Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...
on September 28, 1977.
History of the congregation
Second Presbyterian Church organized in 1842 as an offshoot of the city’s original Presbyterian congregation, which had formed in 1833. From 1851 until 1871, the congregation worshipped in a church at Wabash Avenue and Washington Street in downtown Chicago. Known as the spotted church because of the tar deposits in its limestone blocks, this building was designed by the noted eastern architect, James Renwick, Jr.James Renwick, Jr.
James Renwick, Jr. , was a prominent American architect in the 19th-century. The Encyclopedia of American Architecture calls him "one of the most successful American architects of his time".-Life and work:Renwick was born into a wealthy and well-educated family...
. Renwick later designed St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York
St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York
The Cathedral of St. Patrick is a decorated Neo-Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral church in the United States...
and the original building of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. Already in the late 1860s, downtown Chicago was becoming more commercial and less residential, and Second Presbyterian’s leaders began planning to follow its membership to the near South Side
South Side (Chicago)
The South Side is a major part of the City of Chicago, which is located in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Much of it has evolved from the city's incorporation of independent townships, such as Hyde Park Township which voted along with several other townships to be annexed in the June 29,...
. The Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...
in October 1871 destroyed the spotted church, adding urgency to the congregation’s move.
Many wealthy Chicago residents attended Second Presbyterian, including members of the George Pullman
George Pullman
George Mortimer Pullman was an American inventor and industrialist. He is known as the inventor of the Pullman sleeping car, and for violently suppressing striking workers in the company town he created, Pullman .-Background:Born in Brocton, New York, his family moved to Albion,...
, Silas B. Cobb, Timothy Blackstone
Timothy Blackstone
Timothy Beach Blackstone was a 19th century railroad executive, businessman, philanthropist, and politician. He is descended from one of the earliest British settlers of New England, William Blaxton. Blackstone worked in the railroad industry for most of his life after dropping out of school...
, and Philip Danforth Armour
Philip Danforth Armour
Philip Danforth Armour, Sr. was an American businessman who founded Armour and Company, an American meatpacking firm.-Biography:...
families. These were men who moved to Chicago in the middle of the nineteenth century to make their fortunes and build a new metropolis on the prairie. Many were born in New England or New York State. Proud of their adopted city, they endowed cultural institutions like the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
and the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. Robert Todd Lincoln
Robert Todd Lincoln
Robert Todd Lincoln was an American lawyer and Secretary of War, and the first son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln...
, the president’s son, was also a church member. When the South Side
South Side (Chicago)
The South Side is a major part of the City of Chicago, which is located in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Much of it has evolved from the city's incorporation of independent townships, such as Hyde Park Township which voted along with several other townships to be annexed in the June 29,...
emerged in the 1870s as the city’s premier residential neighborhood, the business elite built imposing houses on South Prairie Avenue
Prairie Avenue
Prairie Avenue is a north–south thoroughfare on the South Side of Chicago, which historically extended from 16th Street in the Near South Side community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, to the city's southern limits and beyond. The street has a rich history from its origins...
, South Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
, South Calumet Avenue and other streets.
Original appearance of the church
For its new building on South Michigan AvenueMichigan Avenue (Chicago)
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
at 20th Street (now Cullerton), the congregation again turned to James Renwick
James Renwick, Jr.
James Renwick, Jr. , was a prominent American architect in the 19th-century. The Encyclopedia of American Architecture calls him "one of the most successful American architects of his time".-Life and work:Renwick was born into a wealthy and well-educated family...
. Renwick designed a church based on early English Gothic
English Gothic architecture
English Gothic is the name of the architectural style that flourished in England from about 1180 until about 1520.-Introduction:As with the Gothic architecture of other parts of Europe, English Gothic is defined by its pointed arches, vaulted roofs, buttresses, large windows, and spires...
examples, with a high-pitched gable roof, a rose window
Rose window
A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...
in the east wall, and a corner bell tower. The stone is Joliet limestone with sandstone trim. Sculpture on the exterior is limited; the Four Evangelists
Four Evangelists
In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...
and the head of Jesus appear on the entry wall on Michigan and gargoyle
Gargoyle
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...
s loom from the bell tower. The interior was also thoroughly Gothic, with pointed arches leading to the side aisles, slender iron columns supporting the balcony, and extensive stenciling adorning the walls. The sanctuary in the new building was dedicated in 1874.
