Basilica of the National Shrine

Author's Comments

Scale is the first thing you notice and then you stop noticing it, because the mosaics take over. The Basilica does not feel like most American churches. It feels like something translated from a much older tradition, carried across an ocean and set down in upper northeast DC where almost nobody expects to find it. The Byzantine chapels along the side aisles are where I spend most of my time - each one is its own composition, each one tiled in a different palette, and the light behaves differently in every single one depending on where the sun is and what hour you have arrived. Midday is when the upper church earns its reputation. The clerestory windows throw color down onto the stone floor and the Great Dome mosaic reads most clearly when the light is high. Weekday mornings are quiet to the point of reverent. I have set up a tripod here and worked through a full hour without being interrupted, which is a rare thing in any major DC landmark. A wide lens will get you the sweep of the nave. A longer lens will get you the details that reward the second and third visit - the faces in the tesserae, the gold that is not quite gold, the small mosaic inscriptions tucked into corners you would never notice at first pass. I keep finding new ones. I have been coming here for years and I still have not photographed the whole building. I am not sure anyone has.

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