Sanctuary Virtual Tour

Wood screens (c) photo by Sarah Musumeci

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As you walk up and down the side aisles, you will notice the Frieze along
the church walls at top hat high level. Varied floral and plant motifs of the Bible
are cast in plaster and painted to look like woodcarving. Another example of this
“trompe l’oeil” (fool the eye) technique can be seen in the thin Columns around the
Christmas, Parable and Miracle windows. These are made of stone but painted to look like
highly polished wood. Carvings of plants and small animals by Robert Ellin are found
in the cherry wood throughout the Sanctuary and a different plant motif is carved on each
Pew’s Finial. The Friezes carved in cherry wood, on the facade of the two balconies
added in 1884, feature 38 different biblical flowers.

View of Aisle Frieze and Carvings

Animals and plant motifs also were
carved by W.G.H. Smart and John Evans into the Screen of soft limestone from Caen,
France, which frames the doors at the entrance to the Sanctuary. See if you can spot a
snail, a lizard, a squirrel and an owl as you examine the features around the Sanctuary
at close range.

The eight Chandeliers overhead were designed in 1985 especially for the newly restored Sanctuary. The quatrefoil, an architectural form like a flower with four petals, is seen on the base rim of these chandeliers. You will see this motif (and trefoils and cinquefoils) many times around the church.

Quatrefoil in Sanctuary (c) photo by Sarah Musumeci

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Old South Church
645 Boylston St.
Boston, MA 02116
(617)536-1970 Tel (617)536-8061 Fax

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