Duke Chapel

Carved on the ornate entrance to the chapel are ten figures important to Methodism, Protestantism, and the American South. On the outer arch above the portal are carved three figures pivotal to the American Methodist movement: Bishop Francis Asbury stands in the center, while Bishop Thomas Coke and George Whitefield stand on the left and right, respectively. On the left wall within the entrance portal are carved (from left to right) Girolamo Savonarola, Martin Luther, and John Wycliffe.

On the right wall (from left to right) are Thomas Jefferson, statesman of the South; Robert E. Lee, soldier of the South; and Sidney Lanier, poet of the South. John Wesley, founder of Methodism, stands atop the inner arch within the portal, directly above the chapel doors.

These figures were carved by employees of the contractor, the John Donnelly company. According to "Duke lore," the architects gave Donnelly the choice of which figures to represent, which he did after consulting with an unnamed Vanderbilt professor.[8]

On Lee's carving, the belt buckle was initially inscribed 'USA' rather than 'CSA' for Confederate States of America; it was partially chiseled away but was still visible. The university removed the statue of Lee from the entrance after it was vandalized in August 2017 as part of nationwide protests against Confederate memorials. Duke later announced that the space will remain empty with the hope that it will "evoke this moment in history".[9][10]

The bell tower of Duke Chapel is modeled after the Bell Harry Tower of Canterbury Cathedral. It is 210 feet (64 m) tall and 38 feet (12 m) square at its base. Like the rest of the edifice, its main body is constructed of stone from the Duke Quarry near Hillsborough, North Carolina, while its upper trimmings are of limestone from Bedford, Indiana. Housed in the tower is a 50-bell carillon, a gift from The Duke Endowment. The heaviest bell, G-natural, weighs 11,200 pounds, and the lightest weighs 10.5 pounds.

A service elevator and a winding staircase of 239 steps provide access to the top. The bell tower is not open to the public, and restricted for Duke University students to special times during Orientation and Graduation.

The 77 Chapel windows were designed and constructed over a three-year period by 15 artists and craftsmen, including S. Charles Jaekle of G. Owen Bonawit, Inc. They are constructed from over one million pieces of glass, imported from England, France, and Belgium and varying in thickness between 1/8 and 3/16 inch. The largest window measures 17.5 by 38 feet (12 m), and the smallest measures just 14 by 20 inches (510 mm).

The windows depict scenes and characters from the Bible; of the 800 or 900 figures represented in the windows, 301 are larger than life-size. The large, upper clerestory windows along the nave and chancel depict scenes from the Old Testament, while the smaller medallion windows along the walls of the nave aisles represent scenes from the New Testament. Both Old and New Testament images are present in the two large transept windows as well as the altar window. The windows of the narthex depict women of the Old Testament, and the small windows of the two small entrance halls on either side of the narthex contain six scenes from the life of Jesus painted in black on amber glass. The windows of the Memorial Chapel are made from silver-tinted grisaille glass, and those in the crypt are of purple glass framed in lead grilles.

Duke Chapel's chancel contains the altar, the choir stalls, the pulpit, and the lectern. Patriarchs, apostles, saints, and other religious figures carved in limewood, and oak appear in the niches of the choir stalls and in the decorative screen behind the altar. Scenes from the Passion are carved into the north and south walls of the chancel.

Duke Chapel houses three large pipe organs, each constructed in a different style, which are used for religious services, ceremonies, recitals, and the study of organ performance. Additionally, a portable "box" organ belongs to the chapel and accompanies small groups and organizations.

The Kathleen McClendon Organ is Duke Chapel's original organ and is lodged behind ornate oak screens in two chambers on either side of the chancel and in front of both transepts. Built in 1932, it was the last major instrument made by the Aeolian Organ Company before the company merged to form the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company. 6,900 pipes, controlled by four manual keyboards and a pedal keyboard, provide a wide range of dynamic expression and orchestral voicing for the organ's individual stops. The organ was fully restored by Foley-Baker Inc. of Tolland, Connecticut, in 2009. Broome & Company of Connecticut restored the existing reed stops and added a new unenclosed Festival Trumpet.

The Benjamin N. Duke Memorial Organ, dedicated in 1976, was built by the Dutch Flentrop Company in the 18th century styles of Dutch and French organs. Housed in the arch between the narthex and the nave, it contains 5,033 pipes controlled by four keyboards and a pedal keyboard. The organ's main case, in which most of the pipes are housed, is built of solid mahogany and decorated with various colors and gold leaf. 40 feet (12 m) tall and 4.5 feet (1.4 m) deep, the main case is situated on a solid oak balcony overlooking the nave.

The Brombaugh Organ, installed in 1997 in a "swallow's nest" gallery of the Memorial Chapel, was the last organ to be added to the chapel. It is a two manual and pedal organ of 960 pipes, modeled in the style of Renaissance Italian instruments. It produces a gentle, sparkling tone with very low wind pressure, and like instruments of the 16th and 17th centuries, it is tuned in meantone temperament. The Duke family crest can be seen at the top of the organ case.

Several important people of Duke University are interred in the crypt directly beneath the Memorial Chapel, including three presidents of the university: William Preston Few (1924–1940), Julian Deryl Hart (1960–1963) with his wife Mary Johnson Hart, and Terry Sanford (1969–1985) with his wife Margaret Rose Sanford. The wife of James B. Duke, Nanaline Holt Duke, is also buried in the crypt, as are James A. Thomas, Chairman of the Duke Memorial Association, and James T. Cleland, former Dean of Duke Chapel, with his wife Alice Mead Cleland.

Two plaques on the walls of the crypt commemorate university presidents Arthur Hollis Edens (1949–1960) and Robert Lee Flowers (1941–1948).