Construction A wooden church was erected in 1852, which was replaced in 1853 by a modest brick structure through the hard work and fund raising by the Rev.Walter Quarter
Exterior ''St. Ignatius Loyola, A Pictorial History and Walking Guide of New York City's Church of St. Ignatius Loyola'' (1999) includes an exemplary description of the exterior and interior of the church: Two unbroken vertical orders, a
Palladian arched window, and a tri-part horizontal division suggesting the central nave and side aisles beyond, lend a Classical balance to the Park Avenue exterior. Yet St. Ignatius' façade is not static; the central division raised in slight relief beyond the side divisions and the varying intervals between the symmetrically positioned pilasters (columns that are not free standing) create a subtly undulating dynamism that introduces a note of syncopated rhythm reminiscent of the exterior of
Il Gesù, the Jesuits'
mother church in Rome. The original plans for the street front of St. Ignatius, presently 90 feet high and 87 feel wide, included a pair of towers designed to reach 210 feet above the ground, but this feature of the project was abandoned early, leaving only the two copper-capped tower bases on either side of the central pediment as hints of the grander scheme. Located directly beneath this pediment are the motto of the Society of Jesus,
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God) and the Great Seal of the Society, composed of a cross, three nails, and the letters I H S (the first three letters of Jesus' name in Greek which later became a Latin acronym denoting Jesus the Savior of Humankind); together they proclaim to all who pass by that St. Ignatius is a Jesuit Parish.
Interior The church is constructed of American, European, and African marbles, including pink Tennessee, red-veined Numidian, yellow Siena, pink Algerian marble, white
Carrara marble, and veined
Pavonazzo marble; most of the intricate marble work was executed by the firm of James G. Batterson Jr., and John Eisele of New York. The marble mosaic
Stations of the Cross panels were designed by Professor Paoletti for Salviati & Company of
Venice; some were publicly exhibited in
Turin before installation. The great twelve-panel bronze doors located at the sanctuary end of the side aisles… were designed by the Rev. Patrick O'Gorman, S.J., pastor from 1924 to 1929... [and were] crafted by the
Long Island Bronze Company…. The Jesuit statues, including
St. Francis Xavier and
St. John Francis Regis were carved by the Joseph Sibbel Studio of New York in Carrara marble. The church is notable for its organ, dedicated in 1993 and built by English organ builder
Noel Mander. The instrument "is New York City's largest mechanical action (tracker) pipe organ, and the largest mechanical action pipe organ ever to have been built in the British Isles."
Baptistery The semi-circular wrought-iron
baptistery screen in the Chapel of John the Baptist of gilt flaming swords was wrought by Mr. John Williams to the designs of
William Schickel. The baptistery font is of
Carrara marble set above marble pavement designed "by
Heaton, Butler & Bayne of London, with slight modifications made by Mr. John Buck of the Ecclesiastical Department of the
Gorham Company of New York; the Gorham Company was also responsible for cutting and installing the mosaic's
tesserae (the pieces comprising the mosaic)." The baptistery's altar and surround curved walls are of
Pavonazzo marble inlaid with mosaics, "designed and executed under the direction of Mr.
Caryl Coleman of the Ecclesiastical Department of the
Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company. These mosaics, composed of that company's justly famous opalescent
Favrile glass, are as delicate as the Venetian glass mosaics above are bold." Tiffany also executed the baptistery's semi-dome. ==List of rectors==