The Churches of New York XIII: The “Other Dominican”

St Catherine of Siena

East 68^th Street

There aren’t many New York Catholics aware of the Archdiocese’s heritage of history and art who haven’t heard of St. Vincent Ferrer – widely considered the finest example of Catholic Church architecture in New York City. But few know that a few blocks to the East is a second Dominican church – and a fascinating masterpiece in its own right. The parish of St Catherine of Siena was “hived off” from the parish of St Vincent Ferrer in 1896: the new parish included all the territory east of Second Avenue between 60^th and 72nd streets. Care of the parish from the beginning has remained with the Dominican order.  St. Catherine of Siena resembled most parishes of that era: a large population, many organizations and a school.  What seems unusual is that the parish became split almost equally between “English” (probably almost all Irish) and Italian members. A 1914 source records 140 “English” and 389 “Italian” baptisms in 1913.

What is the greatest interest for us was the rebuilding of the church that took place in 1930 in a unique Gothic “Arts and Crafts” idiom. The architect was Wilfred E. Anthony. The exterior facade entirely in red brick with white stone borders and limited but select statuary hardly gives an indication of the scale of the church within – the church extends through the entire block. The apse on 69^th streets follows the same style as the façade but is more impressive. The church is otherwise concealed in by larger buildings on either side.

Inside, we pass through a narthex into a single vast open space dominated by a series of powerful arches – all in the same red brick as the exterior. Nestled within the niches formed by the arches are a series of chapels containing shrines and altars. It is all an extraordinary union of New York’s favorite style of  church architecture – the Gothic – with English arts and crafts principles and even hints of the contemporary Art Deco “skyscraper style.” Moreover, since the patron was the Dominican order, this architecture also looks back to the great medieval churches of the orders of friars in Venice and Siena (the parish history itself claims affinity with St. Maria sopra Minerva in Rome). 

Like its predecessor St Vincent Ferrer, this church has a custom built program of furnishings (altars and statuary) of a very high order of quality. Perhaps, best of all is the often overlooked magnificent ceiling.

Unlike St Vincent Ferrer, though, where the furnishings and windows are equal partners with the architecture, in St Catherine of Siena the architecture completely dominates. Moreover, a number of the shrines consist only of high quality but otherwise ordinary plaster statues. Perhaps the funds necessary to create original pieces for every chapel were no longer available in the wake of the Great Depression.

 

The “moderne” stained glass, too, is adequate, not extraordinary. Only the often highly unusual pictorial program (the temptation of Christ by Satan, the Samaritan woman at the well, the exorcising of a child etc.) is memorable. The stained glass is actually most effective when, gazing up the nave from the rear; the visitor sees only the colors of the concealed windows playing upon the brick of the arches and walls.

Gradually this parish became dominated by hospital construction on the East River. The area took on a less residential and more institutional character, and eventually the parish school  closed.  St. Catherine of Siena began to assume the primary function of a medical “commuter church” for visitors, staff and patients.  There are always souls praying here – the church’s popular shrine of St. Jude seems particularly appropriate to the neighborhood.  A number of years ago the auxiliary buildings of the parish (like the school) were torn down. One hopes this parish thereby obtained sufficient funds to maintain itself into the future. In any case, some disfiguring changes that had been made to the church (like the conversion of half the narthex into a reception room!) have since been removed.

If anyone thinks that “preconciliar” art was “out of touch” with contemporary art, he needs to visit this church. Regrettably, it had no imitators:  Wilfred E. Anthony’s next New York project was the handsome but conventional neo- Georgian Corpus Christi church. St Catherine of Siena remains a unique example of a creative Catholic architecture successfully balancing both tradition and modernity.