In March 1900, fire gutted the sanctuary. The church turned to one of its members, Howard Van Doren Shaw
Howard Van Doren Shaw
Howard Van Doren Shaw was an American architect. He became one of the best-known architects of his generation in the Chicago area.-Early life and career:...
, for the rebuilding. Shaw, 31 at the time, was a graduate of Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and the architecture program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. After working briefly in the office of Chicago’s skyscraper pioneer William Le Baron Jenney
William Le Baron Jenney
William Le Baron Jenney was an American architect and engineer who became known as the Father of the American skyscraper.- Life and career :...
, Shaw established his own practice. Shaw also had traveled extensively in Britain and was familiar with the work of Arts and Crafts
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
architects like Philip Webb
Philip Webb
Another Philip Webb — Philip Edward Webb was the architect son of leading architect Sir Aston Webb. Along with his brother, Maurice, he assisted his father towards the end of his career....
and C. F. A. Voysey.
The remodeled interior
Shaw, working with his friend, the painter Frederic Clay Bartlett, and several other designers and craftsmen, gave Second Presbyterian a sanctuary firmly rooted in Arts and CraftsArts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
principles. Abandoning the original neoGothic approach, Shaw lowered the pitch of the roof, expanded the balconies, and used warm stained oak and plaster panels throughout. He planned an auditorium-style sanctuary, with no central aisle. This was appropriate for a congregation that emphasized preaching and musical worship. For the same reason, the pews are gently curved, providing good sight lines to the pulpit. The decorative program of the interior is rich, but subdued, emphasizing brown, buff, dusky crimson, and dull gold.
The church’s figurative art, with dozens of angels and two brightly colored saints in the lobby windows, is perhaps surprising for a Presbyterian congregation. This congregation, however, was culturally sophisticated and well-traveled. Many members had seen the great cathedrals of Europe and wanted their home church to make an equivalent artistic statement.
In line with the Arts and Crafts
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
ethos, Shaw and Bartlett designed every element of the new interior to work together to create a restful and harmonious whole. Attention was paid to every detail of pew carving, plaster casting, and fixture design. Leading Chicago area designers and craftsmen were employed for elements like the seven-armed electric candelabra flanking the pulpit (William Lau) and the graceful leaded-glass grapevine screen between the lobby and the sanctuary (Blanche Ostertag). Electric lighting was used throughout the sanctuary, and Shaw embraced the naked bulbs as design elements in the circular chandeliers and the fixtures hanging over the side aisles.
A number of recurring motifs tie the various interior elements together. The most obvious is that of the angel. Some 175 grace the interior, including the four heralding angels above the altar and those carved into the brackets from which the chandeliers hang. Another recurring motif is the grapevine, found in the pew ends, the light screen at the sanctuary’s rear, many of Bartlett’s murals, and the dull gold of the screen concealing the organ pipes. The congregation installed a Hutchings-Votey organ following the 1900 fire. The Austin Organ Co. reworked the instrument in 1917, providing it with a four-manual console. The organ today has 43 ranks and 2,600 pipes.
Second Presbyterian Church occupies a prominent place in Chicago’s social and industrial history and its artistic heritage. Its glorious interior is just beginning to be seen by a wider audience after decades of semi-obscurity. Tours featuring the art and architecture of the building are offered on a regular schedule. Use the "Friends of Historic Second Church" link below for detailed information.
