This beautiful 950-seat chapel is located in the heart of the Jesuit High School campus in Tampa, FL.
The nave is surrounded by 3 1⁄2 ft. tall wainscoting of gray Bardiglio marble with white veins. The floor of the sanctuary has a three-dimensional cube pattern made with three types of marble: Bianco Carrara (white), Rosso Verona (brick red), and Black Marquiña (black).
The marble floor is 3⁄4 in. thick, and the steps are 1 1/4 in. thick. The risers are not flat. Their cove molding creates the illusion that the steps and risers are made from a single slab.
The four corner shrines are dedicated to Jesuit martyrs: St. Isaac Jogues, St. Edmund Campion, Blessed Miguel Pro, and St. Paul Miki. Each shrine has an Arabescato marble altar with a carved symbol of martyrdom in front of it. Each altar has a pair of red Rosso Levanto or green Verde Alpi marble columns.
The main altar and the high altar are made of Arabescato, a type of highly decorative marble with a white background and strong gray veins. The side columns are 12 ft. tall. The shafts are made of single pieces of red Rosso Francia marble, and the Corinthian capitals are of white Bianco Carrara marble.
All the marble pieces in the altars are in the same positions in which they lay inside the mountain before being quarried. As a result, the veining around the altars is continuous, creating the illusion that the altars are made from a single slab.
The architect did a magnificent job. From afar, the altar and high altar look very rich because of the elegant Arabescato pattern. The beautiful architectural details and fine carving can be appreciated upon closer observation.
This project was fabricated entirely in Italy and shipped to the Jesuit High School campus in Tampa, FL. Fabrication took approximately one year. The ready-to-install items were shipped in four 20 ft. containers weighing 44 metric tons.