Norman's New Orleans and Environs / Containing a Brief Historical Sketch of the Territory and State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time

by Benjamin Moore Norman

ST. AUGUSTINE CHURCH

This structure, erected in 1841, stands on St. Claude street, corner of Bayou road. It is about 50 feet front by 90 deep. The architect, Mr. Depouilly, has displayed an excellent taste in its construction. The style is of a mixed order, but extremely neat—and in such good keeping, that the interior has the appearance of being much smaller than it actually measures. The decorations are worthy of the sacredness of the place. The colored glass of the windows throws a beautiful mellowed light across the aisles, producing a chastened effect suited to the solemnity of the place. Immediately over the altar is a full length painting of the tutelar saint, which is executed with the bold hand of a master. At the right of this is the Virgin Mary, little inferior to the first, but finished with much greater delicacy of touch. Our Saviour is conspicuously represented in the ceiling, over the centre—around which, on the gallery below, and between the windows, are portraits of the saints, arranged in the panel-work. Take this church altogether, it is one of the neatest houses of devotion in this city.