A Pre-Raphaelite gem in New York City

Magazine Antiques, April, 2005 by Sheldon Barr, Paul Tabor

All of the images we have discussed thus far allude to Christian theology and the symbolism of the rite of baptism. However, the straightforward images on the altar serve to convey the rich historical, scriptural, and familial ties between Jesus and Saint John the Baptist. For example, the central mural of the altar (Pl. II, middle) is based on a detail from the tondo illustrated in Figure 1. In the Tiffany version the young Saint John, clad in his hair shirt, holds a small water pitcher, symbolic of his destiny as the baptizer of Christ. The inscription above the panel, "ECCE MITTO ANGELUM MEUM" (Behold I send my messenger) refers to Jesus's recognition of Saint John as his forerunner (Matt. 11:10).

The central mural is flanked by two mosaics after Sandro Botticelli. On the left is the Archangel Gabriel holding the lilies of the Annunciation (Pl. II, left), and on the right is the Archangel Michael in full armor (Pl. II, right). Both the detailed, naturalistic landscape of the central mural and the depiction of the archangels, pillars of Christian strength, as pale, elongated, willowy figures, lend the baptistery-chapel a Pre-Raphaelite aspect that is reinforced by the series of large mosaics on the walls.

Just above the altar on the mosaic door of the tabernacle (the repository of the Holy Eucharist), an elegant lamb holds a white standard with a red cross (Pl. V). It is the "Lamb of God," which John the Baptist professed Jesus to be (John 1:29-37). The lamb stands in a green pasture against a Byzantine style gold background. Cameo-glass tessarae are used in the lamb's halo and the cruciform finial of the standard. Equally elegant are the two reeds (cattails) inlaid into the pair of marble columns supporting the mensa, or top surface, of the altar. Each is an image of the frail "reed shaken with the wind" (Matt. 11:7), which Jesus says the robust "Angelum" certainly is not.

Three monumental mosaics and three smaller rectangular panels above them were installed in the baptistery-chapel in time for the 1898 dedication. Illustrating events from the life of John the Baptist, they were designed by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Robert Turnill Bayne (1837-1915), a disciple of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882). Bayne was a partner and the chief designer in the English firm of Heaton, Butler and Bayne and was probably responsible for the design of the marble mosaic pavement as well. The mosaics were prefabricated in Venice by the Salviati company and then shipped to New York, where they were installed by artisans of the Gorham Manufacturing Company.

A photogravure of the baptistery-chapel in 1897 shows the structure exactly as it stands today (see Fig. 2), but illustrations of the three large mosaics in the same publication (see Fig. 5) differ significantly from the finished works. (17) Most probably reproduced from an early rendering of the proposed commission, the illustrations exhibit ornate borders, different inscriptions in two cases, and important compositional differences. (18) For example, in all three completed mosaics, monochromatic gold tessarae replace the clouds and sky pictured in the illustrations. This neo-Byzantine alteration was probably made by the Salviati firm in Venice. (19) That notwithstanding, the asymmetrical compositions, the religious and moral candor, and the juxtaposition of realistic figures with dreamy, romantic portrayals of others are in concert with Pre-Raphaelite thinking. Pre-Raphaelite too is Bayne's great attention to detail and color and his extensive use of one of the movement's favorite leitmotifs--plant and flower designs reminiscent of medieval tapestries.