Father Pitt

Tag: Egan and Prindeville

  • St. Paul’s Cathedral, Oakland

    St. Paul’s Cathedral

    These are far from the first pictures of this cathedral that old Pa Pitt has published, and they certainly will not be the last. A cathedral is too big a deal to take in all at once.

    West-front elevation

    The west front (liturgically speaking1) is a towering Gothic fantasy whose scale is hard to convey in a photograph. Here the human figures on the steps give us some context.

    Part of the west front
    Front doors

    The main doors turn on the mightiest hinges in Pittsburgh.

    Hinge
    South transept façade

    This would be a magnificent main front for any church; here it is just the façade of the south transept.

    South transept entrance
    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.

    The south-transept entrance.

    We have many more pictures of St. Paul’s from many years of passing by with a camera.

    1. In describing church architecture, the altar is always considered “east,” which makes the entrance opposite the altar “west,” and so on, regardless of what your lying compass says. ↩︎
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  • St. Paul’s in Late Fall

    St. Paul’s Cathedral with autumn leaves in foreground

  • St. Paul’s at the Blue Hour

    St. Paul’s Cathedral

  • Some Details of St. Paul’s Cathedral

    Front of St. Paul’s
    Tower
    Window
    Tracery
    Pinnacle
    Pinnacle
    Ornament
    View from opposite corner

  • St. Paul’s in Winter Sunlight

    St. Paul’s Cathedral, Oakland, Pittsburgh

    A winter view from the Mellon Institute. This is a high-dynamic-range picture made from three separate photographs, which helps preserve the detail in the shadows as well as the sunlight.

  • St. Paul’s Cathedral and Its Rectory

    This seems to have been the masterpiece of its architects, the Chicago firm of Egan & Prindeville; indeed, the only other work of theirs mentioned in their Wikipedia article is a cathedral in San Francisco that burned in 1962. If they have to be remembered for only one work, though, this is one to be proud of. It was built in 1906, but—like all great cathedrals—it is really only beginning to take shape more than a century later. It takes a heap of liturgy to make a church a cathedral, and chapels and decorations continue to be added by successive bishops.

    The Rectory is designed in a matching but more restrained Gothic style.

    Addendum: According to the article “Designing in God’s Name: Architect Carlton Strong,” the rectory (built in 1926–1927) was designed by Thomas Carlton Strong, who also designed Sacred Heart Church in Shadyside.

  • Wide-Angle Views of St. Paul’s

    St. Paul’s
    Camera: Canon PowerShot S45.

    An update: When Father Pitt first posted this article, the pictures were distorted. That was because old Pa Pitt had not figured out how to choose the proper projection in the Hugin panorama software. What a difference it makes!

    By stitching together multiple photographs, we get these impossibly wide-angled views of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Oakland. Since the street in front is busy, we also get some ghost figures on the sidewalk and ghost vehicles driving past.

    St. Paul Cathedral
    St. Paul’s Cathedral
    Camera: Kodak EasyShare Z1485 IS.