St. John's-Grace Episcopal Church - Table of Contents

Te Deum West Window by J. Gordon Guthrie
St. John's-Grace Episcopal Church
51 Colonial Circle at Bidwell Pkwy. and Lafayette Ave.
Buffalo, New York
St. John's-Grace Church - Official Website

Artist and Fabricator:

J. Gordon Guthrie

Style:

Gothic Revival

Captions source:

Rev. Peter Bridgford, "St. John's Grace Episcopal Church: A Guide to Some of the Memorials," 2000

Stained glass

 

Perhaps the centerpiece of all the art work in this building is the West Window given by Mr. and Mrs. Seymour H. Knox, Jr. in memory of Mrs. Knox's mother, Sarah E. Northrup.

It was dedicated on Trinity Sunday, June 4, 1928. This Te Deum Window is based on the Book of Revelation, which John the Evangelist may have received on the Isle of Patmos. He is depicted in the central panel in an ultramarine gown near the bottom.

Central to this window is the "One upon the Throne" in the upper middle section.

     Te Deum Window


     Te Deum Window   ...   Details below:





Left side, upper, half-ellipsis grouping: Four and twenty elders [8 in this photo] with crowns of gold (Revelation 4)




Left side, upper, half-ellipsis grouping: Four and twenty elders [2 in this photo] with crowns of gold (Revelation 4)   ...
Revelation 4: 6:  In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.

Revelation 4 : 7 The first living creature was like a lion [St. Mark, below] , the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man [St. Matthew, below], the fourth was like a flying eagle.



Central to this window is the "One upon the Throne" in the upper middle section. This one is surrounded by two half-ellipsis groupings. The lower one depicts "the Great Multitude" of one hundred and forty-four thousand (Revelation 7).    ...   Included in the "Multitude of the Redeemed" on the left are Adam and Eve, Noah, Melchizedek, John the Baptist, Isaac, Abraham, Ruth and Isaiah.    ...  Revelation 7: 1: After this I saw four angels [far left tall figure standing at the four corners of the earth]



Left base scene: Moses with the Ten Commandments, "I am the Lord thy God" (Exodus 20).    ...   Iconography in Art and Architecture: Moses and the Ten Commandments



Central to this window is the "One upon the Throne" in the upper middle section.    ...   Like the East altar window, the focus of this window is the central column topped by the mandorla, symbolizing the door between heaven and earth, in which the Christ figure stands with outstretched hands.



Panel beneath seated Christ



Behind the seated figure of John are Jeanne d'Arc and her companions, St.Margaret, and St. Barbara.   ...   Iconography in Art and Architecture: St. John the Evangelist



Middle panel is of Chaos and the Creation of the world: "Let there be light" (Genesis I).    ...   Iconography in Art and Architecture: Creation



Other side of the half-ellipsis groupings: Far right: angel
St. Augustine of Canterbury, St. Columba of Iona, St. Martin of Tours, St. Hilda of Whitby,    ...   Also included are St. Alban; Geoffrey of Boulogne, the Crusader; and St. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great.    ...   Detail below:




Special thanks to Rector Philip W. Dougharty and former Rector Peter Bridgford for their assistance in 2009.
Special thanks to Rector Jon F. Lavelle for his cooperation in 2019.

Photos and their arrangement © 2009 Chuck LaChiusa
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