Art Talk: Resurrection Chapel at the National Cathedral

This will be the 4th post about the Washington National Cathedral. It is an incredible building with great art and architecture. Two of my favorite things.

Today I want to talk about the art of the mosaics in Resurrection Chapel.

I went on a tour of this wonderful gothic cathedral. There are 9 chapels in this very large cathedral. I have learned that it is the 6th largest cathedral in the world. Three of the chapels, including this one (Resurrection Chapel) are on the crypt or underground level.

Resurrection

When you first enter the chapel it is quite dark and you look up over the alter and see this mosaic over the alter.

Hidreth Meiere
Resurrection, 1951
Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC

This wonderful mosaic was made by Hidreth Meiere out of Venetian glass and shows Christ on Easter morning emerged from the tomb.

I really loved it. Then I turned around and was amazed at the dark mosaics along the walls.

There are 6 panels and each tells of Christ's appearances after his resurrection.

Christ's visit to Mary Magdalene
The Walk to Emmaus
Jesus in the upper room
Jesus and Thomas in the upper room
Jesus appearance to seven disciples by the Sea of Tiberius
Last appearance of Christ

Close up of the The Walk to Emmaus

The Walk to Emmaus

Jesus and Thomas in the upper room

Close up of Jesus and Thomas in the upper room

Close up of Jesus appearance to seven disciples by the Sea of Tiberius

Close up of Last appearance of Christ

Super cool detail-- the man in the lower right corner in the green is Rowan, the artist.

In doing this post I learned that Rowan LeCompte was the artist for these 6 mosaic panels and many of the stained glass windows, including the Rose "Creation" window. He was talented!

In an obituary in the Washington Post we learn that he visited the cathedral in 1939 when he was 14 years old and was fascinated by it and the stained glass. He went home and learned about stained glass and two years later he went to the architect and asked to design an out of the way window. He got the job and he worked in stained glass and at the cathedral for the rest of his life.

He designed more than 40 of the windows in the cathedral

I suggest you watch the video so you can see the amazing detail of the mosaic and how dark it is in the chapel and how the gold really stands out.