Thomas Cole. Oil on canvas, 1840, 53 x 84 1/16 in. Toledo Museum of Art. Purchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A Scott, 1949.162.
Thomas Cole, Front Elevation Drawing for St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Catskill, NY, pen and black ink over pencil on off-white laid paper, mounted on linen, c.1839-40. Detroit Institute of Arts. Founders Society Purchase, William H. Murphy Fund, 39.535. View in Virtual Gallery
On 11 September 1839, a fire ravaged St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Catskill. Cole, a member of the church and its building committee, designed a plan for the new building. Cole's love of Gothic architecture, experiencing a revival in the United States at the time, is clearly present in his elevation drawing for the new church. It is drawn in a simplified Gothic style, with pointed lancet windows and tall towers. Cole's design was modified slightly with the addition of a central bell tower and an open belfry. The church was completed in 1841 and stood in Catskill until 1899. 1