Columbus Memorial Building, Chicago

W.W. Boyington designed this 14 story building that was built in 1893. This was the same year that the World's Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago. It was located at the southeast corner of State and Washington Streets.

The Venice and Murano Company made the two enamel mosaics that decorated the rear wall of each store on the State Street entrance. One showed the Landing of Columbus and the other the Columbus Before Ferdinand and Isabella. Each panel measured 8.5 feet by 16.5 feet and they were commissioned for the Expo by financiers of the building, law partners Van Higgins and Henry Furber.  They were moved to the building in 1894. The building was destroyed in 1959, however, the mosaics, as well as a 10 foot statue of Columbus and numerous bas reliefs were proposed to be donated to local art organizations. However, the Art Institute rejected the mosaics both because of their size and their dilapidated condition. They were consequently moved to a storage facility.

In 1976, the Landing of Columbus panel was installed on the south wall of the lobby of Columbus Hospital. However, tiles from the other panel had been used to repair it, and it had also been cut into three separate panels in order to fit. The firm used to repair the mosaics - Conrad Schmitt Studios in Wisconsin - was allowed to keep the remaining mosaics. The Landing of Columbus was on display in the hospital for about  decade, until the next round of renovations. It was consequently removed and stored, until it was also given to Schmitt Studios. As of 2012, the three restored panels were still owned by the Gruenke Foundation for the Arts, which is a non-profit organization set up by Schmitt Studios.

Sources:
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2008. 126.
National Geographic Channel
Columbian Exposition Dedication Ceremonies Memorial. 1893. 296.
Old Chicago
University of Illinois - Chicago
Architecture Farm
Huebner, Jeff. "Kept in the Dark." Reader. July 8, 1999.

Church of the Ascension, Chicago

The church building has been standing in its present location since 1867. St. Faith's Chapel was added in 1874 by John Addison and it included a new sacristy with a marble altar and reredos.

Salviati made the mosaics on the tabernacle door and the panels on the 1893 altar that was designed by Edward J.N. Stent.

Agnus Dei or Lamb of God in the middle, surrounded by the four Evangelists.

The Crucifixion in mosaic on the Tabernacle door.

 

Sources:
Wright, John. Some notable altars in the Church of England and the American Episcopal Church. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1908. 355.
Giles, George C. History of the Church of the Ascension, Chicago, Illinois 1857-1982.
Church of the Ascension's flickr Photostream
S. Smith Photography
Inner Light Radiant Life

St. Paul's Within the Walls, Rome

Also known as the American Church in Rome, this Episcopal church was built 1872-76 by G.E. Street. The facade (pictured before recent renovations) contains several mosaics designed by George Breck.

However, it was for the interior that Salviati's Compagnia di Venezia-Murano made several mosaics based on the designs of Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones. The first arch before the apse contains a sparse, desert scene of the Annunciation.

The second arch - located above the choir - is the Tree of Forgiveness (or Life), which was painted in 1892 and transferred to mosaics a year later.

The rear wall depicts Christ in Glory with a crowd of angels looking down from the dome, while five groups of historically important individuals related to Christendom look upwards. Preparations on this section of the mosaic was started in July 1881.

The work was managed by a Signor Castellani who represented the mosaic manufacturer.

Sources:
St. Paul's Within the Walls  History and Art & Architecture
Bell, Malcolm. Sir Edward Burne-Jones.  London: George Bell and Sons, 1901. 41-42.
The British Architect. Vol 50. London: July 28, 1898. 87.
Wildretina
Dreams on Paper
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2008.
Mathias, Anita. Dreaming Beneath the Spires. On-line Blog: November 25, 2012.
Burne-Jones, Lady Georgiana and Edward. Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones. London: MacMillan, 1906. 114.

Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin

The second largest parish church in England, this former Benedictine monastery was founded in 1092. G.G. Scott renovated parts of the building in the 19th century.

The east window of the Norman (or apsidal) Chapel in the south transept was walled up in 1887 and now contains a Salviati mosaic of Christ enthroned, holding a book in one hand and giving a blessing with the other.

The Norman Chapel circa 1900.

 

In 2012.

An anonymous donor funded the mosaic, which was installed in either 1893 or 1897.

Sources:
Wikipedia
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bell's Cathedrals: The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury, by H. J. L. J. Massé, 1906. 69.
Tailer Family's flickr Photostream
Wendy Redrobin's flickr Photostream
St. Mary the Virgin

St. Andrew's Kirby Grindalythe

G.E. Street built this church in 1872-75 by incorporating parts of the original 12th and 14th century tower and belfry.

The mosaics covering the entire west wall of the nave portraying "The Ascension of Christ" were added by Salviati's Venice and Murano Glass Company in 1893 under the supervision of architect C.H. Townsend.

Sources:
A Church Near You
British Listed Buildings
Britain Express
Nigel Coates at Wikimedia Commons
Pevsner, Nikolaus and David Neave. Buildings of England: Yorkshire: York and the East Riding. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995. 580.