Saint Jean Baptiste Church
- Year
- 1913
- Style
- Renaissance Revival
- City
- Manhattan, NY
Saint Jean Baptiste Church was completed in 1913 at the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 76th Street, built for a parish established in 1882 to serve the Upper East Side's French Canadian immigrant community. Construction was bankrolled by financier Thomas Fortune Ryan, and the church was designed by Italian architect Nicholas Serracino, who blended Renaissance Revival and Classical Revival elements drawn from the Italian Mannerists. It was designated a New York City Landmark in 1969.
the building
The dome. The church is one of the few Catholic churches in New York City built with a dome, a distinguishing feature of Serracino's design that sets it apart from the typical Catholic parish church of its era.
Chartres glass. Its stained glass windows come from the glass studios of Chartres, making it one of only two churches in the city with windows from that source, the other being St. Patrick's Cathedral.
the style
Serracino combined Italian Renaissance Revival and Classical Revival elements inspired by the Italian Mannerists, a design that won first prize at the 1911 Esposizione Internazionale delle Industrie e del Lavoro in Turin.
More on Renaissance Revivalthe architect
Nicholas Serracino was an Italian architect practicing in New York; this is his only surviving church in the city.
significance
Designated a New York City Landmark in 1969 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
nearby
- Temple Israel of the City of New York
- Church of the Resurrection
- 157 East 78th Street House
- 210 East 78th Street House
- 170 East 73rd Street Carriage House
- New York Public Library, Yorkville Branch