Update: Text and photographs substantially revised in May of 2020.
The Mausoleum of Calvary Cemetery opened in 1941; it is a fascinating mix of traditional Roman Catholic art and architecture going back to the Paleo-Christian era all the way to the Modernist period. For example, the above rotunda replicates depictions of mosaics I have seen in countless apses in early Christian churches in Rome. The two statues that flank the lower entrance to the mausoleum recall the elongated form of the figures in Gothic sculpture.
Below, this is St. Louis IX, King of France, who bought the Crown of Thorns from Constantinople.
The first floor has a row of galleries with different venerations, while the second floor has rooms named after important saints.
Below is one of the main side rooms or aisles that hold the various niches for families or individuals.
At the fulcrum of the building, where it turns by 30 degrees, is this round vestibule.
Niches arranged around the central statue continue the elongated, Gothic Revival feeling of the two bronzes sculptures on the outside.
The chapel is absolutely beautiful, even with the missing altarpiece which can be seen in situ at Built St. Louis. The stain glass is stunning, and surrounded by the eerie silence, sublime.
Below is a sculpture group moved from St. Liborius when that church was closed. See more pictures of the sculpture here.
