More details from the interior of Trinity Church in the City of Boston. Here we have a close up of the messenger in the stained glass window, The Resurrection, by John LaFarge.
In the March 1902 issue of The Church Standard, the window was described in this way: “A beautiful memorial window has been added to the group in the north transept of Trinity Church. It tells the story of the first easter morning. In the background the purple clouds of morning are hanging, growing lighter as they seem to touch the low lying hills to the rear of the empty sepulchre, and their tints show the approaching dawn. The flowing white garments of the risen Christ reflect the purple tints of the darker clouds … Upon the ground, reclining his head against the tomb, is the sleeping guard whose uniform makes a bright touch of coloring against the sombre hues of the walls. A messenger nearby … [his] graceful garments of crimson and gold stand out in deep and inviting contrast.”
That same month, a reporter for the Boston Evening Transcript newspaper also notes the color: “The color is in the artist’s strongest and most brilliant vein, and is especially remarkable for its aerial tones of graduated blues and greens … In no stained glass work by LaFarge has he carried his extraordinary personal sense of color to a more complete measure of depth and significance. It will, therefore, rank among his most important and characteristic work in this congenial medium.” The window was commissioned by Charles A. Welch in memory of his wife Mary Love Boott Welch who died in 1899.
I’ve had the opportunity to photograph this window several times over the years. But this particular day was special. A friend had let me borrow her tripod and another friend had unexpectedly allowed me to access a place not often accessible so I could have new vantage points where I could focus on details I’d never focused on before … like five toes on a foot.
Of course, the whole is magnificent as well.
Whatever one’s vantage point, it is a lovely window to behold. Learn more here: Trinity Church Art & History
Words + Images 