Furniture

Relic Altar

Saint Mary’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, KY, USA, 2020

Conception, design, project lead, and relic installation by Jordan Hainsey. Construction by Ratigan-Schottler.

In 2001 during a cathedral basilica renovation, the altar was moved forward in the sanctuary, leaving the space beneath the wooden baldachin (canopy) empty. In 2020 with the support of +Roger Joseph Foys, tenth Bishop of Covington, Hainsey began designs for an altar concept beneath the baldachin that would accommodate and display the diocese’s collection of 350 relics.

Working closely with Ratigan-Schottler Manufacturing, Hainsey designed a double sided altar: one paneled side facing the nave and the opposite side, with the altar and cases, facing the apse. Molding profiles were meticuliously taken to match the 1954 woodwork. Designs also ingeniously accommodated HVAC air returns in the baldachin’s base, new lighting, and the seamless integration of the new woodwork with the cathedral basilica extant woodwork.