| "St. Mark’s Stained Glass Windows"
By Nancy Gier
July 2009
Click for photos by Peter Vagt of
St. Mark's Stained Glass Windows
Begin just beyond the door to the hallway near the lectern
in St. Mark’s sanctuary, proceed west to the back of the
church, then cross to the south wall and make a loop back toward
the altar, and you can view the life of Christ in nine, amazingly
rich and beautiful double stained glass windows. Crafted in
pure intense colors of reds, greens, purple, blue and yellow,
each window has two parts and relates several scenes from the
life of Christ - from the annunciation to Pentecost.
The quality is so remarkable it is reminiscent of the middle
ages, when nearly all art was created to glorify God. The nine
double windows are part of 28 stained glass windows that were
created for St. Mark’s by the Charles Connick studio in
Boston and installed between 1953 and 1966.
Thanks to the thorough documentation of parishioner Kathleen
Leid, we know the Connick windows can be divided into five sets.
In addition to the life of Christ, there is a four-window set
depicting Christian service, a seven-window set on the sacramental
life of the church, and six windows in the chapel that portray
saints Mark, Luke, Barnabas, Peter and Paul, as well as Christ
in Gethsemane. Christ with the children, on the south wall near
the back of the church, and the rose-shaped window on the upper
west wall, depicting Christ the Comforter, makes the fifth set.
The rose window is hidden by organ pipes and can be seen only
from the outside. (The windows of the angel of prayer and the
angel of praise in the narthex on either side of the main doors
are not Connick windows.)
Nearly every window bears the “signature” of the
Connick studio etched into the glass in the lower right hand
corner, as well as a plaque with information on dedication.
The Rev. George Smith, rector of St. Mark’s, believes
the Connick windows are not only a treasured feature within
the physical church, but an important part of the present and
future life of the parish.
“These windows can be appreciated in many ways - for
their beauty and craftsmanship, for their theological and cultural
perspectives, and for their legacy of generosity to us from
those who have gone before us,” Smith said. “Like
reading the Biblical text itself, I always see something new
and interesting in our windows.”
Connick windows are distinctive not only by their color, but
because they exemplify the revival of medieval-style stained
glass that occurred in the early part of the 20th century. The
revival was led by Charles Connick, (1875-1945) who opened his
studio in Boston in 1913, after working in Pittsburgh and New
York.
Connick began his work life as a cartoonist for a newspaper,
but he quickly left that profession to become an apprentice
of stained glass and studied in Europe. In the world of stained
glass art, his name is rivaled only by John LaFarge (1835-1910)
and Louis Comfort Tiffany, (1848-1933). Unlike his prestigious
competitors, Connick did not use opalescent glass, which uses
the colors of the opal in milky tones. Connick believed that
opalescent glass detracted from intense colors and he chose
to use clear glass.
Although Connick died in 1945, his studio continued his high
standards of art and craftsmanship until 1986 when it closed.
The studio closed in part because the artists trained by Connick
and his main artist, Orin Skinner, were growing too old to work.
David Wixon, president of David Wixon and Associates of Glen
Ellyn, has helped to maintain some of the Connick windows at
St. Mark’s. He owns a stained and beveled art studio and
restores stained glass windows.
“The Connick studio in Boston was known for its medieval
style of windows,” Wixon said. “They believed in
the importance of connecting the style and design of the windows
to the architectural style of the church.” (St. Mark’s
gothic style of architecture is a natural home for Connick windows.)
According to Wixon, the original windows in St. Mark’s
church were colored glass. When the funds became available,
the parish chose Connick windows because of their details, inspirational
quality, and reputation for artistic excellence.
“In the 1950s and 1960s, not a lot of studios were doing
high-quality work,” Wixon added.
St. Mark’s Connick windows have Wixon’s seal of
approval.
“The windows are another way of proclaiming the message,”
Wixon said. “You can’t see Moses parting the Red
Sea in an abstract. It’s a communication that you can
understand. It’s another way that the Holy Spirit speaks
to you.”
Connick windows:
Connick windows can be found in over 5,000 churches, chapels,
schools and hospitals around the world. St. Mark’s Church
is one of 23 Illinois locations in which Connick windows can
be found. There are nearly 20 installations of Connick windows
in Chicago, including Fourth Presbyterian Church in downtown
Chicago, and seven installations in Evanston. The Connick installation
closest to St. Mark’s can be found at Gary United Methodist
Church at 224 N. Main St. in Wheaton.
More information can be found on the Charles Connick Foundation
Web site. Archives from the Connick studios, including glass
panels, paintings, sketches, photos, and correspondence are
housed at the Boston Public Library and at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in Cambridge.
Note: The information about the Connick windows at St. Mark’s
Church has been organized by Kathleen Leid. Kathleen first studied
the Connick windows in order to instruct her second grade Sunday
school students. She learned more after she was asked to put
together a presentation for adults. Kathleen earned a master’s
in history at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and
is trained as a historian. She has been delving into the history
of the building and the parish in preparation for St. Mark’s
100th anniversary celebration, as well as creating electronic
files.
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