A Stained Glass Tour: The Aisle Windows -- Concept Overview

North Aisle, Window #3

(Baptism, Calling the Disciples)

The north and south aisles of the church each contain five pairs of stained glass window panels. According to the original order form, these windows were "to be devoted to incidents in the life of Christ." Overall, these ten pairs of window panels provide a visual depiction of Christ's life, from the annunciation to the ascension, in a total of 20 panels. As can be seen in the original plan (below), the two panels in each window were topically paired:

The Beginning
The Young Child
The Beginning of Ministry
Domination over Nature and Death
Christ as fulfillment of Law and Prophecy
The "I am" statements
Parables
Our Lord's human and compassionate nature
Passion
Resurrection/Ascention

Original plan for the aisle windows, from the back side of the original order sheet (No. 2821, MIT Libraries Dome, https://dome.mit.edu/handle/1721.3/77690). Note that the Sacristy should be located on the left side of the chancel, and two panels were later added there.

Each panel consists of a medallion containing the central image of the event identified by the text, a smaller medallion containing a church-related symbol that provides additional commentary on the event, and an open book with the panel's text inscribed.

Sketch of a panel's "anatomy," which identifies

the various parts discussed in this section

The background and accent colors alternate between blue and red. In each case, the background color of the window and the image medallion are the same color, while the border of the image medallion and the background of the symbol medallion are the accent color.

The two images below (of Windows 1 and 2) illustrate the alternating color scheme:

Window #1, Red Background and blue accents. Note that the blue is used as the background for the symbol medallion, the border of the image medallion, and is threaded through the vining branches of the side borders.

Window #2, Blue Background. In this case, the red accent color is used as the background for the symbol medallion, the border of the image medallion, and is threaded through the vining branches of the side borders.

The border of each panel is a series of vining leaves and grapes, reminding the viewer that Christ is "the true vine" (John 15:1a). The accent color is threaded through the branches on each side.

The four header windows above each section are consistent within each set of panels in color and images, and alternate for each window pair, with either white stars in blue medallions and a small blue diamond above, or white flames in red medallions and a small gold diamond above.