Murals
Bartlett’s murals are one of the glories of the sanctuary, and they were widely published after their completion. From a well-to-do Chicago family, Bartlett had studied painting at Munich’s Royal Academy and with masters in Paris. For Second Presbyterian, Bartlett sought inspiration in the work of medieval church painters. He consciously rejected the post-Renaissance artistic tradition, with its emphasis on perspective and verisimilitude. Bartlett preferred to focus on expressiveness and spirituality, which he found in the flat and serene figures painted on the walls of medieval Italian churches. Bartlett painted directly on the dry plaster of the sanctuary’s vertical walls. The paintings in the ceilings of the arches were done on canvas in his studio and then mounted in the church. Bartlett’s figures have bold outlines and sumptuous robes of muted blue, crimson, and green. He used gold leaf extensively and supplied relief to features like haloes with a plaster technique known as pargetingPargeting
Pargeting is a decorative plastering applied to building walls.Pargeting derives from the word 'parget', a Middle English term that is probably derived from the Old French 'pargeter' / 'parjeter', to throw about, or 'porgeter', to roughcast a wall...
.
The majestic 40-foot-wide mural behind the altar represents the tree of life
Tree of life
The concept of a tree of life, a many-branched tree illustrating the idea that all life on earth is related, has been used in science , religion, philosophy, mythology, and other areas...
surmounted by a heavenly rainbow. Above that is a celestial orchestra in medieval robes. Bartlett’s care in blending decoration to the sanctuary’s architecture is evident; his rainbow echoes the curve of the ceiling. Bartlett’s work in the twelve bays of the balcony centers on the themes of praise, abundance, and sacred music. Texts from scripture are painted on the walls below the figures.
Windows
When the sanctuary was rededicated in 1904, many of its arched openings contained simple windows with small, stylized floral designs by ShawHoward Van Doren Shaw
Howard Van Doren Shaw was an American architect. He became one of the best-known architects of his generation in the Chicago area.-Early life and career:...
. Soon the bays began to be filled with specially commissioned memorial windows. Now, only the last bay on the north side of the church displays Shaw’s
Howard Van Doren Shaw
Howard Van Doren Shaw was an American architect. He became one of the best-known architects of his generation in the Chicago area.-Early life and career:...
work. Members of the congregation gave the other windows in memory of departed loved ones. Nine of the windows are by Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements...
’s firm and display many of the innovative glass-working techniques that he pioneered. Tiffany looked to get artistic effects from the character of the glass itself rather than by painting on the glass. He used folded glass, confetti glass, striated glass, and multiple layers of glass. Most of the windows portray Biblical scenes, while others have more stylized designs, and some are pastoral scenes. In the east end of the church is a boldly colored representation of the Resurrection
Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
. Below it are the five scourges or Arma Christi
Arma Christi
Arma Christi , or the Instruments of the Passion, are the objects associated with Jesus' Passion in Christian symbolism and art....
of Jesus.
The two Edward Burne-Jones
Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...
windows in the lobby tie Second Presbyterian directly to the British Arts and Crafts Movement
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
. Burne-Jones was a close associate of William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
, founder of the Arts and Crafts
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
in Britain. Morris and Co. crafted these two windows from the designs of Burne-Jones. The subjects are St. Margaret of Antioch
Margaret the Virgin
Margaret the Virgin, also known as Margaret of Antioch , virgin and martyr, is celebrated as a saint by the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches on July 20; and on July 17 in the Orthodox Church. Her historical existence has been questioned; she was declared apocryphal by Pope Gelasius I in 494,...
, in robes of rich crimson, and St. Cecilia
Saint Cecilia
Saint Cecilia is the patroness of musicians and Church music because as she was dying she sang to God. It is also written that as the musicians played at her wedding she "sang in her heart to the Lord". St. Cecilia was an only child. Her feast day is celebrated in the Roman Catholic, Anglican,...
, in blue robes, a portable organ in her arms. These windows were displayed in the William Morris Memorial Room of Chicago’s Tobey Furniture Co. before being purchased by the Franklin Darius Gray family and made into memorials. Burne-Jones windows are rare in the United States; these are the only ones known outside of the East Coast.
External links
- Friends of Historic Second Church
- Second Presbyterian Church of Chicago
- Chicago Landmarks, Second Presbyterian
- Emporis Buildings, Second Presbyterian