Tag: Ida Mary Barry Ryan

Sunday was my day of rest – more or less.

First stop was mass at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.

I ended up parking kind of a ways away, but I managed to get there on time – more or less.

Just glancing around during the service, I thought that this would be a fun place to spend some time exploring.

The Corinthian capitals on the columns were elegant, and there were lovely architectural details abounding. The stained glass windows were eye-catching – but in a completely different way from the Tiffany windows in the Blandford Church in Petersburg.

I snapped a photo of the mass guide for two reasons.

1. Awake, O Sleeper is a favorite hymn of mine. This one has a different tune than the one I know, but I like the words.
2. I found their take on how to participate in the offertory to be interesting. Put your donation in the basket, text, go online, or use the app.I guess I was just ahead of my time. I suggested alternative collection methods back in the ’90s, but they weren’t interested in the idea back at St.Augustine Cathedral in Kalamazoo.

Speaking of Cathedrals, you have to know that there is a pipe organ lurking somewhere. Those who know me well – or have been reading my blog – know that I have a less than favorable opinion of pipe organ music. Pipe organs themselves don’t offend me. It’s just when they are played…

See? From this vantage point, the organ merely looks like a decorative architectural detail.

The dome over the crossing was lovely.

I am sorry to say that I don’t recognize the saints in many of these side altars. I didn’t see labels and there was no information about them in my Preferred Source or on the Cathedral’s webpage.

What I did find that was interesting was that the Cathedral was funded by one family – the Ryans, Thomas Fortune Ryan and his wife, Ida Mary. The cornerstone was laid in 1903, and the stone block came from the Garden of Gethsemane. It was built in the style of Italian Renaissance Revival, and it was the only cathedral at that time known to be constructed by the exclusive patronage of a single family.

Virginia-born Thomas converted to Roman Catholicism en route to Baltimore, Maryland in 1868. In Baltimore Ryan made his fortune in railroads and streetcar transit and married Ida Mary Barry, the daughter of a Catholic former employer. Thomas and Ida each donated $250,000, which would work out to about $15,000,000 in today’s money. I imagine Ida must have inherited her money from her father, Thomas’ former employer, which would mean that transportation was behind the funding of this building.

Anyway, back to the statues.

While this one isn’t labeled, either, it certainly looks like Mary.

I would guess that this is Saint Peter, because he is holding the keys to heaven.

If I had to guess, I’d say this is Jesus.

This statue actually has a label. This altar is dedicated to Saint Vincent de Paul. According to my Preferred Source, he is the patron saint of charities, horses, hospitals, leprosy, lost articles, Madagascar, prisoners, spiritual help, volunteers, and Richmond, Virginia, if I am reading that correctly. Another source has him more narrowly defined as the patron saint of charity.

The windows are also worth some time to admire. In 1931, the Cathedral commemorated its Silver Jubilee and commissioned Rambusch Decorating Company of New York to paint and decorate the church for the anniversary celebrations. Four of the windows in the ambulatory, which is the area behind the main altar, were designed by Rambusch for the occasion. Unfortunately, I don’t have shots of those windows, as it was difficult to position myself to get a clear photo.

But, here is a shot of the iron grille that divides the ambulatory from the main altar.

In 1956, the artisans Frances and Pierre Chigot of Limoge, France were commissioned to design several new windows for the church in honor of its 50th anniversary. Here is a sampling of what they created.

Saint Joseph, Patron of Workers.

Christ the teacher. This was in the ambulatory, and you can see the shadows cast by the grille. You can also see the oblique angle I had to stand at to snap this photo. The windows for the silver jubilee are right behind the altar.

The last window in my collection is Christ the King. If you enjoy “midcentury modern” stained glass, you can do no better than to plan a visit to Richmond’s cathedral.

While the building is impressive, I am pleased that they didn’t forget the needs of the people.

Lord, bless me with a parking space!

They didn’t forget our parking needs, either. Maybe I spent too long admiring the church after mass, but for some reason, I ended up having to pay for my parking. Or, maybe I parked in the wrong space. Oh, well…

I liked the inscription over the door.

I also liked the Roman numerals on the cornerstone. 1903. I wonder if this was the stone from the Garden of Gesthemane?

