The Programs of Stained Glass in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, Florida; and the Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida

Home , Franz Mayer of Munich, Marian year, Medieval stained glass, Patron saints of Poland, William Dyce

FRANZ MAYER AND COMPANY: THE PROGRAMS OF STAINED GLASS IN THE CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA; AND THE SACRED HEART CHURCH, TAMPA, FLORIDA

DEBORAH STONE JAMIESON

A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

2005

Deborah Stone Jamieson

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The completion of this dissertation was made possible first and foremost through the direction, guidance, and dedication of my committee chair, Dr. David Stanley. The

helpful suggestions from my remaining committee members, Dr. Robert Westin, Dr.

Melissa Hyde, and Dr. Sharon Difino are also greatly appreciated. I would like to

acknowledge Fr. Paul Osterle, S.J., Elaine Carbonneau, and other staff members at

Sacred Heart Church; Fr. Antonio Leon at the Church of the Immaculate Conception; and

Alice Louise and Chad, and thank them for their assistance with matters pertaining to the researching and photographing of the stained-glass programs. With enormous gratitude I

thank my family who provided constant encouragement and support throughout my

studies at the University of Florida. Finally, with an abundance of love I thank my

husband, Bruce. He has helped me with every step in this endeavor, and has always been

my staunch advocate and best friend. TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... iii

LIST OF FIGURES ...... vii

ABSTRACT...... xiii

CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION ...... 1

2 HISTORY OF FRANZ MAYER AND COMPANY...... 5

Introduction...... 5 Early Beginnings ...... 6 Franz Mayer and Company in England...... 11 Franz Mayer and Company in the United States...... 18 Reasons for Popularity of Franz Mayer and Company ...... 24 1914 – Present...... 29

3 HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION...... 31

Introduction...... 31 The History of the Church ...... 31 Exterior Description of the Church of the Immaculate Conception...... 38 Interior Description of the Church of the Immaculate Conception ...... 40

4 ICONOGRAPHY AND PROGRAM OF WINDOWS IN THE CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION ...... 45

Introduction...... 45 Major Thematic Concepts...... 45 Christocentric ...... 45 Familial Theme...... 46 Devotion to Mary ...... 48 The Sacrament of the Eucharist...... 49 Description of the Window Program...... 51 Early Childhood...... 52

Initiation of Christ’s Ministry...... 56 Public Ministry ...... 58 The Sacramental Sacrifice ...... 61 Final Stage ...... 66 Clergy Memorial...... 70 Clerestory...... 71

5 HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE SACRED HEART CHURCH...... 76

Introduction...... 76 History of the Sacred Heart Church...... 76 Exterior Description of the Sacred Heart Church...... 85 Interior Description of the Sacred Heart Church...... 88

6 ICONOGRAPHY AND PROGRAM OF WINDOWS IN THE SACRED HEART CHURCH...... 92

Introduction...... 92 Major Thematic Concepts...... 92 The Jesuits and the Saints...... 92 Teaching and Baptism ...... 94 Devotion to the Virgin Mary ...... 95 Devotion to Joseph ...... 96 Devotion to the Sacred Heart ...... 97 Description of the Window Program...... 98 The South Nave ...... 99 Transepts...... 103 Apse ...... 105 The North Nave ...... 110 The West Façade Window...... 116

7 HISTORICAL, PHIILOSOPHICAL, AND GENERAL AESTHETIC INFLUENCES ON THE MUNICH STYLE OF FRANZ MAYER AND COMPANY ...... 118

Introduction...... 118 The Revival of Art in Germany in the Nineteenth-Century ...... 118 Contemporary Theological Influences ...... 120 Nineteenth-Century Philosophical Influences ...... 124 The Heroic Past: Albrecht Dürer ...... 126 The Idealism of Raphael and the Italian Renaissance ...... 130 The Nazarenes ...... 131 The Pre-Raphaelites...... 135 Summary of the General Stylistic Influences Evident in the Stained Glass- Windows in the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart Church...... 141 American Receptiveness to the Munich Style...... 143

8 STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF SPECIFIC WINDOWS IN THE CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION ...... 148

Introduction...... 148 The Annunciation...... 148 The Adoration of the Shepherds ...... 152 The Holy Family in the Workshop...... 155 Jesus Blessing the Children...... 161 The Visitation...... 163 The Finding in the Temple...... 166 The Sermon on the Mount...... 168 The Raising of the Widow’s Son ...... 169 The Sacrifice of Abraham ...... 171 The Virgin Mary in Glory...... 175 Conclusion ...... 177

9 STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF SPECIFIC WINDOWS IN THE SACRED HEART CHURCH...... 179

Introduction...... 179 The Finding in the Temple...... 179 Jesus Giving St. Peter the Keys to the Kingdom...... 181 Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane...... 184 The Ascension ...... 188 The Resurrection...... 193 The Coronation of the Virgin Mary...... 197 St. Stanislaus Kostka...... 199 St. Dominic Receiving the Rosary from the Virgin Mary ...... 201 Conclusion ...... 203

10 CONCLUSION...... 204

LIST OF REFERENCES...... 310

Books and Articles...... 310 Interviews and Correspondences ...... 319

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...... 320

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure page

1 Franz Mayer and Company advertisement, Sadlier’s Catholic Directory, Almanac and Ordo, 1894, p. 84 ...... 214

2 (IC-22) The Paschal Lamb...... 215

3 (IC-24) The Wedding Feast at Cana...... 215

4 Franz Mayer and Company catalog advertisement, c. 1910 ...... 216

5 Site plan, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, Florida...... 216

6 Scaled ground plan, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, Florida...... 217

7 Exterior, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, Florida ...... 218

8 Interior, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, Florida ...... 219

9 Sketchplan, program of windows, ground floor, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, Florida ...... 220

10 (IC-1A) The Annunciation ...... 221

11 (IC-1B) The Adoration of the Shepherds ...... 222

12 (IC-3) The Visitation ...... 223

13 (IC-4) The Presentation in the Temple...... 224

14 (IC-5) The Finding in the Temple ...... 225

15 (IC-6) The Holy Family in the Workshop...... 226

16 (IC-7) Jesus Instructing Nicodemus...... 227

17 (IC-8) The Baptism of Jesus...... 228

18 (IC-9) Jesus Blessing the Children...... 229

vii 19 (IC-10) The Raising of the Widow’s Son...... 230

20 (IC-11) The Raising of Lazarus...... 231

21 (IC-12) The Sermon on the Mount ...... 232

22 (IC-13) The Transfiguration...... 233

23 (C-23) The Sacrifice of Abraham ...... 234

24 (IC-17) The Sacrifice of Melchisedech...... 235

25 (IC-18) The Manna in the Desert...... 236

26 (IC-21) The Feeding of the Five Thousand...... 237

27 (IC-19) The Last Supper...... 238

28 (IC-20) The Crucifixion...... 239

29 (IC-15A) The Resurrection ...... 240

30 (IC-15B) The Ascension...... 241

31 (IC-16) The Pentecost ...... 242

32 (IC-2) St. Patrick in Ireland ...... 242

33 (IC-14) The Sisters of the Immaculate Conception...... 243

34 Sketchplan, program of windows, clerestory, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, Florida ...... 244

35 (IC-25A) The Choir of Angels...... 245

36 (IC-25B) The Virgin Mary in Glory...... 245

37 (IC-26A & B) Sts. Augustine and Gregory...... 246

38 (IC 27A & B) Sts. John and Luke ...... 247

39 (IC-30A & B) Sts. Mark and Matthew...... 248

40 (IC-31A & B) Sts. Jerome and Ambrose...... 249

41 (IC-28A & B) Angels, eastern window ...... 250

42 (IC-29A & B) Angels, western window ...... 251

43 Site plan, Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida...... 252

viii 44 Scaled ground plan, Nicholas J. Clayton, St. Louis Church, Tampa, Florida...... 253

