The Exterior
The Chapel soars above the other campus buildings, but it could have been
higher. Yet a potential tower, which was to stand atop the crossing, was never built
due to foundation concerns. Despite the Chapel's size, keep in mind that the entire building
can fit in the side aisles of a historic Gothic church such as the Amiens Cathedral in
France. Cram still wanted the building to be in scale with the rest of the campus, and
it was, perhaps out of deference to its inspiration, to be second in size to the King’s
College Chapel in Cambridge.26 And while English Gothic was Cram’s primary influence,
there are also Spanish and French Gothic elements added in as well.
The front West Door shows traditional tympanum imagery from the book of Revelation,
and bears a remarkable resemblance to the West typanum of Chartres Cathedral. Christ
is surrounded by four beasts (Rev. 4: 7-8), each representing a Gospel.27 The
twenty-four elders (Rev. 4:10-11) surround Christ’s mandorla, and look strangely
like colonial settlers. Christ holds a scroll where written in Greek are the
words, “Who is worthy to open the Scroll” (Rev. 5:2)? The answer to the
question, the building declares, is Christ, who unlocks the mysteries of the
Bible, the cosmos, as well of course of the Chapel itself. “The entire
composition,” writes one art-historian referring to this tympanum, “is thus
a summation of the theme for the entire scheme of decoration of the Chapel.”28
Below Christ is the Princeton seal.29 The open book says “Vet Nov Testamentum,”
meaning “Old and New Testaments,” and below the book is the Princeton motto, “Dei sub
numine viget,” meaning “Under God’s power she flourishes.” In 1991 a 96 year old
sculptor came forward to admit that he had also carved his and his bosses face
into the front façade. Cram can be recognized by his glasses on the crocket a
good bit up on the right hand side, and the clever sculptor is at the same
place on the left.30
Moving to the Northwest Door (to the left if facing the building) one
goes from Christ in glory to the first moment of the Incarnation. Gabriel
announces to Mary that she will conceive accompanied with the words, “et
verbum caro factus est” meaning of course, “and the Word became flesh” (John 1:14).
To the left of this door are windows dedicated to art and music, depicting Fra
Angelico the fourteenth century painter (view) and John of Damascus,
who in addition to defending the legitimacy of icons in the 8th century,
wrote many hymns (view).
Pass the Hibben Garden to the rear of the building and one sees the
Rothschild arch, intended to symbolize the connection between faith (the Chapel)
and learning (Dickinson hall to which the Chapel is attached).31 Round the
building and one comes into the courtyard. Observe the intentionally staggered
construction of the surrounding buildings, made to look like they were built
over time. In the center lawn is the Mather Sundial, a replica of the sundial
in Corpus Christi College, Oxford that dates to 1551. This again testifies to
the connections Princeton hoped to make between itself and the classic heritage
of English learning. The pelican above pecks itself to feed its starving young,
a common symbol of Christ’s sacrifice and the Eucharist.
Affixed to the Chapel’s east wall is a gutter upon which one witty sculptor
etched a Yale bulldog (but it is, after all, a gutter). Other symbols can be
found in the windows above the Southeast Door, where medieval flowers and plants
each have a meaning assigned to them such as the strawberry of perfect righteousness,
the ivy of immortality, and – more famously – the olive branch of peace (view). To
the left of this door is the Adlai Stevenson window (view), dedicated to the famous
Princeton alumnus and Democratic Statesman. Extruding from the south wall stands
the “Bright pulpit,” still used to begin Palm Sunday processions. Standing near the pulpit is an
excellent spot from which to see the massive buttresses that, in standard Gothic
fashion, relieve the walls of weight so as enable large stained-glass windows.
At the Southwest Door one sees Christ again, now an adult at the moment of
his baptism, accompanied by the words, “tu es filius meus dilectus in te
complacuit mihi,” meaning “This is my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased” (Matthew 3:17). To the left of this door is a small window
dedicated to the Holy Family (view), and to the right is the window of medicine
depicting Al-Razi, a Persian physician (view).
