The main window in the Epistle (or north) transept, dedicated on Easter Sunday in 1920, was probably one of Tiffany's major productions. The Staten Islander (April 7, 1920) devoted a half page to the event and reported that the glass was made under the master's own personal supervision. Louis Comfort Tiffany himself probably wrote this description of the window:
In the center foreground is the Holy Family, Mary bending over her child, glorified by rays of the Star, and Joseph kneeling beside the manger, his whole figure bent in humble adoration. A lamb, symbol of innocence and sacrifice, lies at the foot of the manger, and in one corner a lantern spreads its soft glow over the manger floor and symbolizes the title given to Jesus by John the Baptist: "Light of the World." In the two outer panels stand the three Wise Men, two on the right and one on the left, come from afar to offer their precious gifts to the Holy Child, the richness of their robes and golden crowns emphasizing the perfect simplicity of the central figures. In the background, a deep blue midnight sky, lit up only by the guiding Star and a crescent moon, spreads an aura of spiritual mystery over all. The four shields, emblems of the four Evangelists, are set in the Gothic tracery above and brought out in rich colors against a field of deep blue. At the base of the window is the text: "All nations shall come and worship before Thee" — a prophecy spoken by David and fulfilled by the coming of the three Wise Men.
The window also carries these words: "In loving memory of Anna Kate Bartlett, wife of Edward Everett Bartlett, Jr., and daughter of Daniel Schnakenberg and Elizabeth Gillespie Schnakenberg. Died April 1, 1919." Kate was the eldest of four children born to Daniel and Elizabeth, and the third to die before her time. |
The tall side window in the right (or north) transept was made by the studio of Gorham in 1912. It depicts Christ as the Good Shepherd.
The window is dedicated to the memory of Mr. William Plummer Raynor, who died in April 1911 after a record-breaking forty-four continuous years as a vestryman and warden, and his wife Mary Eliza (who died in 1896), who had taught in the Christ Church Sunday School for over thirty years.
To see this window you must walk forward into the right transept and then turn around (facing the back of the church). The window is on the east side wall of the north transept. |