Christ Church has a classical entablature that was among the most sophisticated produced in colonial Virginia. The fully developed Ionic entablature provides a beautifully proportioned transition between the exceptionally high brick walls and the lofty hipped roof. It is about four feet in height, and it accommodates a roof throw of about twenty inches. It consists of three parts: a denticulated cornice, pulvinated (cushion) frieze, and three-stage architrave. This pattern is repeated in the brick doorways as well as the church’s interior woodwork in the pulpit type and the arch and pediments in the altarpiece paneling.
The entablature is painted an off-white, which is the original color. A paint sample analysis taken in 1992 determined the succession to be Spanish Brown primer, White Lead primer, and White Lead finish coat. This color matches that ordered by the vestrymen of nearby Wicomico Parish church, which was designed as an exact copy of Christ Church, when they laid out building specifications in 1763: “the Cornish, Door, and Windows to be neatly painted on the Outside with white lead.”
The entablature has survived largely intact since Christ Church was finished in 1735. Bishop Meade mentions “the renewal of the cornices” as part of the restoration work carried out in 1837-38. It is likely he means deteriorated portions in the woodwork were replaced, as several small sections would be again in the early twentieth century and most recently in 1991. |
 The entablature at Christ Church was among the most sophisticated produced on any building in colonial Virginia. It gives the church a well-proportioned and attractive transition between the hipped roof and high brick walls. From the bottom up, it consists of a three-stage architrave, a pulvinated frieze (long, curved piece in the middle), and a denticulated cornice. This section was among the first treated in a five-year project to preserve the entablature that began in the fall of 2002. |
