Pittsburgh Cemeteries

Tag: Stained Glass

  • Winter Mausoleum, Allegheny Cemetery

    The composite picture above is more than 75 megapixels. Expect about 22 megabytes of data if you click on it.

    This is without a doubt the most spectacular Egyptian mausoleum in Pittsburgh. All the usual Egyptian elements are here, but the Winter mausoleum (1930)—whose colossal scale is hard to convey in a photograph—adds its own unique accessories. John Russell Pope, the famous beaux-arts architect, designed this mausoleum for banker Emil Winter—but “designed” is not really the right word here. The Woolworth mausoleum in Woodlawn, the Bronx, is nearly identical; Winter apparently saw it and told Pope “I want that,” and Pope gave it to him.

    Mr. Winter’s amazing sphinxes bear an expression that old Pa Pitt can only describe as “snooty.”

    2013-08-18-Allegheny-Cemetery-Winter-04The bronze door depicts Mr. Winter himself, large as life and in full Pharaonic regalia, about to set off for his journey into the afterlife. Even this is identical to the bronze door of the Woolworth mausoleum, except for the substitution of Mr. Winter’s face.

    2013-08-18-Allegheny-Cemetery-Winter-01Inside is a stained-glass window that reminds Father Pitt of cheap illustrated Sunday-school handouts, showing Mr. Winter properly enthroned. (It was devilishly hard to get a picture of this window, because the front doors are actually backed by a mesh screen. This was the best old Pa Pitt could do.)

    2013-08-18-Allegheny-Cemetery-Winter-03

  • A. E. Succop Mausoleum, Homewood Cemetery

    August Ernest Succop was interred here in 1931, but if Father Pitt had to guess, he would say that Mr. Succop had this mausoleum built for himself yeas before that. It has the correctly Doric style of the first part of the twentieth century. A good stained-glass window of the risen Christ is inside.

    A. E. Succop Mausoleum, Homewood Cemetery, 2015-05-24, 03

  • Scaife Mausoleum, Allegheny Cemetery

    The Scaifes are intertwined with the Mellons, making them very rich. This mausoleum was built for them in 1914, and it is still in use: billionaire news mogul Richard Mellon Scaife, who patterned his life after the movie Citizen Kane, is its most recent resident, having been laid to rest here in 2014.

    The stained-glass angel inside is very good; Father Pitt regrets that he does not know the artist.

  • Charles F. Schwab Mausoleum, Mount Royal Cemetery

    This particular Charles F. Schwab died in 1928, according to the inscription on his vault; Hendershaws were added later, and their name inscribed in the blank space on the lintel. This is a simple rustic mausoleum with a Doric front. Its best feature, unfortunately badly damaged, is a stained-glass window of a woman feeding a swan.

  • Myers Mausoleum, Allegheny Cemetery

    This simple Doric temple received its first burial in 1896. Inside is a fine window of an angel bearing lilies and laying a victor’s wreath at the grave.