45 Scaled ground plan, Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida...... 254

46 Exterior, Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida...... 255

47 Interior, Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida...... 256

48 Sketchplan, program of windows, ground floor, Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida ...... 257

49 (SH-1) St. Stanislaus Kostka ...... 258

50 (SH-2) St. Patrick in Ireland...... 259

51 (SH-3) Sts. Anne and Joachim Presenting Mary in the Temple...... 260

52 (SH-4) The Death of St. Joseph...... 261

53 (SH-5) St. Dominic Receiving the Rosary from the Virgin Mary...... 262

54 (SH-12) The Resurrection ...... 263

55 (SH-6) The Ascension...... 264

56 (SH-10) The Annunciation ...... 265

57 (SH-8) The Adoration of the Shepherds...... 266

58 (SH-9) The Revelation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque...... 267

59 (SH-7) St. Louis on Crusade ...... 268

60 (SH-11) St. Ignatius Taking First Vows...... 269

61 (SH-13) The Finding in the Temple ...... 270

62 (SH-14) Jesus Blessing the Children ...... 271

63 (SH-15) Jesus Giving the Keys to St. Peter...... 272

64 (SH-16) Jesus Saving St. Peter from Drowning...... 273

65 (SH-17) Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane...... 274

66 (SH-18) The Coronation of the Virgin Mary ...... 275

ix 67 After Albrecht Dürer, workshop of Veit Hirsvogel the Elder, The Annunciation, c. 1504-5, stained-glass...... 276

68 Johann Friedrich Overbeck, Christ Blessing the Children, 1826, oil on canvas....277

69 Jan van Eyck, Arnolfini’s Wedding Portrait, 1434, tempera and oil on panel...... 278

70 Raphael, The Mass of Bolsena, detail, 1512, fresco...... 279

71 Raphael, The Coronation of the Virgin (Oddi Altarpiece), 1503, oil on canvas....280

72 Robert Martineau, The Last Day in the Old Home, 1861, oil on canvas ...... 281

73 Martin Schgongauer, The Annunciation, c. 1480-85, engraving...... 282

74 Albrecht Dürer, The Annunciation (The Life of the Virgin), c. 1503, woodcut ....283

75 Martin Schongauer, The Adoration of the Magi, c. 1470-75, engraving ...... 284

76 John Everett Millais, Christ in the House of His Parents, 1850, oil on canvas .....285

77 Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Girlhood of Mary Virgin, 1849, oil on canvas...... 286

78 Johann Friedrich Overbeck, The Visitation, 1867/68, oil on canvas...... 287

79 Albrecht Dürer, The Visitation (The Life of the Virgin), c. 1504, woodcut ...... 288

80 Heinrich Hofmann, Christ in the Temple, 1882, oil on canvas...... 289

81 Heinrich Hofmann, Christ in the Temple, c. 1880, lithograph...... 290

82 Heinrich Hofmann, Sermon on the Mount, c. 1880, lithograph ...... 291

83 Heinrich Hofmann, Jesus Raising the Widow’s Son from Nain, c. 1880...... 292

84 Heinrich Hofmann, The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus, c. 1880, lithograph (Heinrich Hofmann, Life of Christ) ...... 293

85 Caspar David Friedrich, The Crucifix in the Mountain, 1807-8, oil on canvas .....294

86 Anonymous, The Virgin on the Crescent Moon, c. 1490-95, linden wood, with Original polychromy and gilding ...... 295

87 Raphael, St. Catherine of Alexandria, 1507, oil on panel...... 296

88 Perugino, Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter, 1481, fresco ...... 297

89 Raphael, Charge to St. Peter, 1514-15, black chalk and tempera on paper, mounted on canvas...... 297

x 90 Guido Reni, Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter, 1626, oil on canvas...... 298

91 Martin Schongauer, Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, c. 1475-1480, Engraving ...... 299

92 Albrecht Dürer, Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane (The Large Passion), c 1496-97, woodcut...... 300

93 Raphael, The School of Athens, detail, 1510, fresco ...... 301

94 Albrecht Dürer, The Assumption or Coronation of the Virgin (The Life of the Virgin), 1510, woodcut...... 302

95 Jobst Harrich after Albrecht Dürer, The Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin (The Heller Altarpiece), c. 1614, oil on panel ...... 303

96 Raphael, The Transfiguration, c. 1516-20, oil on panel ...... 304

97 Albrecht Dürer, The Resurrection (The Large Passion), 1510, woodcut ...... 305

98 Raphael, David and Goliath (The Loggia), 1516-19, fresco...... 306

99 Raphael, Moses and the Burning Bush (The Loggia), 1516-9, fresco 307

100 Bartolomé Murillo, The Vision of Friar Lauterio, c. 1638-40, oil...... 308

101 Bartolomé Murillo, The Virgin Presenting the Rosary to St. Dominic, c. 1638- 40, oil...... 309

Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

FRANZ MAYER AND COMPANY: THE PROGRAMS OF STAINED-GLASS IN THE CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA; AND THE SACRED HEART CHURCH, TAMPA, FLORIDA

Deborah Stone Jamieson

May 2005

Chair: David J. Stanley Major Department: Art and Art History

My study entailed a comprehensive iconographic and stylistic study of two

programs of stained-glass windows located in the Church of the Immaculate Conception,

Jacksonville, Florida; and the Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida, created by Franz

Mayer and Company of Munich, Germany. Both churches contain original and complete

programs of figural glass that date to the first decade of the twentieth-century, and are representative of the successful Munich style developed by Franz Mayer and Company.

Because these programs had not been fully researched within their cultural context, my study aimed to provide a more informed understanding of these two important stained-

glass programs by investigating the development of Franz Mayer and Company and their

accelerated rise to prominence in the field of stained-glass.

The development of Franz Mayer and Company is discussed in the historical

setting of nineteenth-century Europe and the United States, and includes various

xiii historical, social, theological, and economic factors that account for the tremendous

popularity and success of the company. I provide the history and establishment of each

church, including a description of the exterior and interior of each building, to supply the

visual context necessary for a stylistic appreciation of the stained-glass windows.

Personal observations and interpretations were then used to analyze and describe the

iconography of each program, noting the influence of thematic concepts on the

organization and placement of the windows in the architectural setting.

Various historical, philosophical, and aesthetic influences of the nineteenth-

century are discussed that came to bear on the development of the popular Munich style,

and the strong presence of Franz Mayer and Company in the stained-glass market abroad

and in the United States. Lastly, I compare specific stained-glass windows in the two

churches with historical and contemporary works of art, in an attempt to suggest possible

compositional and stylistic sources used by the Mayer designers. The foundation of the

Munich style ultimately stems from the German and Italian Renaissance masters Albrecht

Dürer and Raphael Sanzio, whose particular aesthetic was integrated with contemporary

nineteenth-century revival styles and artists. Although the influence of similar artists

permeates both programs of stained-glass, different sources were also discerned,

suggesting that two separate distinct master designers oversaw the production of these

two distinct programs of glass.

xiv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This study consists of a comprehensive examination of programs of stained-glass

windows by Franz Mayer and Company of Munich, Germany, located in north and

central Florida. Two original programs of Mayer glass were identified, both of them

consisting of complete sets of windows manufactured by the German company and that

dating to the first decade of the twentieth-century. These sets of stained-glass are located

in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Jacksonville and the Sacred Heart Church

in Tampa.

Both churches are the oldest Catholic congregations in their respective geographic

locations and are significant historical landmarks in the downtown areas. The Church of

the Immaculate Conception, located at 101 East Duval Street in Jacksonville, was

dedicated on December 8, 1910, and is one of the finest examples of Late Gothic Revival

architecture in Florida.1 Equally impressive is the Romanesque Revival style of the

Sacred Heart Church located at 509 North Florida Avenue in Tampa, which was

dedicated on January 15, 1905.2 The Church of the Immaculate Conception and the

1 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, D.C., National Register of Historic Places, no. 92001695, sec. 7, Stephen Loosen, Historic Sites Specialist, 1992, p. 1

2 The New Orleans Province chose not to apply for membership to the National Register of Historic Places because of possible federal restrictions related to future renovation and expansion of the church. However, with recent and projected restoration and upgrade projects ongoing, the administration is currently considering the possibility. Personal interviews with Elaine Charbonneau, Church Historian, and Larry Cabrera, Business Manager, Sacred Heart Church.

