LCV Winter 2013-14 - (Page 14)

the stucco suggesting massive stones, is gone. In New Orleans' St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 is an elegant Egyptian Revival-style vault designed by Jacques Nicolas Bussiere de Pouilly in 1850 for French Quarter attorney Alexander Grailhe. The monument was constructed of marble, with deeply incised Egyptian motifs, rather than an alternate scheme that appears in de Pouilly's sketchbook showing architectural details painted in bright colors, probably on a structure of stucco-covered brick. The Egyptian motifs are continued on the massive metal doors of the vault's entrance. Another notable example of Egyptian motifs in a cemetery setting may be seen in the tomb built for pharmaceutical magnate Lucien N. Brunswig in New Orleans' Metairie Cemetery. The tomb was built by Albert Weiblen in the early 20th century to memorialize Brunswig's wife and son, who both died in 1892. Metairie Cemetery, site of a former horse racing course, began holding burials in 1873. The Brunswig tomb employs a pyramidal structure surmounting a berm, with an entrance exhibiting the sloping pylons and winged disk often associated with the Egyptian Revival style. A sphinx keeps watch over the portal from one side, while a woman in classical garb stands on the other side, gesturing toward the entrance. GOTHIC REVIVAL Like the Egyptian Revival style, Gothic Revival was popular in Louisiana for decades and employed for buildings of many types, ranging from churches and residences to commercial buildings, tombs and other structures. 14 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES * Winter 2013-14 An early example (destroyed by fire in 1851) was the Presbyterian Church in New Orleans whose cornerstone was laid in 1819. It stood on St. Charles Avenue between Union and Gravier streets; William Brand was the architect. In terms of how flamboyant the Gothic style could be, it was a reserved and understated building. St. Patrick's Church, on the other hand, was not. The Catholic house of worship still stands in the 700 block of Camp Street in New Orleans just a few blocks from the site of the Presbyterian church. Designed by brothers Charles and James Dakin (1838) and James Gallier Sr. (1839), the 1838 building contract, called for the exterior style of architecture to be that of the "Pointed style of the Second Period of Ecclesiastical Architecture," referencing the design of York Minster Cathedral. The contract further stipulated that the windows are to be in the "florid Gothic style of the third period," and "the ceiling is to imitate that of Exeter Cathedral from second period." Drawings of the building's interior by Gallier attest to the elaborate decorative program called for in the contract. Gallier and Turpin Company's 1852 design for the Leeds Iron Foundry building (currently the site of the Preservation Resource Center) in the 900 block of Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans exhibits a number of Gothic Revival elements, including clustered columns on the ground floor, pointed arches on the second and third floor window openings, and decorative bosses and quatrefoil motifs on the window hoods and door panels. Many of the decorative elements of this building were made of cast iron. MOORISH INFLUENCES The widespread use of cast iron as both a decorative and structural element in architecture began to take off in the middle decades of the 19th century and expanded the possibility for producing ornate styles of architecture whose historical and original examples had been executed in brick, stone or other materials. Some notable examples of this practice in 19th-century New Orleans reflected Moorish architecture. Though none is still standing, the group included the Moresque Building (1865), the Belknap Fountain (1871), and the Mexican Pavilion at the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition (1884). The Moresque Building occupied an entire city square The ornate Belknap Fountain on Canal Street was constructed to attract attention to the advertisements painted on its oval glass panels. Inside the gazebo, a drinking fountain was enlivened by a display with swans, boats and cupids animated by flowing water. 

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LCV Winter 2013-14

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