I headed back to find my car. The grounds of the cathedral were very nicely landscaped.

The cupola over the dome gave the exterior a regal appearance.

On my way back to the parking structure, I passed several facilities that really contribute to making a city “bike friendly.” I loved this little shelter.

And those yellow poles? They are bicycle fixit stations! There are tools on all those cables.

This one is a pump! I’d say Richmond is the most progressively bike-friendly city I’ve seen in the United States.

I retrieved my car and set out to find some lunch.

Here’s a thing that I do that helps me when I am on the move so much. Once I park, I take a photo of the street and the street sign. That way, I have a record of where to start looking for my car. I can also show it to people on the street when I ask for help. So far, I haven’t had to ask anyone for help, but I have checked my photos from time to time to help me head in the right direction.

I Googled for someplace interesting to eat and found this place.

It was so relaxed and a pleasant respite from the sun.

I started off with a salad.

This was the main course. I think it was a crepe of some sort with a cylinder of some sort of cheese stuck in the top. It actually sounded more attractive in the menu, but I think it was acceptable fare.

Heading back to my car, I noticed this sticker on a car. It was the first time I’d noticed it, but after this, I saw them quite frequently. Wouldn’t it be nice we were patient with everyone?

I also noticed what appeared to be a solar powered parking meter. Luckily, this was Sunday, and I didn’t have to worry about paying. These parking meters seem to be getting more complicated every year.

My next stop was the state capitol.

A little more drive-by tourism. I snapped this photo through the car window while I was stopped. I figured I could read it from the photo later.

I snapped this one, too.

Finally, I snapped a shot to remind myself of where I ended up parking.

I strolled past a building undergoing some radical changes. The reinforcements make it look like they are trying to preserve the facade on the right side of the building. It would be interesting to see what becomes of it.

I turned the corner and headed toward the capitol.

Of course the tourist entrance was on the other side. I started across the front of the building.

I crossed the state seal. Those of you who have studied the assassination of Abraham Lincoln will recognize the Virginia motto as what John Wilkes Booth shouted after he leapt down to the stage. Sic temper tyrannis.

It’s quite the majestic looking building.

I finally made it around to the tourist entrance, which was in a newer addition. I was a little late for the tour, but I could catch up with them. They had already gotten to the older part of the building.

I am always looking around corners and into the backs of buildings. I thought this stairwell was interesting.

The guide took us into the rotunda. I find it interesting that this building has a rotunda but no dome.

It sure looks like it has a dome, doesn’t it? But, the managed to hide it under the peaked roof.

You can see from the model that there is no dome. That’s the way Thomas Jefferson and French architect Charles-Louis Clerisseau designed it. According to my Preferred Source, the design was modeled after the Maison Carrée at Nimes in southern France, which is one of the best preserved Roman temple facades to be found in the territory of the former Roman Empire.

This is the Maison Carrée.

In considering the fact that this capitol doesn’t have a dome, I thought that it was quite unusual. In fact, twelve of the fifty state capitols don’t have external domes:

Alaska
Delaware
Florida
Hawaii
Louisiana
Nebraska
New Mexico
New York
North Dakota
Ohio
Tennessee

So, now you know!

The cornerstone was laid on August 18, 1786, even before the design was completed. Later that year, a set of architectural drawings and a plaster model were sent from France to Virginia. It was sufficiently completed for the General Assembly to meet there in October 1792.

But, back to the tour.

Houdon’s statue of George Washington has pride of place in the rotunda.

Benjamin Franklin invited Jean-Antoine Houdon to cross the Atlantic from France in 1785 so that Washington could model for him. Washington sat for wet clay life models and a plaster life mask. These models served formally commissions of statues of Washington, including this one that was commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly.

If you look carefully, you can see the artist’s signature on the left side of the base.

At the same time that the Virginia General Assembly commissioned a marble state of Washington, they also commissioned a marble bust of the Marquis de Lafayette.

The intent was that the statuary would represent public virtue from the Old and New Worlds. Lafayette was voted a citizen of Virginia by an “act of assembly” for his service on behalf of the Commonwealth during the American Revolution.

There were many other busts in the rotunda.