Rockefeller Chapel is 265 feet long and 102 feet wide and weighs in at 32,000
tons of Indiana limestone, the same material used in many other University
buildings. The Chapel Tower, on the northeast side, is 207 feet tall, 277 steps.
The most stunning decorations in the chapel are likely the vast number of
sculptures designed by Lee Lawrie and Ulric Ellerhausen. Over 100
sculptures represent all facets of life, from philosophy to academics, religion
and University life. For example, sculptures of two University of Chicago
students watch over the west nave entrance that many students use to enter for
their orientation. The students are Laurens Shull, who carries the arms of the
United States on his uniformed shoulder and was killed during World War I, and
Margaret Green, who died during her senior year at the College and holds the
troth of truth flanked by the University arms.
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South Side, Inscriptions
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- Iron bands across left door: "Thy dominion
endureth through all generations"
- Iron bands across right door: "Seek Ye
First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness"
- Over the door: "Thy Kingdom is an
Everlasting Kingdom"
- At the spring to the left of the Te Deum
window: "Alleluia, for the Lord omnipotent reigneth"
- At the spring to the right of the window:
"On earth, peach and goodwill toward men"
- Buttress balcony parapet (left): "Thy
Righteousness is like the great mountains"
- Buttress balcony parapet (right): "I will lift mine eyes unto
the hills"
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South Side, Sculptures |
- Front façade
- Crusading knights (kneeling to the left
and ribt, above doors)
- Michael the Archangel (center)
- Angels Gabriel and Raphael (left and
right of arch springs)
- Balcony parapet
- Winged dragons (left and right)
- Arms of private universities: Harvard,
Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Chicago, Northwestern, Cornell, Johns
Hopkins, and Stanford
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Sculptures Surrounding the
"Te Deum" Window |
- Apostle James (bottom left)
- Apostle John (bottom right)
- Prophet Amos (middle left)
- Prophet Hosea (middle right)
- Martyr John Huss (top left)
- Martyr William Tyndale (top right)
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Sculptures Surrounding the Top Arch Springs |
- Monica, mother of St. Augustine (left)
- St. Cecilia (right)
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Turret Sculptures: "The March of Religion Across the
Centuries" (from left to right) |
- Abraham (around the left corner)
- Moses
- Elijah
- Isaiah
- Zoroaster
- Plato
- St. John the Baptist
- Christ (center)
- St. Peter
- St. Paul
- St. Athanasius
- St. Augustine
- St. Francis
- Martin Luther
- John Calvin (around the right corner)
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Front Buttresses Sculpture |
- Evangelists holding their symbols:
Matthew (angel), Mark (lion), Luke (ox), John (eagle)
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Side Buttresses Sculptures |
- Scientist (left)
- Statesman (around left corner)
- Artist (right)
- Philosopher (around right corner)
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West Side Inscriptions |
- Iron bands on narthex door: "I will have
mercy and not sacrifice" (top) and "To obey is better than
sacrifice" (bottom)
- Aisle door, above: "Ye are the sons of
the living God"
- Iron bands on the transept door:
"Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary"
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West Side Sculptures |
- Narthex entrance
- Learning (left)
- Service (right)
- Aisle entrance - "two outstanding
University of Chicago students"
- Laurens Shull with seal of United
States
- Margaret Green with seal of University
of Chicago
- Transept entrance
- Top of door arch: Scholar (left, with
pen), Administrator (with diploma), Scientist (with vial)
- Base of window: Mercy (left), Truth
(right)
- Above these: Righteousness (left),
Peace (right)
- Window springs
- Arms of ten state universities (right
to left): Minnesota, Ohio, California, Iowa, Wisconsin,
Pennsylvania. Illinois, Virginia, Indiana, Michigan
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East Side Inscriptions |
- Transept entrance, above: "Holy, Holy,
Holy" and a cross over the motto, "In Hoc Signo Vinces"
- Iron hinges of transept door, above:
"They shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it"
- Aisle door, above: "Blessed are the pure
in heart"
- Narthex door: "Day unto day uttereth
speech: night unto night sheweth knowledge" (Psalm 19)
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East Side Sculptures |
- Transept entrance
- President Wilson with Princeton coat
of arms (left)
- President Roosevelt with the Harvard
coat of arms (right)
- Arms of the United States (left) and
the University of Chicago (right)
- Outline of the City of Athens (left)
- Outline of the City of Chicago (right)
- Aisle (handicapped) entrance
- Dante with coat of arms of Florence
(left)
- Milton with coat of arms of England
(right)
- Nathex entrance (porte cochère)
- Window springs
- Arms of ten foreign universities (from left to right):
Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, Geneva, Salamanca, Padua, Tokyo,
Berlin, Bologna, and Calcutta
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85' Level, Buttress Setbacks |
- Poet (pen and scroll)
- Thinker (owl)
- Merchant (goods and bales)
- Craftsman (ornament)
- Builder (model of Rockefeller Chapel)
- Teacher (Torch of Truth)
These six designs repeat; four designs on each
face.
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162' level - shield around the tower, "The
life and death of Christ"
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- East face, middle
- Annunciation (lily)
- Nativity (star)
- North face
- Epipany (dove and olive brance)
- Presentation (two doves in a basket)
- Flight into Egypt (pyramid and sphinx)
- Baptism (dove and Chi-Rho)
- West face
- Transfiguration (Chi-Rho accompanied by Moses' tables of Law
and Elijah's chariot)
- Last Supper (the cup in rays of glory)
- Agony in Gethsemane (the cup)
- Wounding of Malchus (sword and stave)
- South face
- Betrayal (purse and gold)
- Peter's denial (rooster)
- Mocking of Christ (crown of thorns)
- Bearing of the Cross (handkerchief)
- East face, first and second shields
- Crucifixion (cross)
- Resurrection (peacock)
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172' Level (Repeating Around Tower) |
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Top of the Tower |
- Erasmus (north)
- Thomas á Kempis (west)
- John Bunyan (south)
- Thomas Aquinas (east)
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