Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-21
Located on Hilltop.

The site of the ST. Paul cathedral is at
the top Of the hill which leads up from
the business section of the city to the
beginning of Summit avenue, the principal
residence street and one of the most beau
tiful in all civilization.
Both cathedrals are designed by E. l..
Masqueray, who Is living in st. Paul in
order to supervise the construction. He
is an artist as we'll as an architect, a man
of high ideals and rare accomplishments,
original, aggressive and daring in his con-
ceptions, but at the same time cOnserva-
tive in his tastes. gentle OF hand and
reverential of spirit.
Emmanuel Louis Masqueray was born
in Dieppe. Normandy. in 1862. \ few
years later his family moved to Rouen,
where his childhood was spent under the
influence of the most beautiful architec-
ture in Europe. The Incompatible mas
terpieces of the ancient Norman capital
created his standard of taste. which was
fully formed when he went to the Ecole
des Beaux-Arts at Paris, just as he was
sixteen years old. He took many prizes.
before he was twenty, and was already
distinguished when he came to America
to be an assistant in the office of Richard
Morris Hunt at New York. After Hunts
death he joined Warren & WetmOre,
with whom he worked until his appoint
ment in 1901 as chief of design at the
Louisiana purchase exposition. In the
meantime he established a school for
architecture in New York, which is now
in f1ouriShing condition.
OF all the buildings at the st. Louis eX-
position his were the most original and
distinguished for simplicity of scheme,
breadth Of disposition and perfect proper
ton, and the success of his work there
caused him to be selected by Archbishop
Ireland to design the cathedrals at Min
neapolis and ST. Paul.
In answer to my questions. Mr.. Mas
queray said that the controlling idea in
his mind when designing the Cathedral
Of ST. Paul was to obtain a cathedral
entirely of the twentieth century in feel
ing and purpose, which would at the
same time embOdy secondary features
that gave so much charm to the eccie-
siastical architecture of the middle ages.
Architect Discusses Work.
Religious character in architecture is
absolutely independent of STYLE" said Mr..
Masqueray. 1T is in the supreme impress
sion created by the perfection of the pro-
portions, the effective distribution OF light
and the sincerity of the whole compost
ton. The best churches built since the
renaissance. like the great churches of
the middle ages. have the merit of being
representative of their time. and that
principle was continually in the mind of
the architect when he designed the cathe-
dral at St. Paul and the pro-cathedral at
MinneapO The same problem had to
be solved in both Of these noble struc
lures. The principal object was to ar
range the interior that the congrega
ton could see and hear.
1.-The outlines of the ST. Paul cathedral
give it the shape of cross. continued
Mr. Masqueray. The long. narrow nave
and transepts of the medieval churches
have been made wider and rather shorter.
AT the intersection the great dome has
been placed and becomes the feature OF
the composition. The main entrance is
under a monumental arch which frames
the rose window and three front en-
frances leading to the vestibule located
under the organ gallery. At each end
of the vestibule under the two towers
are two chapels, one to be the fOunuer's
chapel and the other to contain the bap-
tismal font
THE nave is sixty feet in width and
eighty -four in height, and is flanked by
two large and beautiful chapels. one con-
secrated to the Blessed Virgin and the
other to st. Joseph. Running parallel to
the nave both Sides and separated
from 1t by imposing piers. are the am
bulatories, passageways. twelve feet
in width The great dome Is It's feet in
| its interior elevation. Twenty-four large
windows in the dome throw a flood of
| light upon the sanctuary. On each side
| Of the dome are the transeptS, of the
| same dimensions as those of the nave,
and lighted by great rose windows SIM
liar to the one over the front entrance
Dimensions of Sanctuary.
1.-The sanctuary occupies the entire
space, the dimensions being sixty feet in
width and sixty-five in length. 1t is sur
rounded by marble columns supporting
the arches that separate it from the am
| bulatory, beyond which are the chapels
| OF the nations, six in number dedicated
to the apostles of the several races from