This page and the following linked pages are in the process of being updated; thank you for your understanding! For a more detailed history, including references (some of which are available online), click here. For more information on our current renovation/restoration work, click here.
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Rebuilt in the Greek Revival style after the Great Fire of 1838, Saint Mary is distinguished by the temple-style pediment on its gable-front roof, which is supported by four Ionic columns. The church is entered through a portico.
Over the main altar hangs a painting of the Crucifixion by John S. Cogdell, painted in 1814. Severely damaged in the fire of 1838, it was completely repainted on the same canvas by the artist. Mr. Cogdell lived in Charleston and was a member of Saint Michael Episcopal Church. (While he did not make his living as an artist, he was a life-long advocate for the arts. He also painted two portraits of Bishop England in 1842 - one was sent to Rome and is in the Vatican collections; the other was gifted in 2014 to St Patrick Catholic Church in Fayetteville, NC, the oldest parish in that state. He also painted other works that remained local, and is housed at the Charleston Library Society, Charleston City Hall, and the Medical University of South Carolina.)
In 1895/1896, parishioners undertook an extensive restoration effort. The main altar and sanctuary were donated by Mrs. Louis Storen and Mrs. Theodore Wilbur, in memory of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. George C. McNulty. The Sacred Heart altar was given by the family of Henry Oliver. The twenty-three additional paintings that adorn the church (six in the sanctuary, five on the ceiling, and twelve on the balcony walls) are copies of masterpieces, rendered by Caesare Porta of Rome. The sanctuary artwork depicts the Adoration of the Magi and the Resurrection (both copies of unknown works), along with four Angels (copies of Fra Angelico's Madonna of the Linen Weavers, located in the Museum of St Mark in Florence, Italy). The Resurrection was cleaned and restored in 2022. The large central ceiling painting of the Assumption of the Virgin was placed in memory of Dr. James A. Corcoran, who served the parish briefly in the mid-1840s, by several priests he had taught at the Philadelphia Theological Seminary. The remaining ceiling artwork depicts the Four Evangelists with their liturgical symbols (St Matthew's man, St Mark's lion, St Luke's ox, and St John's eagle). It is unknown which paintings Porta copied for the ceiling artwork. The balcony artwork depicts the Twelve Apostles (from the Virgin Mary side altar, counterclockwise: St Simon, St Andrew, St Thomas, St James the Greater, St Thaddeus, St Paul, St Peter, St Bartholomew, St Phillip, St James the Lesser, St Barnabas, and St Matthias). These are copies of works by Johan Friedrich Overbeck. They are depicted with common attributes - for example, St Peter is depicted as holding the Keys to the Kingdom, while St Andrew is shown with his cross. The artwork was completed in Porta's workshop in Rome, then shipped to Charleston for installation.
The stained glass windows portray various Biblical scenes and were donated by some of Saint Mary’s longstanding and prominent families; they are from the famed Franz Mayer and Company Glassworks in Munich, Germany, created there and shipped to Charleston for installation. Twenty-five were commissioned and installed during this same renovation period (six beneath the balcony, thirteen upstairs, four in the Sacristy, and two of unknown location). The six beneath the balcony depict scenes from the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary - the Annunciation of Gabriel to Mary, the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, the Nativity of Our Lord, the Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple, Jesus teaching the elders in the Temple, and the Assumption. The thirteen upstairs windows depict various theological symbols or are ornamental. Two of the four in the sacristy are ornamental; the other two depict the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Sacred Heart of Mary.
The Blessed Virgin altar was donated a decade later by Mary J. Powers in 1905, in memory of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Powers.
The remaining stained glass windows in the church were added in 1928. During this renovation period, a new sacristy was added to the back of the building, allowing the former area to have walls knocked out, the side altars moved to their current location, and the eight windows installed (four on each side). The windows by Mary's altar depict Holy Orders, the Nativity, St Joseph, and St Anthony; the windows by the Sacred Heart altar depict St Charles of Flanders, the Death of St Joseph, the Espousal of the Blessed Virgin and St Joseph, and St Anthony Healing the Sick. The four stained glass panels in the narthex (two in the center doors, and two transoms above the side doors) probably also date from this time, though they are not included in the count of thirty-three.
The church has a crowded graveyard of local interest. Predominant inscriptions are written in Latin, French and English. Seventeen nationalities are represented, spanning two centuries and three continents.