1 2

Sacred Heart Church each boast an outstanding collection of Mayer figural windows, the

former 31 and the latter 18. These two programs of stained-glass exemplify the extensive

knowledge and understanding of Roman Catholic iconography and pictorial traditions as

well as the excellence of craftsmanship achieved by the Mayer artists. The naturalistic

and clearly articulated depictions of the Munich style were extremely popular with

Roman Catholic patrons as evidenced by the extensive commissions completed by Franz

Mayer and Company for numerous churches and cathedrals throughout the United States

and Europe. Their designs play a dominant role in the ecclesiastical programs of stained-

glass in this country, and their contributions to the broader field of stained-glass form an

important part of America’s artistic heritage.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart Church are two of

three churches in north and central Florida that contain a complete set of stained-glass

windows produced by Franz Mayer and Company.3 These two programs constitute an

important contribution to the historic buildings in which they are placed, and function as

an artistic and cultural expression of the time of their conception. However, they have

not been fully studied, particularly within their cultural context. My study was conducted

to allow them to be more fully appreciated in the local community as well as the larger

academic realm. Chapter 2 discusses the development of Franz Mayer and Company in

the historical setting of the nineteenth-century in Europe. I attempted to understand the

3 The remaining church containing a complete program of windows is the Cathedral- Basilica of St. Augustine, St. Augustine, dedicated in 1909. The twelve stained-glass windows in the Cathedral-Basilica depict various scenes in the life of St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. Because of their limited size and subject matter, these windows do not typify Mayer windows and therefore have been excluded from this study.

circumstances that provided the company’s accelerated rise to prominence in the field of

stained-glass, initially in Germany with later expansion in England and the United States.

Consideration was given to various historical, social, theological, and economic factors

that accounted for the tremendous popularity and success of the Mayer company.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception is the first church to be discussed.

Chapter 3 relates the history and establishment of that church and is limited to pertinent

events leading to its construction. Next, I describe the exterior and interior of the

building to provide a visual context needed for a stylistic appreciation of the stained-glass windows. Chapter 4 uses personal observations and interpretations to analyze the iconography of the window program. First, I note important thematic concepts based on traditional and contemporary Church doctrine and on the profile of the patron and congregation. I note the influence of these thematic concepts on the organization and

placement of the windows in the architectural setting and describe the iconography of each window in its theological context.

In a manner comparable to the treatment of the Church of the Immaculate

Conception in Chapters 3 and 4, Chapters 5 and 6 are devoted to discussing the Sacred

Heart Church. Chapter 5 includes significant historical information related to its construction, followed by a descriptive analysis of the exterior and interior building.

Chapter 6 includes an iconographic analysis of the program of stained-glass to determine important themes, followed by a description of each scene depicted.

Chapter 7 first examines various historical, philosophical, and aesthetic influences of the nineteenth-century that affected the development of the Munich style as exemplified by Franz Mayer and Company. The ability of Franz Mayer and Company to

4 meet the specific needs of their patrons was directly related to the company’s strong presence in the stained-glass market in the United States. Chapter 7 closes by discussing various aspects of a Christian aesthetic style developed by the Mayer artists that expressed the beliefs and sentiments of their Roman Catholic patrons, and how these general elements are evident in the two stained-glass programs.

Chapters 8 and 9 include a visual examination of specific stained-glass windows in the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart Church, respectively. A stylistic analysis visually compares historical and contemporary works of art with specific windows, in an attempt to suggest possible compositional and stylistic sources used by the Mayer designers. Lastly, chapter 10 presents my findings concerning Franz

Mayer and Company and the two original programs of stained-glass created by the company located in the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart

Church.

It is hoped that this study will provide a better understanding of the presence of

Franz Mayer and Company in north and central Florida in the early twentieth-century through an analysis of the programs of stained-glass in the Church of the Immaculate

Conception in Jacksonville and the Sacred Heart Church in Tampa. An attempt was made to show how developments of nineteenth-century aesthetics came to be expressed in the Munich style, which is so marvelously exemplified throughout these two original and complete programs of stained-glass.

CHAPTER 2 HISTORY OF FRANZ MAYER AND COMPANY

Introduction

The collections of stained-glass windows in the Church of the Immaculate

Conception in Jacksonville and the Sacred Heart Church in Tampa reveal the painstaking

attention to detail and exquisite craftsmanship characteristic of Franz Mayer and

Company of Munich, Germany. These windows illustrate the pictorial style that was

highly favored by ecclesiastical commissions in this country (especially Catholic patrons)

at the turn of the nineteenth-century, and testify to the high quality and structural integrity

of the windows produced by the Mayer Company. The tremendous popularity of stained-

glass by Franz Mayer and Company and other Munich studios working in a pictorial style

is apparent in literally tens of thousands of windows throughout the United States.4 To provide a deeper appreciation of the windows located in the Church of the Immaculate

Conception and the Sacred Heart Church, this chapter discusses the development of

Franz Mayer and Company within the historical setting of the nineteenth-century in

Europe and America, and attempts to provide a rationale for the Mayer Company’s accelerated rise to prominence within the field of stained-glass.

4 Virginia Chieffo Raguin, “Bavarian and Austrian Imported Glass During the 19th Century,” International Seminar on Stained Glass of the 19th and 20th Centuries. The Society of Architectural Historians and The Census of Stained Glass Windows in America, April 27-May 1, 1974, Philadelphia. (Holy Cross, MA: The Census of Stained Glass Windows in America, 1994), p. 89.

5 6

Early Beginnings

Europe during the nineteenth-century experienced religious revivals that had a momentous effect upon church building and subsequently the production of stained-glass.

With the revival of religion and liturgical arts in Europe creating an unprecedented demand for stained-glass, a Bavarian resurgence in glass-making emerged, fostered by

the patronage of King Ludwig I (1825-48).5 He began state-sponsored experimentation

in the production of colored glass in Munich in 1824,6 which quickly led to Ludwig I’s

founding and establishment of the Königliche Glasmalereianstalt, the Royal Bavarian

Glass-Painting Institute.

The institute is regarded as being founded in 1827, the first year in which Ludwig I commissioned monumental stained-glass windows for the west façade of the

Regensburger Cathedral.7 The institute employed only German artists who were highly

qualified and skilled, and all were members of the Munich Academy.8 For several years,

commissions came almost exclusively from the king himself, such as the Cologne

Cathedral, the Mariahilfkirche and other churches in Munich. Ludwig’s enthusiasm for

5 Virginia Chieffo Raguin, “Revivals, Revivalists, and Architectural Stained Glass,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 49 (Sep 1990), p. 322. The author notes that although the revival was supported directly through Ludwig I’s governmental policy, the interest in the revival of stained-glass had first been started by collectors of old glass, such as the Boisserée brothers who became major influences in the German Romantic movement.

6 Vaassen, Elgin, Glasmalerei des 19. Jahrhunderts in Deutschland (Leipzig: Edition Leipzig, 1993), p. 19. Michael Sigmund Frank (1770-1847), a glass and porcelain painter from Nürmberg, was appointed by Ludwig to oversee the glass production. Frank was replaced in 1833 by artist Max Emanuel Ainmiller (1807-1870).

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid, p. 126.

art led him to fund artists and also museum buildings and a wide variety of religious and

secular public works. Ludwig played a decisive role through his patronage in reshaping

Munich as an artistic capital, for he wanted “to turn Munich into a town which will be

such a credit to Germany that no one who has not seen Munich can claim to know

Germany.”9

An influential figure in the development of Bavarian stained-glass was the glass-

painter Max Emanuel Ainmiller (1807-1870) who was given responsibility for overseeing the “Glaser, Feuerfarben, Kartons und vieles andere” related to stained-glass production

at the Königliche Glasmalereianstalt.10 In 1851 after the abdication of Ludwig I,

Ainmiller took over the private accounts of the institution that flourished under his

direction. Stained-glass windows were being distributed “von Edinburgh bis Zagreb und

von Rom bis Boston/Mass;” the Glasmalereianstalt became the leading European

institute whose style of painting influenced all other studios.11 Several years after the

death of Ainmiller in 1874 the institution began to decline, partially in response to

financial burdens and the growth of recognized private studios.12 However, the

9 Eberhard Ruhmer, “Ludwig I,” The Dictionary of Art, 1st ed.

10 Glasmalerei des 19. Jarhunderts in Deutschland, p. 19.

11 Ibid, p. 126.

12 Eva Anwander-Heisse, Glasmalereien in München im 19. Jahrhundert, Dissertationen zur Bayerischen Landes- und Münchner Stadtgeschichte (München: UNI-Druck München, 1992), p. 17; See Jean M. Farnsworth, Carmen R. Crose, Joseph F. Chorpenning, O.S.F.S., editors, Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia (Philadelphia: Saint Joseph’s University Press, 2002), p. 135; the royal studio closed in 1874.

