Gothic Arches, Latin Crosses: Anti-Catholicism and American Church Designs in the Nineteenth Century (review)

Seen on millions of necklaces and along roadsides throughout the land, the Latin cross is the pre-eminent symbol of Christianity in the United States. For many Americans, a cross surmounting a structure with pointed-arch (Gothic) windows filled with stained glass constitutes the iconic image of a church. The ubiquity of these symbols today makes it difficult to recall that in the early nineteenth century most Protestant denominations regarded the display of crosses and the presence of items such as candlesticks and flowers on communion tables as Roman Catholic affectations. In Gothic Arches, Latin Crosses: Anti-Catholicism and American Church Designs in the Nineteenth Century, Ryan K. Smith traces the often acrimonious process by which Protestants adopted features of Catholic church design and worship settings as their own. Counter-intuitively, the context for these appropriations was not ecumenical but an era of virulent anti-Catholicism.

Dr. Smith is assistant professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University. This concise, well-written book is based on his doctoral dissertation at the University of Delaware (2002). Smith argues that American Protestants adopted Catholic iconography in response to a complex set of circumstances including the rapid and highly visible expansion of Roman Catholicism in the middle decades of the nineteenth century, appreciation of the roles emotion and the senses can play in directing the attention of congregants towards God, and broad aspirations among Americans for cultural refinement and material comfort. Chapters dedicated to "The Cross," "The Gothic," and "The Flowers," provide case studies of Protestant appropriations of Catholic imagery: use of the Latin cross, construction of Gothic Revival churches, and the embellishment of worship services with flowers, candles, and robed choirs.

Assimilation of such features was widespread by the end of the nineteenth century, but the pace and degree of change was not uniform. Smith effectively guides the reader from broad patterns to specific examples drawn from close readings of contemporary journals that reveal how denominations and individual congregations grappled with (or ignored) the inherent contradictions between their anti-Catholicism and appropriation of Catholic imagery.

The embrace of Gothic architecture was a particularly complex matter. Although Gothic cathedrals and parish churches continued to serve Catholics (and Protestants) throughout Europe, new churches in the early nineteenth century typically were classical structures based on the conventions of Renaissance architecture. The return to Gothic in the middle decades of the century was as much a revival for Catholics as it was for Protestants. While Catholics did not have to search their souls on the matter of the doctrinal appropriateness of ornate churches, they did have to consider the cultural associations of a Gothic (or Romanesque) design and its effectiveness in stirring the hearts of the faithful and the curious. Protestants and Catholics drew on common sources, such as the writings of the architect A. W. N. Pugin (1812-1852), shared architects, and watched each other closely for any evidence of competitive advantage. The appropriation of Gothic imagery was a two-way street.

Gothic Arches, Latin Crosses is a valuable addition to the literature on American church design. Smith brings together strands of research on the histories of the Roman Catholic Church, Protestantism, and architecture that too often have been viewed in isolation and convincingly demonstrates how they interlock as threads of a shared story.