Return to St. John the Divine

NOTES FOR A DOCUMENTARY FILM IN PROGRESS

These are the first frames from today's visit to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. I had been here once before, with Alice Parker during the making of her film. This time I came prepared, with two lenses I trusted to do justice to the space: the Laowa 10mm f/2.8 for the vaults, and the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 for the long view down the nave.

The nave, looking east toward the crossing and apse. Sigma 35mm f/1.4

What I didn't know on that first visit is that the ceilings that kept pulling my eye upward — the great vaults over the nave and crossing, and the colorful herringbone tilework in the corridors along both sides — were made possible by Rafael Guastavino and his patented Tile Arch System, his refinement of the centuries-old timbrel vault, the bóveda tabicada he carried with him from Spain.

The apse and its stained glass. Laowa 10mm f/2.8

Guastavino herringbone tilework over the side aisle. Laowa 10mm f/2.8

A few weeks back, I visited La Lonja in Valencia, a short walk from the Guastavino family home near Plaza de la Reina, where Rafael was born, and less than a quarter of a mile from my new home base in Spain.vStanding beneath those fifteenth-century ceilings, I finally understood the magnitude of his contribution to American architecture. Much as the Piccirilli brothers transported the Renaissance experience from Italy, Guastavino brought with him the even earlier medieval ingenuity of the Kingdom of Valencia — to New York, and eventually to nearly a thousand buildings across the United States.

One bay of the nave vault. Guastavino's timbrel vaulting overhead

Today, back under his vaults with the right glass in the bag, I photographed the cathedral with new eyes. Stay tuned — and sign up for regular updates as we continue to explore the fascinating contributions of Valencians in New York.