Glasmalereianstalt was already being passed somewhat into private hands beginning in

1851, several of which became permanent independent stained-glass firms.13

Out of this rich artistic revival in Munich emerged a number of prosperous and successful German stained-glass studios. The Tyrolese Art Glass Company, Franz Mayer and Company, F.X. Zettler, The Von Gerichten Studio, and Gustav Van Treeck Studio are the best known of the many German studios that were producing naturalistic and

idealized pictorial images. Guided by the aesthetic traditions laid down by the Royal

Bavarian Glass Painting Institute, Munich glass proved to be extremely popular in

Germany and throughout the world.

Franz Mayer and Company quickly rose to become a major distributor of stained-

glass in Europe, England, and the United States. The company has been continuously

operated as a family firm since its founding in 1847 by Joseph Gabriel Mayer (1808-

1883). The founder was succeeded by his sons, Joseph (1846-98) and Franz (1848-

1926); then the three sons of Franz, Anton (1886-1967), Karl (1889-1971), and Adalbert

(1884-1987); followed by Franz Mayer’s grandsons, Konrad (b. 1923, retired) and

Gabriel (b. 1938); and presently Gabriel’s son Michael (b. 1976). Dr. Gabriel Mayer and

Michael are now managing partners of the company.14 This flourishing dynasty of

German glaziers held a dominant presence in the manufacturing of stained-glass during

the last half of the nineteenth-century and continuing into the twentieth century.

13 Ibid.

14 Farnsworth et al., Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia, p. 441.

Joseph was trained as a carpenter and attended a polytechnical school and the

Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from1831-1835.15 Before forming Franz Mayer and

Company, Joseph Mayer served as the director of an institution in Munich that educated and trained disabled boys. The art center was active from 1844-1859 and provided an opportunity for the children to produce stone figurines with the possibility of later employment. In 1847 he obtained a license for their production, thus officially establishing Franz Mayer’sche Hofkunstanstalt, or Franz Mayer and Company.16

Because he was concerned with how the children would find employment after finishing school, Joseph expanded the company’s production to include the manufacture of a wide variety of ecclesiastical furnishings.17 Embracing the entire field of Christian

art, these art forms included statues, carved and painted altars, and Stations of the Cross;

quickly the firm became known for its proficiency in this area. In describing his personal

artistic vision, Joseph described himself as trying to unite the three areas of architecture,

sculpture, and painting while bringing about a return to the techniques and

accomplishments of medieval artisans.18

Franz Mayer and Company expanded to begin the production of stained-glass and

by 1863 was subcontracting commissions from small private stained-glass companies in

15 Suzanne Beeh-Lustenberger, “Dem Licht Farbe Gegeben: 150 Jahre Franz Mayer’sche Hofkunstanstalt, 1847-1997,” Das Mèunster 51 (1998), p. 35.

16 Vaassen, Glasmalerei des 19, Jahrhunderts in Deutschland, p. 198; Handbook: Franz Mayer of Munich: A Workshop for Architectural Glass and Mosaic (1994), pg. 1; Nola Huse Tutag, Discovering Stained Glass in Detroit (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987), p. 152; Tutag suggests the formation of the company was perhaps assisted through the patronage of Ludwig I

17 Glasmalerei des 19, Jahrhunderts in Deutschland, p. 198.

18 Glasmalereien in München im 19. Jahrhundert, p. 22.

Munich, such as Dorn or Egger.19 Already in 1865 a branch of the company was

founded in London, followed by another in Dublin and one in New York in 1888 where

commissions were being accepted.20 Joseph Gabriel Mayer, with the assistance of his

son Franz and his son-in-law Franz Xaver Zettler, began what was to be an extremely

profitable career in the field of stained-glass.

The sister company Franz Xaver Zettler, joined Franz Mayer and Company in

1860. Experienced as a glass-painter, Zettler was appointed art director of the company

in 1863, the same year of his marriage to Joseph’s daughter.21 In 1870, Zettler separated

from Franz Mayer and Company and founded his own firm which was appointed the title,

Koniglich bayerischen Hofglasmalerei, in 1873 by Ludwig II.22 Joseph had established a business arrangement with his son-in-law that allowed Zettler to take with him the entire glass studio of the Mayer Company, while still working under the name of F.X. Zettler.

The agreement was that Zettler would oversee the actual production of the stained-glass, with the understanding that Mayer would control the sale of their products.23 Later, when

Zettler developed his own sales department, the two companies split and the Mayer

19 Glasmalerei des 19, Jahrhunderts in Deutschland, p. 198. Gouzine Saour interview with Wilfried Jäkel, May 2004; Mr. Jäkel, an employee of Franz Mayer and Company from August 1, 1955 to December 31, 2002, assigns the year 1960 for the beginning of the stained-glass department.

20 Glasmalereien in München im 19. Jahrhundert, p. 23.

21 Interview by Saour with Wilfried Jäkel, May 2004.

22 Glasmalereien in München im 19. Jahrhundert, p. 196; Farnsworth et al., Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia, p. 457. The title of the “Royal Bavarian Stained-Glass Institute” is not to be confused with the former state-funded Royal Bavarian Stained- Glass Institute.

23 Barbara Meise Kassis, “A Biographical Summary of Franz Mayer and Company, and F.X. Zettler,” p. 2. Unpublished manuscript, 1982, The Census of Stained Glass Windows in America, The College of the Holy Cross, Worchester, MA.

Company regained their own stained-glass department in 1873. Although the separation

of the two companies was initially friendly, Zettler and Mayer both flourished through

foreign market sales to become fierce and bitter competitors in ecclesiastical glass

production.24

Franz Mayer and Company in England

Franz Mayer and Company found exceptional business opportunities in Victorian

England whose legacy was one of unparallel achievement and unimaginable creation of

wealth by the standards of a century before. Victorian England was the first truly

urbanized modern society, and by 1890 London had become a major world metropolis.25

During the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), England experienced a tremendous growth in population, urbanization, and personal wealth. Concern for religious needs in urban areas prompted Parliament in 1818 to pass the Church Building Act and voted £1 million for the building of new churches,26 helping to initiate a national religious revival

and new building program. The emancipation of Roman Catholics in 1829 and the

restoration of a Catholic ecclesiastical structure in England in 1852 generated further

demand for new churches.27 In addition, widespread restorations of existing churches were also undertaken. In 1860, 7,500 new buildings for religious purposes were constructed in London alone, peaking in 1880 at nearly 16,000. Not a phenomenon to be

24 Interview by Saour with Wilfried Jäkel, May 2004.

25 James Stevens Curl, Book of Victorian Churches (London: B.T. Batsford, Ltd., 1995), p. 15.

26 Birkin Haward, Nineteenth Century Suffolk Stained Glass (Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, 1989), p. 3.

27 Sarah Brown, Stained Glass An Illustrated History (London: Studio Editions Ltd., 1992), p. 128.

found only in London, such numbers were not unusual throughout the country which

experienced extraordinary activity in church building.28

During this period, Gothic Revival came to be the accepted style for Christian churches and for church art. A Roman Catholic Revival in architecture was largely

responsible for the triumph of the Gothic Revival Style in the explosion of church

building. In both architecture and stained glass, the Gothic Revival was strongly

influenced by its main proponent, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-52), who

claimed that the faith of Christianity was embodied in medieval architecture alone.29 A

Roman Catholic convert, Pugin’s ideas were also endorsed by architects designing for the

Anglican Church.