Additional projects have been completed in the years since then.
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Rebuilt in the Greek Revival style after the Great Fire of 1838, Saint Mary is distinguished by the temple-style pediment on its gable-front roof, which is supported by four Ionic columns. The church is entered through a portico.
Over the main altar hangs a painting of the Crucifixion by John S. Cogdell, painted in 1814. Severely damaged in the fire of 1838, it was completely repainted on the same canvas by the artist. Mr. Cogdell lived in Charleston and was a member of Saint Michael Episcopal Church. (While he did not make his living as an artist, he was a life-long advocate for the arts. He also painted two portraits of Bishop England in 1842 - one was sent to Rome and is in the Vatican collections; the other was gifted in 2014 to St Patrick Catholic Church in Fayetteville, NC, the oldest parish in that state. He also painted other works that remained local, and is housed at the Charleston Library Society, Charleston City Hall, and the Medical University of South Carolina.)
In 1895/1896, parishioners undertook an extensive restoration effort. The main altar and sanctuary were donated by Mrs. Louis Storen and Mrs. Theodore Wilbur, in memory of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. George C. McNulty. The Sacred Heart altar was given by the family of Henry Oliver. The twenty-three additional paintings that adorn the church (six in the sanctuary, five on the ceiling, and twelve on the balcony walls) are copies of masterpieces, rendered by Caesare Porta of Rome. The sanctuary artwork depicts the Adoration of the Magi and the Resurrection (both copies of unknown works), along with four Angels (copies of Fra Angelico's Madonna of the Linen Weavers, located in the Museum of St Mark in Florence, Italy). The Resurrection was cleaned and restored in 2022. The large central ceiling painting of the Assumption of the Virgin was placed in memory of Dr. James A. Corcoran, who served the parish briefly in the mid-1840s, by several priests he had taught at the Philadelphia Theological Seminary. The remaining ceiling artwork depicts the Four Evangelists with their liturgical symbols (St Matthew's man, St Mark's lion, St Luke's ox, and St John's eagle). It is unknown which paintings Porta copied for the ceiling artwork. The balcony artwork depicts the Twelve Apostles (from the Virgin Mary side altar, counterclockwise: St Simon, St Andrew, St Thomas, St James the Greater, St Thaddeus, St Paul, St Peter, St Bartholomew, St Phillip, St James the Lesser, St Barnabas, and St Matthias). These are copies of works by Johan Friedrich Overbeck. They are depicted with common attributes - for example, St Peter is depicted as holding the Keys to the Kingdom, while St Andrew is shown with his cross. The artwork was completed in Porta's workshop in Rome, then shipped to Charleston for installation.
The stained glass windows portray various Biblical scenes and were donated by some of Saint Mary’s longstanding and prominent families; they are from the famed Franz Mayer and Company Glassworks in Munich, Germany, created there and shipped to Charleston for installation. Twenty-five were commissioned and installed during this same renovation period (six beneath the balcony, thirteen upstairs, four in the Sacristy, and two of unknown location). The six beneath the balcony depict scenes from the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary - the Annunciation of Gabriel to Mary, the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, the Nativity of Our Lord, the Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple, Jesus teaching the elders in the Temple, and the Assumption. The thirteen upstairs windows depict various theological symbols or are ornamental. Two of the four in the sacristy are ornamental; the other two depict the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Sacred Heart of Mary.
The Blessed Virgin altar was donated a decade later by Mary J. Powers in 1905, in memory of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Powers.
The remaining stained glass windows in the church were added in 1928. During this renovation period, a new sacristy was added to the back of the building, allowing the former area to have walls knocked out, the side altars moved to their current location, and the eight windows installed (four on each side). The windows by Mary's altar depict Holy Orders, the Nativity, St Joseph, and St Anthony; the windows by the Sacred Heart altar depict St Charles of Flanders, the Death of St Joseph, the Espousal of the Blessed Virgin and St Joseph, and St Anthony Healing the Sick. The four stained glass panels in the narthex (two in the center doors, and two transoms above the side doors) probably also date from this time, though they are not included in the count of thirty-three.
The church has a crowded graveyard of local interest. Predominant inscriptions are written in Latin, French and English. Seventeen nationalities are represented, spanning two centuries and three continents.
Additional projects have been completed in the years since then.
