Moore Chapel (1906) a Decatur Gem

Moore Chapel is a little gem that serves the United Methodist Children's Home.


I've been driving by for decades hoping to see inside.

One day the door was wide open and I had a look inside. Glad I did. What a space, what stained glass.

I was saying "Hello, Terry here, hello" all the while. Nobody home though so I took a few pictures and a video (below).


"In Memoriam William Chandler Smith"


Cornerstone 1906


"In Memory of Frank S. Bale"  Is it a "B?"


Who's who including George Muse.


The narthex stained glass window. "In Memory of Asa G. Candler III"


Looking back into the Narthex.


The first door to the left leads to a little chapel / office (see video below).  The second door is the sacristy in a niche.




The ceiling.


I don't know what you call these. Decorative braces?


View from the chapel into the little chapel / office.


Stained glass pair.


Stained glass pair.


Stained glass pair.


Stained glass.

Here is the little video.


Wish I'd taken more time.

Grateful for the opportunity.

Atop the Gothic Tower in Grant Park and Stained Glass Too - Terry's Tiny Video Tour

I met the building manager yesterday, he said, "Want to see?"

It's the Georgia Avenue Church at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Grant Street in Grant Park. Three congregations meet there. It's one of the Architecture Tourist's favorite spaces in Atlanta but I'd never seen upstairs.


The balcony is now an office with this window.


The bottom part of the big window shows in the sanctuary, the top part shows in the balcony.


It's the Anchor Window. See?


Then he pointed to the dark spiral stair up to the belfry. I never dreamed of this and was excited. I needed hours but had minutes.

From the bell-free belfry I climbed to the roof.  It was crenelated parapet wall battlements or in Terry's terms: "Decorative tower battlements with pointy merlons and embrasures (aka crenels)."

So here:

Restored: St. Luke's 1913 "Good Shepherd" mural by E. H. Blashfield

In this tradition 100 years is the blink of an eye.

Atlanta's St. Luke's Episcopal Church has restored "The Good Shepherd," a giant canvas by E. H. Blashfield, the artist who did the domed ceiling of the main reading room of the Library of Congress. Before they took the scaffolds down, St. Luke's invited parishioners to see it up close and up high from the scaffolding. Thanks to Bobby Mays who invited Trip Cook and me for a once in a lifetime experience.

It's a canvas "pasted" to the wall. I loved that the restoration of this hundred year old mural and 2014 Living Walls Conference were happening at the same time.

 
Restoration by IFACS International Fine Art Conservation Studios. They worked 12-hour days for two weeks. Photo by Tripp TLF Photography.


As you walk into the sanctuary, The Good Shepherd seems ancient in muted colors. It's the calm focal point above the alter amid the glorious windows. My photo from an earlier visit.

How big is it? How high. Perhaps twice life size? I forget to ask. In my reverie I forgot to ask everything.


I'm not a high scaffolding person. Nope. But I was going up. My photo.


Mental note: Identify your assistants. My photo.


Cleaning revealed that the Good Shepherd's feet are in foam at the water's edge. My photo.


Distorted at eye level, but right when viewed from below. My photo.


From the scaffold I felt as if I was in the mural but separate and small. It was in my face. How does the artist manage the distorted up-close view?. Artists figured this out a few thousand years ago, mastered it in the Renaissance. It's an ancient tradition. My photo.


Up here the scaffolding rocked, like being on a floating dock in the waves. Photo by Tripp TLF Photography.

How long to stay up there? My brain and body were floating. I felt a claustrophobia of being so close to the giant painting. The working lights were good for the artists, but glared through my cataracts.

But I could turn around.


To see this. Photo by Tripp TLF Photography.


The cleaning uncovered more sheep. My photo.


Doves. My photo.


Angels galore. My photo


Angel in a frock. My photo.

 
My photo.


The angels in the arches aren't quite so finely rendered. My photo.


What is she holding? My photo.

By now I was lost in the experience, running out of time, knowing this was my one time up there.


Pardon the poor focus. My photo.


Who modeled these angels? Do they appear just the same in other murals? My photo.

I need to catch my breath before I show you a few more details.


Photo by Tripp TLF Photography.


The restoration includes relighting from below. It will be seen as never before.


The whole flock. My photo.


I couldn't stay long enough. As simple and as straightforward as it is, there's no way of "getting it." My picture.

Climbing down was like stepping off the dock onto solid ground.


What a room. Photo by Tripp TLF Photography.

I understand that after the lighting is complete the restorers will return to discuss the mural and the restoration. I hope to go.

Thanks Bobby, Tripp and St. Lukes.

P.S. The 2014 Living Walls mural most in this tradition is by Spanish artist Borondo.


Borondo's #lw2014 mural faces west on Jesse Hill between Edgewood and Auburn. It faces the John Lewis mural. It's just 8 blocks south of St. Lukes'

Ten Westview Tombs with Stained Glass

Many of the private mausoleums feature stained glass. Go to Westview Cemetery and peek though the  doors.

Guided (R.S.V.P required) and self guided tours of Westview Cemetery start on March 17 for The Atlanta Preservation Center's "Phoenix Flies" Tweeters Facebooker and Instagrammers, please use: #phoenixflies.


The Rhodes Mausoleum. Westview Cemetery.


The Rhodes Mausoleum stained glass window.


Candler Mausoleum.


Candler Mausoleum stained glass window.


Read mausoleum.


Read mausoleum stained glass window at Westview Cemetery Atlanta.

 
McDonald mausoleum.


The McDonald mausoleum has two stained glass windows. I Photoshopped them side by side for this image.


The Ralph Williams mausoleum has more to see than stained glass.


Ralph Williams mausoleum stained glass window. The door glass is hazy.


Weiblen mausoleum.


Weiblen mausoleum stained glass.


Haverty mausoleum.


The Haverty mausoleum's stained glass window is the most elaborate.


Daniel mausoleum.


Daniel mausoleum stained glass.


Marks mausoleum.


The hazy door of the Marks mausoleum can't obscure this amazing window.



Prier mausoleum.


The front window of the Prier mausoleum is so foggy, the best view is from outside.

There are more of these. Here is my photoset in Flickr "2014-03-01 Westview Cemetery Private Mausoleum Stained Glass Atlanta."