Other important influences in the establishment of the Gothic Revival came from the Anglo-Catholic revival as a whole. The Oxford Movement that emerged in 1833 sought to revive certain Roman Catholic doctrines and rituals, having a strong influence on the doctrines, spirituality, and ritual of the Anglican Church. More significant for the development of stained-glass was the Cambridge Camden Society, formed in 1836, which emphasized the visual aspects of the Catholic revival rather than theological

28 Curl, Book of Victorian Churches, p. 22.

29Curl, Book of Victorian Churches, p. 31; Martin Harrison, Victorian Stained Glass (London: Barrie & Jenkins, Ltd., 1980), p. 15. Although Pugin was a leading figure in establishing the Gothic Revival in architecture, he was not the first. Harrison traces the origins back to Horace Walpole, and further back to William Kent and Sir Christopher Wren; See also A. Charles Sewter, The Stained Glass of William Morris and His Circle (London: Yale University Press, 1974 ), p. 3. Sewter notes the close connections between the revival of interest and activity in stained-glass and the Gothic Revival in architecture, as evidenced by Horace Walpole being among the first collectors of early stained-glass, some of which remains in the windows of his villa at Strawberry Hill.

13 issues.30 The Society’s influential journal, The Ecclesiologist, was founded for the study of medieval architecture and the application of higher standards of worship related to ritual.31 Architecture, liturgy, music and church furnishings, especially stained-glass, were held to be of importance in the renewed emphasis on the mystical.32

The renewed interest in medieval art fostered by the Gothic Revival naturally fostered a revival in the techniques of medieval stained-glass.33 An immeasurable contribution to the study of glass of earlier periods and to technical developments of its manufacture was made by the English antiquarian Charles Winston (1814-64). Besides practicing law, Winston studied the history of glass-painting and also designed windows.34 He devoted himself to the study of the history of stained-glass from about

1830 onward and authored one of the most influential writings of the century pertaining to stained-glass, An Inquiry into the Difference of Style Observable in Ancient Glass

Paintings, Especially In England: with Hints on Glass Painting, consisting of two volumes published in Oxford in 1847.35

30 Harrison, Victorian Stained Glass, p. 20.

31 Haward, Nineteenth Century Suffolk Stained Glass, p. 3. The author notes that most of the leading architects of the time subscribed to the tenets upheld by the Society.

32 Ibid.

33 For further information on the revival of stained-glass in Europe, see Brown, Stained Glass, pp. 132-35.

34 Virginia Chieffo Raguin, Stained Glass from its Origins to the Present (NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2003), p. 173.

35Sewter, The Stained Glass of William Morris, p. 5; Sewter, “Victorian Stained Glass,” Apollo 76 (Dec 1962), p. 762.

Winston wanted to provide for stained-glass a stylistic and historical classification that was similar to recent publications which served Gothic architecture. For the first time he set forth the successive styles of medieval stained-glass with a special emphasis on the special demands of the medium, such as the function of the leading in the design, and what is and isn’t appropriate in a window.36 The companion volume to the text of his book portrayed an extensive series of 75 plates of stained-glass designs that served as an invaluable corpus of material for the craftsman.37

Perhaps of even more value was the rediscovery of the chemical formula of

medieval stained-glass that Winston discovered through a series of physical and chemical

investigations of medieval glass. In collaboration with the Royal College of Chemistry

and James Powell & Sons, Whitefriars Glass Works, London, Winston’s experimental

analysis led to the production of contemporary pot-metal glass equal to, and sometimes

even surpassing, the brilliance of glass of the Middle Ages.38 Unlike the poor quality of

modern glass which tended to be excessively transparent and even, Winston’s new glass

had a richer and more varied texture with much more lively color.39

36 Sewter, “Victorian Stained Glass,” p. 762.

37 See Raguin, Stained Glass, p. 173-74; After Winston’s death an exhibition of more than 700 of his watercolors was held by the Arundel Society in London. See Sewter’s An Inquiry into the Differences of Styles Observable in Ancient Glass Painting, 2 vols. London: James Parker & Co., 1867, 2nd edition; and Memoirs Illustrative of the Art of Glass Painting, London: Murray, 1865.

38Ibid, p. 8-9; See Harrison, Victorian Stained Glass, p. 23; See Lawrence Lee, George Seddon, and Francis Stephens, Stained Glass (Secaucus, NJ: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1989), p. 146.

39 Sewter, “Victorian Stained Glass,” p. 764.

Differing from the view held by the majority of his contemporaries, Winston

championed illusionist pictorial images, a Renaissance as opposed to a Gothic style. He

encouraged his contemporaries to follow examples of medieval glass craftsmen in color

and design, but not to copy their “rudeness, or imperfect drawing.”40 Favoring the

“modern Munich school” as he called it, Winston claimed Munich glass superior to any

British products. Great controversy resulted from his “slighting of English firms” when he advocated the patronage of the Royal Bavarian Stained-Glass Institute for a series of

windows installed between 1856 and 1865 in St. Mungo’s Cathedral, Glasgow.41

Significantly, of the 24 firms showing stained-glass at the Great Exhibition held at the

Crystal Palace in 1851, most were distinctly pictorial in style.42

The meticulous realism of the Munich school of stained-glass which followed the traditions of the Glasmalereianstalt was popular with English patrons who did not favor reviving the traditional medieval styles. Winston’s public preference for the Munich schools, along with popular taste favoring the realistic depiction of Biblical subjects, certainly assisted Franz Mayer and Company in establishing a strong overseas market in

London. Consequently, the Mayer Company was exporting enough glass to England to

40 Farnsworth et al., Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia, p. 132.

41 Raguin, Stained Glass, p. 205; Sewter, The Stained Glass of William Morris, p. 9; The entire project was handed over to Max Ainmiller.

42 Harrison, p. 25; June Osborne, Stained Glass in England (Dover, NH: Alan Sutton Publishing Inc., 1993), p. 84; the author notes that much of the work was still in enamels. For an excellent listing of English firms working during these important years, see Painton Cowen, A Guide to Stained Glass in Britain (London: Michael Joseph Ltd., 1985), pp. 58-64.

16 justify opening an office in London in 1865 at 70 Grosvenor Street,43 the first of several foreign offices. Considering that Franz Mayer and Company had only started manufacturing stained-glass in 1863, the establishment of an office in London indicates the fertile commercial opportunities that were available as well as the popularity of

Mayer company windows. In fact, more windows by Franz Mayer and Company were imported into the country during the nineteenth-century that from any other foreign workshop, and the Mayer Company would become the leading foreign exporter of stained-glass into England by the last quarter of the century.44

With a prospering commercial establishment in London, the Mayer Company was employing the best English stained-glass painters who helped forge their distinct style.45

One important English artist employed by Franz Mayer and Company was William

Francis Dixon (1848-1928)46 who trained in the studio of Clayton & Bell, one of three important English workshops started during the mid 1850’s. At the commencement of their partnership, John Richard Clayton and Alfred Bell had already appreciable stained- glass design experience.47 Deeply committed to the cause of stained-glass, Clayton &

Bell produced some of the finest windows of the High Victorian period, showing

43 Glassmalerei des 19, Jahrhunderts in Deutschland, p. 244; Martin Harrison, Victorian Stained Glass, p. 25.

44 Haward, Nineteenth Century Suffolk Stained Glass, pp. 147; 169.

45 Handbook: Franz Mayer of Munich, p. 22.

46 Farnsworth et al., Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia, p. 442; Another English artist identified as working for the Mayer Company in Munich was George Daniels (1854- 1940).

47Haward, Nineteenth Century Suffolk Stained Glass, p. 154.

considerable originality in both color and design.48 Clayton’s friendships with artists

associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement, including his close relationship with the

seminal painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, was at a time when the original Pre-Raphaelite

artists and the best of their paintings resulted in some of his most successful designs for

stained-glass.49 Perhaps Clayton & Bell’s greatest achievement was to have trained in their workshops an impressive number of stained-glass artists who went on to achieve success in their own right.50

William Francis Dixon was one of the most original pupils of Clayton & Bell’s

firm who developed a successful career as a glass-painter.51 Influenced by contemporary

trends, the windows he designed reveal his mannered late Pre-Raphaelite style52 and portray characteristics of the aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 80s,53 notably the

work of Edward Burne-Jones. Outstanding examples of his work while employed at

Clayton & Bell are found in windows he designed for churches in Rede, Devon, and

48 Suggested examples of their best glass can be found in: St. Michael’s Cornhill, London; Hanley Castle, near Malvern; and St. Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol; See Osborne, Stained Glass in England, p. 85;

49 Harrison, Victorian Stained Glass, p. 30; Haward, Nineteenth Century Suffolk Stained Glass, p. 154; Haward notes that Clayton & Bell were one of the few firms to meet with the almost complete approval of the “Ecclesiologist”, “Builder” and “Building News”. After the mid-60s, however, their output became so prodigious that commercial working methods led somewhat to stereotyped designs. For a discussion of Clayton & Bell and examples of some of their finest work created from 1858-1865, see Haward, pp. 153-155; Figs. 11-13, and Harrison, pp. 29-32; Figs. 10-12.

