Photographer: Jann Soltis
2/23/01
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| SWEETEST HEART
OF MARY / Upper Main Altar Photographer: Jann Soltis 2/23/01 |
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Upper Main Altar
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focal point of the entire interior is the elaborate main altar. It is
of hand-carved "white-wood" and is truly an imposing work. Its
intricate carvings make it a gem of handicraft. Few such works exist in
this country and one would have to go to Europe to find some thing comparable.
It reputedly cost over $5,000 - a huge sum of money in 1893, a time of
economic depression. It is painted in ivory with gilt outline accents.
The main figure on the main altar, high in central position, is a nine-foot statue of the Virgin Mary, Mary Most Pure, the patroness of the church. Reiterating this same theme are two murals, high in the apse, on either side of the altar. One is a copy of Murillo's Immaculate Conception; the other is a painting of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary. The Murillo painting of the Virgin is also executed in glass in the Kolasiñski Memorial Window. |