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Triptych
 n the liturgical “east end” of the sanctuary, elevated on a triple-step dais of white marble, stands the HIGH ALTAR and TRIPTYCH presented as a memorial gift to the cathedral in 1922. The Sienna marble altar and triptych was designed and built by Eugene W. Mason, Jr. of New York City, and is of Italian Gothic styling. Embossed in the bronze door of the tabernacle is the “Agnus Dei,” the Lamb of God, signifying the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist. The tabernacle housed the Reserved Sacrament before the construction of the Sacrament Chapel in the 1940s.
The center section of the triptych is a nine-foot square relief painting of the Crucifixion. On the inside panels of each door are a total of six scenes portraying major events in the life of Christ. The paintings are styled after those of the Renaissance painters Giotto and Fra Angelico. The triptych doors are closed during Holy Week. Above the triptych is a descending white dove, and topping the center spire, a cluster of columbine flowers, both symbols of the Holy Ghost. The delicate spire is patterned after the fletch or “feather spire” on the Church of Sainte Chapelle in Paris. |
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From the ceiling of the sanctuary hang the SEVEN SPIRIT LAMPS representing the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, and faith. Bishop Isaac Lea Nicholson and members of Saint Mark’s Church, Philadelphia, gave them as a memorial in 1899. Bishop Nicholson had been rector of the parish and was consecrated there as Bishop of Milwaukee in 1891. The large center lamp is patterned after the great lamp in Saint Mark’s Cathedral, Venice. |
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The figures on the PREDELLA (just below the center panel) are from the left: Saints Thomas á Becket, Joan of Arc, Mary the Virgin, Francis of Assisi, and Demetrius. |