50Ibid., p. 32.

51Ibid., p. 61

52Ibid., p. 61

53 Haward, Nineteenth Century Suffolk Stained Glass, p. 157.

Yorkshire.54 While working as a glass-painter in London, Dixon also developed samples for church windows from 1884-89 for the Royal Academy and delivered 5 windows for the Royal Museum of Amsterdam in 1888.55 Dixon’s position as a first-rank artist resulted in his leaving London in 1894 to work as an important designer for Franz Mayer and Company in Munich.56 The “sweet style” which Dixon had perfected57 proved valuable to Franz Mayer and Company whose traditional figural designs were devoted to the sweet and sentimental. While working in Munich, Dixon also designed windows for the Ursula Church in Cologne, the Cathedral in Llandraff,58 and Bingen on the Rhine.59

Franz Mayer and Company in the United States

While the business opportunities that Franz Mayer and Company found in England during the last half of the nineteenth-century were significant, opportunities were even more lucrative in the United States. By the mid-1800s, the northeast United States was inundated by large numbers of immigrants (primarily Irish and German Catholics) who were feeling religious and political persecution and economic hardships in their

54 Harrison, Victorian Stained Glass, p. 61; Dixon’s first recorded window by his own account dates from 1872, the east window of All Saints’ Church, Rede, Suffolk; The Shobrooke, Devon window, ‘St. Cecilia and Angel Musicians,’ 1881; the south aisle east window of St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church, Barnstaple, North Devon; and a collection of Dixon’s is in St. Mary’s Church, Ecclesfield, Yorkshire, 1874.

55Bergründet von Ulrich Thieme und Felix Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart (München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag Gmblt & Co., 1992), p. 343.

56Harrison, Victorian Stained Glass, p. 61.

57Glasmalerei des 19, Jahrhunderts in Deutschland, p. 198.

58 Theme and Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Kunstler, p. 343.

59Haward, Nineteenth Century Suffolk Stained Glass, p. 157.

homelands. By 1860, this population shift resulted in Catholicism being the largest single Christian denomination in the area.60 As was experienced in England, the

population growth necessitated the construction of parishes to keep up with the needs of

the new congregations, and an explosion in church building immediately followed. The influx of Europeans peaked during the first several decades of the 1900s when America experienced its largest immigration increase in its entire history, with some 14 million people flooding into the country.61 While the majority continued to settle in large urban

areas of the northeast, population increases were felt in urban areas across the United

States. Whereas earlier Catholic immigrants had been chiefly Irish and German,

immigrants of the early 1900s also included Polish, Hungarian, Slavic, and Italian

peoples.62

Naturally, the exportation of stained-glass from continental studios increased in the

United States to meet the religious needs of the population.63 Just as the majority of

windows imported into the United States during the first half of the nineteenth-century

came from English sources to serve Anglo-American populations, the last half of the

century saw a flood of imported windows from French, Austrian, and German studios.

The immense patronage of stained-glass produced by continental companies directly

60Jay P. Dolan, The American Catholic Parish: A History from 1850 to the Present (New York: Paulist Press, 1987), p. 12.

61Ibid., p. 37

62 Ibid., p. 37.

63 See Shirley Ann Brown, “The Influence of German Religious Stained Glass in Canada 1880-1941,” RACAR 21 (1994), pp. 21-31; Brown discusses the strong importation of German glass as well as Franz Mayer and Company in Canada during the late nineteenth and twentieth-centuries.

reflected the growth and economic strength of Roman Catholic immigrant populations.64

Catholic patronage gravitated to these firms whose work exhibited not only an elevated

quality of craftsmanship but also a familiarity with Catholic traditions and piety.65

The successful American stained-glass designers John La Farge and Louis Comfort

Tiffany were also receiving commissions resulting from the demand for numerous new church buildings, as well as commissions for secular construction and domestic orders

from wealthy clients. La Farge’s most significant artistic contribution to American

stained-glass was the development of opalescent stained-glass in which streaks of color

when fired give a milky, iridescent appearance. Invented by La Farge in 1879, the

creation of opalescent glass was rapidly imitated by Louis Tiffany.66 Tiffany was a

pioneer in innovation who endlessly explored the possibilities of glass, resulting in the

development of numerous glass techniques which provided an endless range of colors

and textures.67 Quickly recognizing the aesthetic value of using glass of varied types and

textures, La Farge and Tiffany were two leaders in the field whose research and

64Virginia Chieffo Raguin, “Historical Background of Franz Mayer and the Bavarian Tradition of Stained Glass at St. Mary’s Church, Milford.” International Seminar on Stained Glass of the 19th and 20th Centuries. The Society of Architectural Historians and The Census of Stained Glass Windows in America, April 27-May 1, 1994, Philadelphia. Holy Cross, MA: The Census of Stained Glass Windows in America, 1994.

65 Raguin, Stained Glass, p. 206.

66 Henry Adams, “John La Farge, The Dictionary of Art, 1st ed.; Henry A. La Farge, “Painting with Colored Light: The Stained Glass of John La Farge,” in John La Farge (NY: Abbeville Press, 1987), pp. 197-98. La Farge’s first successful window combining traditional pot metal glass with pieces of translucent white opalescent glass was made in 1878 for the William Watts Sherman house in Newport, Rhode Island.

67 See Alastair Duncan, Tiffany Windows, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980), for an extended description of various new techniques and special effects achieved by Tiffany and which set him apart from his competitors and predecessors.

experimentation greatly improved the quality of glass produced in the United States68 and whose workshops created countless stained glass-windows of breathtaking beauty and technical complexity.

By the end of the 1880s, the Tiffany Glass Company was firmly established as the largest stained-glass studio in the United States.69 Catering his business toward

professionals rather than private clients, commissions were received from leading

architects for stained-glass windows for homes, churches and public institutions.70 Yet

Tiffany found himself caught between two constituencies: the demands of his conservative clients regarding religious windows, and those of the art world who encouraged visual experimentation.71 The bulk of Tiffany’s commissions were for

ecclesiastical figural windows, especially Congregationalists within the Presbyterian

Church.72 The pictorial representations of Tiffany’s figures portray the sweet

sentimentality that was favored at the time, yet go beyond the traditional representations

by the inclusion of his inventions in glass. Tiffany was continuously experimenting to

“make a material in which colors and combinations of colors, hues, shades, tints and

68 Ibid., p. 10.

69 Alastair Duncan, Lous Comfort Tiffany (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992), p. 60.

70 Vivienne Couldrey, The Art of Louis Comfort Tiffany (London: Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd, 1989), p. 82.

71 Duncan, Tiffany Windows, p. 42.

72 Ibid., p. 135. Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Louis Comfort Tiffany at The Metropolitan Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1998), pp. 30, 31; memorial windows were the bulk of Tiffany’s religious work which often featured figures set in lush landscapes or eliminated figures entirely, endowing religious significance on the landscape itself.

tones should be there without surface treatment as far as possible.”73 His use of

opalescent and mottled glass in which variegated colors were blended, the elimination of

all painting and staining from windows except where essentially necessary, and the use of

lead lines as an integral feature of the design resulted in a style of window much different

from that produced by the Munich studios.

Although the Tiffany studio was extremely popular with Protestant denominations,

many of the Catholic immigrants during the nineteenth-century brought along their

preferences for the visual styles of the churches they had left in their homelands, ones

which portrayed a more traditional and familiar pictorial style of Biblical subjects.

