Leland Stanford Jr. Museum

The Leland Stanford Junior Museum was designed by architects Percy and Hamilton and built by Jane Stanford in memory of her son. The museum was modeled after the National Museum in Athens, Greece. It opened in 1894 and with expansions in both 1898 and 1905, it soon became the largest privately-owned museum buildings in the world.

Salviati decorated the exterior of the original building with mosaic panels between 1903 and 1905, at the time the firm made the mosaics for the Memorial Church. Both were to Paoletti's designs. The subject of the museum's thirteen panels are learning, the arts - like architecture and painting, and ancient civilizations - including Egypt and Rome. There are four, rectangular panels on the facade flanking the main entrance, two large gables at the ends, and three, smaller panels above the entry doors themselves. The museum's north rotunda also had niches decorated with Salviati mosaics.

The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 that also severely damaged the Stanford Memorial Church, destroyed two-thirds of the museum building and collections. Luckily for the mosaics, the original structure sustained the least amount of damage.

Budget cuts led to neglect and the museum fell into further disrepair, fully closing in 1945. Reopening in 1954, the galleries were gradually refurbished through fundraising and volunteers. Another earthquake in 1989 damaged the museum again, but it was subsequently rebuilt and opened as the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for the Visual Arts in 1999.

Sources:
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2008. 98-99.
Cantor Arts Center
Wikigogo
Stanford University and the 1906 Earthquake
"Facelift for Stanford's Memorial Auditorium, new Roof for Cantor Arts Center." Stanford News. April 17, 2014.
Arcticpenguin's flickr Photostream
Steve Rhodes' flickr Photostream
E. Chen's flickr Photostream

Stanford Memorial Church

Jane Stanford built this church as a memorial to her husband Leland Stanford on the campus of the university that they had founded. The Romanesque building was designed by architect Charles A. Coolige in 1898 and dedicated in 1903.

The original church facade in 1903 before the earthquake.

The Stanfords traveled extensively in Europe and they brought their love of art and architecture back to California, where Mrs. Stanford incorporated a Byzantine style into the decorations of the church. Antonio Paoletti created original watercolor paintings upon which Salviati - under the direction of Maurizio Camerino - made the mosaic decorations for both the interior and exterior. Paoletti previously designed the scenes for the Stations of the Cross at the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola in New York, which Salviati also made into mosaics.

The mosaic work on the Stanford Memorial Church began in 1900, took five years to complete, and cost $97,000. Jane Stanford was heavily involved in approving the designs and Salviati mosaicist Lorenzo Zampato supervised the in-studio manufacture in Venice, as well as the installation in California.

Unfortunately, the church was subsequently damaged in two earthquakes - first in 1906 and then later in 1989.

Exterior damage caused by the 1906 earthquake.

Interior damage caused by the 1906 earthquake.

Camerino had the Salviati firm restore the mosaics between 1913 and 1917. Because the original designs were kept, some were reproduced in their original form, while others were modified.

The north facade today.

The mosaic of The Last Supper in the chancel is a reproduction Roselli's fresco in the Sistine Chapel.

Sources:
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2008.
Sinai and Sons
Wikipedia
National Parks Service on Wikimedia Commons
Frank Davey on Wikimedia Commons
The Bankcroft Library
Eric Chan (Maveric2003) on Flickr
Ed Bierman on Flickr
Typeaux on Panoramio

Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola, New York

The parish was established in 1851, but construction on the present building designed by architect J. William Schickel was started only in 1895. It was dedicated in late 1898.

The Baptistry contains three mosaic panels depicting the life of St. John the Baptist. The cartoons were designed by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, while Salviati made and cut the tesserae. They were installed on site by Gorham Manufacturing.

Antonio Paoletti designed the mosaic Stations of the Cross that decorate most of the church and which were also made by Salviati and Company.

Three mosaic murals decorate the apse. They were also by Salviati after Paoletti's designs and these depict important moments from the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Sources:
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2008.
Wikipedia
St. Ignatius of Loyola Church History
Car Los's flickr Photostream
New York Society of Jesus
Andy Hoxie's flickr Photostream