Traditional idealized figural scenes dominated public taste, resulting in three-quarters of

all the stained-glass windows used in the decoration of American churches being

imported from Germany.74 An 1871 article in The New York Times promoted choosing

the “Munich style” for stained-glass window design and with continued advertisements

by the end of the century, the Munich style was well on its way to becoming the definitive Catholic style.75

Responding to demand, Franz Mayer and Company opened an export office at 47

Barclay Street, New York City, in 1888;76 prior to the establishment of this branch, the

73 Couldrey, The Art of Louis Comfort Tiffany, p. 82.

74 Antonette Dennison, The Stained Glass Windows in Four Palm Beaches Churches (1889-1984): The Religious and Social context of their Styles and Programs. (Tallahassee, FL: The Florida State University School of the Arts, 1988), p. 76.

75 Farnsworth et al., Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia, p. 132. See The New York Times, 2 April 1871.

76Glasmalerei des 19, Jahrhunderts in Deutschland, p. 244; Farnsworth et al, Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia, p. 441: The address for the Mayer studio in New York City is listed as 124 West 23rd Street.

firm sold most of its American commissions through either their London office or the

American branch of the German publishing firm Friedrich Puster & Co.77 At least 15

years prior to the establishment of this office, Franz Mayer and Company had already

received important ecclesiastical commissions from American patrons. The earliest

presence of Franz Mayer and Company in America is documented by chancel windows

located at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Detroit, that are dated 1873 and bear the Mayer

signature.78 A signed nave window given the date of 1874 is located at the Episcopal

Church of St. James the less in Philadelphia, showing that Franz Mayer and Company

was known in the most distinguished circles.79

The American populace highly favored their stained-glass, for by the end of the

century 90% of the windows made by Franz Mayer and Company in Munich were being

exported to the United States.80 The prestigious titles and commissions awarded Franz

Mayer and Company enhanced their reputation and popularity in the field of liturgical

furnishings and stained-glass. Recognizing the outstanding quality of the Mayer

77 Farnsworth et al., Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia, p. 441.

78 William Worden, “The Chancel Windows of St. Joseph’s, Detroit,” unpublished manuscript, 1990, The Census of Stained Glass Windows in America, The College of Holy Cross, Worchester, MA, p. 98; the central window bear the signature Mayer’sche Kunstanstalt, München, which is located in the swallowtail banner below the feet of St. Peter.

79Raguin, “Historical Background of Franz Mayer,” p. 4.

80 Dennison, The Stained Glass Windows in Four Palm Beaches Churches, p. 85; Dennison interviewed two former employees of Mayer and Company: Conrad Pickel, a glassman employed by Mayer who later established his own studio in Boynton Beach, Florida; and Nicholas Wagner, sales representative and later president of Mayer’s New York office.

company’s productions, Ludwig II, Kind of Bavaria and the grandson of Ludwig I,

awarded the firm in 1882 the title “Royal Bavarian Court Institution.”81

In addition to royal recognition, Franz Mayer and Company was also endorsed by

the Church in Rome. In 1892 the title “Pontifical Institute of Christian Art” was bestowed upon the firm by Pope Leo XIII.82 Several years later Franz Mayer and Company was

acknowledged again in the early 1900s by the Church with the commission from Pope

Pius X for the large Holy Spirit stained-glass window located above The Cathedra Petri,

or the Throne of St. Peter, in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.83 The fact that the only

stained-glass window installed in St. Peter’s was executed by Franz Mayer and

Company,84 not withstanding its coveted location behind Bernini’s high altar, is testimony to the Catholic Church’s sanction and approval of the firm’s product.

Reasons for Popularity of Franz Mayer and Company

The endorsement of the Mayer Company by the Catholic Church and the prestigious honors bestowed by Popes Leo XIII and Pius X were also powerful incentives to prospective clients. Catering predominately to Catholic parishes, the Mayer designers were completely familiar with Roman Catholic pictorial traditions, such as depictions of the Sacraments, the Mysteries of the Rosary, or favorite saints of ethnic popularity.85

81 Tutag, Discovering Stained Glass in Detroit, p. 152.

82 Kassis, “A Biographical Summary of Franz Mayer,” p. 1.

83 An exact date for this commission is not agreed upon: Dennison cites 1913, the Mayer hand-book cities 1905, and Tutag cities 1882.

84Dennison, The Stained Glass Windows in Four Palm Beaches Churches, p. 71.

85Raguin, “Bavarian and Austrian Imported Glass During the 19th Century, p. 89; Glory in Glass: Stained Glass in the United States (The Gallery at the American Bible Society, 1998), p. 88-89.

Mindful of the celebrated writings of Gregory the Great who encouraged the use of

images in devotion to show “the invisible by means of the visible,” a long pictorial

tradition exists within the Church of using images to draw the worshipper emotionally

closer to the divine. The Mayer artists functioned as successors to this great tradition,

and were exceptionally gifted in portraying realistic and believable figural types within

three-dimensional spaces. They also knew the various legends and historical figures that

would be appropriate for immigrant parishes, thus providing a familiar and comforting

element to the inspirational narrative scenes.

The Mayer Company presented its products to the Catholic clergy and laity by

advertising heavily in Sadlier’s Catholic Directory, later named The Official Catholic

Directory, an annual publication that included a wide variety of ecclesiastical liturgical

items (Fig. 1). Advertising aggressively, Franz Mayer and Company took full-page

advertisements and some, beautifully illustrated in color, a rarity for stained-glass

advertisements, consisted of four to six page inserts.86 Not limited to stained-glass

production, Franz Mayer and Company advertised a complete portfolio of ecclesiastical

furnishings, including “Statues, Stations of the Cross, Calvary Groups, Pietas, Etc., Etc.”

The fact that a variety of liturgical furnishings could be purchased through a single

company must have been appealing for the client.

A primary reason for the Roman Catholic clergy’s preference for the Mayer

Company’s glass was attributed to the confidence won by Franz Mayer and Company’s proven superior productions.87 Through German efficiency Mayer artists were able to

86 Dennison, The Stained Glass Windows in Four Palm Beaches Churches, p. 79.

87 Ibid., p. 77.

fabricate and ship their products with rapid speed. As described by two former employees of the Mayer Company, production was based on an assembly line system where each artist specialized in a particular phase of the production.88 The highest-priced

designer would be responsible for making the sketch, and other artists would be assigned specific tasks such as creating the cartoons, tracings, painting heads or flesh areas,

drapery, ornaments, architectural framings, text, etc. Publicized recognition of the Mayer artists was not emphasized for only the name of Franz Mayer and Company was important for business sales;89 however, recent research is beginning to identify these

talented individuals.

The visual consistency of figural types which the client could depend upon when ordering Franz Mayer and Company stained-glass windows was provided through a pool of hundreds of popular themes that the artists would draw upon. Thousands of basic cartoons would be used repeatedly, including a portfolio of stock figures which, when

varied or reversed with minor changes, created multiple possibilities which could be

adapted to various scenes. Although cartoons were repeated, the drawings were always

new and fresh for each order since the windows were different sizes.90

Although nearly identical images would not be used for a set of windows placed

within a single church, two windows at Immaculate Conception Church do reflect a

88 Ibid., pp. 77-78; Interview by Dennison with Conrad Pickel and Nicholas Wagner. See Suzanne Beeh-Lustenberger, “Dem Licht Farbe gegeben 150 Jahre Franz Mayer’sche Hofkunstanstalt 1847-1997,” 51, Das Mèunster (1998), p. 37; author provides a description of the various steps and specialized areas performed by the artists.

89 Author correspondence with Wilfried Jäkel, August 2004; Franz Mayer personally oversaw the designs that were created at the studio in Munich. The sketches were made to the scale of one inch per foot.

90Dennison, The Stained Glass Windows in Four Palm Beach Churches, p. 85.

27 similar compositional framework. The Paschal Lamb (Fig. 2) and The Wedding Feast at

Cana (Fig. 3) are both banqueting scenes with a centralized table located in front of a hanging curtain. Close examination of these scenes reveals a somewhat related placement of the figures within the architectural structure, with some figures having similar gestures. These windows illustrate the versatility of the Mayer designer to subtly manipulate a basic cartoon to produce a seemingly completely different scene. Likewise, similar narratives within the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart

Church reveal a complete difference of pictorial treatment. The Mayer artists were able to conceive of multiple arrangements of a particular topic indicating the abundance of cartoons available at the Mayer studio.

Although a naturalistic pictorial style was most requested from patrons, Franz

Mayer and Company also retained artists trained to work in a variety of styles, thus maximizing the company’s business opportunities. An advertisement in The Catholic

Directory of 1926 states: “We may mention that we execute our Stained Glass Windows in all styles, i.e. of the early Christian Periods (Byzantine, Romanesque), the Medieval

Centuries (Gothic), as well as in the successive Renaissance and more modern styles

.…”91 An advertisement dated to around 1910 (Fig. 4) assures the potential client of a quality product that would “prove a really artistic decoration for all times” and the success of the company was “amply given by the numerous orders and letters of acknowledgement, received from all parts of the world … where our work can be found.”92

91 Ibid., p. 83.

92 This is taken from a photocopy of an advertisement I received from Wilfried Jäekel.

Such an efficient system of production and advertising, coupled with the advantage

of low wages paid to employees enabled German studios, as well as French and British,

to dominate the lucrative market of American churches.93 This situation led the United

States glass workers to challenge what they perceived as unfair economic practices that

prevented them from competing fairly with European sources, an ongoing debate which

Congress addressed numerous times during the nineteenth-century. In response to the

McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 that regulated thousands of types of imported goods,

including stained-glass, many Europeans studios set up American offices, such as the

Franz Mayer and Company branch in New York.94

Europeans studios and their allied supporters nevertheless attempted to insure duty- free stained glass, and testimony records show direct lobbying by Franz Mayer and

Company along with the F.X. Zettler Company. German studios often retained New

York law firms in order to fight their tariff battles; Franz Mayer and Company hired the

New York law firm of Curie, Smith and Maxwell to directly lobby Congress. Active

lobbying efforts also came from the American clergy for the primary supporter for duty

free stained-glass being the Roman Catholic Church, specifically the Rev. James C.

Gibbons, America’s first Catholic cardinal.95

In 1913 the lobbyists representing European studios won a victory of major

proportions when Congress approved a bill which included stained-glass as a duty-free

93 William Serban, “The Tariff Question Revisited: The Impetus for the Formation of the SGAA,” Stained Glass 91 (Winter, 1996): p. 296.

94 Raguin, “Bavarian and Austrian Imported Glass,” p. 90.

95 Serban, “The Tariff Question Revisited,” pp. 294-5.

good imported by religious societies.96 With assistance from the United States government and from Roman Catholic patrons, an efficient studio creating a quality product that catered to public demands, and an active office in New York, Franz Mayer and Company rapidly flourished as a dominant stained-glass studio in this country by the turn of the century.

1914 – Present

Franz Mayer and Company’s popularity in England and the United States continued until temporarily halted by the outbreak of World War I that brought an end to

German imports into America. However, Franz Mayer and Company quickly resumed business as usual after the war and regained its prominent position abroad. The company reached its peak in 1926 and 1927, and for these years opened additional offices in Log

Angeles and Chicago, with the New York office additionally serving Canada.97 Before

the political rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany, 80% of Franz Mayer and Company’s

products were being exported to the United States.98 Unfortunately, during World War II

the company suffered tremendous losses with much of their properties and records

destroyed by bombing, or confiscated without eventual reparation.99 After 1950, the

efforts of Franz Mayer and Company were concentrated toward the much needed

conservation and restoration of buildings in Germany. The firm itself was quickly

96Ibid., p. 301.

97 Dennison, The Stained Glass Windows in Four Palm Beach Churches, pp. 69-70.

98 Author correspondence with Wilfried Jäkel.

99 Ibid., the financial difficulties experienced from this period of political turmoil resulted in Mayer buying the Zettler Company in 1939 that eventually was totally destroyed during the year 1940.

reconstituted after the second war, renewing an active foreign export business evidenced by the acceptance in 1950 of a large commission consisting of 200 windows for the

Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark, New Jersey.100

Franz Mayer and Company is still internationally active today in the production of

stained-glass, designing and executing windows in all styles and techniques as well as

mosaic, with an office presently located in Newark, New Jersey.101 Having additionally

established a respected reputation in glass and mosaic conservation, the company is also

actively involved in restoration commissions, completing between 1976 and 1984 the

conservation of a large portion of the stained-glass windows of the Cathedral of

Regensburg. Currently the studio of Franz Mayer and Company, built in 1922-1923 by

the renowned architect Theodor Fischer, is an historical landmark at Siglmaier Platz,

located in the heart of Munich.102 The company still continues an impressive production of stained-glass windows that are fabricated in a range of contemporary styles, with

Mayer artists often collaborating with independent artists.

100 Kassis, “A Biographical Summary of Franz Mayer and Company,” p. 2.

101 Author correspondence with Wilfried Jäkel; currently about 30 to 40% of sales are generated through mosaic production and restorations, and in the area of stained-glass, 20% is traditional, and 40 to 50% percent is contemporary.

102 Handbook: Franz Mayer of Munich, pp. 3, 24.

CHAPTER 3 HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Introduction

The Church of the Immaculate Conception provides an important historical and visual contribution to the downtown area of Jacksonville. In order to present a complete and balanced study of the stained-glass program in the totality of the architectural setting, this chapter begins with a brief discussion of the history of the church, specifically events that led to the construction of the present building. The history of the church is much more extensive than is provided in this thesis. The discussion is limited to key events and those in positions of leadership at the time who influenced the progressive development of the church, resulting in its present location and physical appearance. This is followed by a visual description of the exterior and interior of the building in an effort to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the architectural context in which the stained-glass windows are placed.

The History of the Church

The historical roots of the Church of the Immaculate Conception extend back in time to the years between 1829 and 1854 when the Jacksonville area was visited by priests from St. Augustine and Savannah who periodically celebrated mass on improvised altars.103 Residents of Jacksonville and the vicinity conducted services of the Roman

103 Emanuel Danese, One Hundred and Twenty-Five Years, 1854-1979: A History of the Church of the Immaculate Conception (Jacksonville, FL: Douglas Printing Company, Inc., 1979), p. 1.

31 32

Catholic faith at the private homes of coreligionists, with the first masses being

celebrated in the home of Henry Clark, a prominent layman.104 This was to change in

1845 when a city block was purchased by Bishop Francis X. Gartland of Savannah from

Isaiah David Hart of the sum of “one penny” for the location of a Catholic church.105

Hart was a prominent city developer and first mayor of Jacksonville, and was encouraged

by his Catholic wife, Margaret, to assist in providing the city with a Catholic place of

worship.

The church was located on the northwest corner of Duval and Newnan Streets, and dedicated under the title of the Immaculate Conception. The exact date of the

construction of the first small wooden church, built under the guidance of Father Edmund

Aubriel of St. Augustine, is unknown. The construction was certainly before 1847, as the

map of Jacksonville of that year documents the presence of the church at that location.106

Befitting the title of the church, a large painting of the Immaculate Conception of Our

Lady was placed over the altar by Father Aubriel. The painting had been presented to the church by the French Government, although the circumstances of the gift were not recorded.107 From this building religious services were conducted with regularity and in

accordance with the established rules of the Church.

104Michael V. Gannon, “Immaculate Conception Parish, Jacksonville, Florida” from “Catholic Parish Histories”, p.1. Unpublished manuscript, 1965a, Special and Area Collections, Smathers Libraries, University of Florida.

105 Ibid., p. 1.

107 Gannon, “Immaculate Conception Parish,” p. 1.

On December 8, 1857, the Immaculate Conception Church, graduating from the

roles of a mission church, was formally established as a parish with Father William John

Hamilton, a native of Ireland, serving as the first resident pastor from 1857 to 1861.108

Father Hamilton’s arrival in Jacksonville coincided with the area of Florida east of the

Apalachicola River being separated from the Diocese of Savannah and given independent status as mission territory. This resulted in East Florida being constituted as a separate ecclesiastical jurisdiction, with Father Jean-Pierre Verot as Florida’s first vicar-apostolic.

The territory of Florida was designated as a diocese in 1870, and Father Verot was appointed first bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine.109 The original boundaries of

Immaculate Conception Parish extended to all towns of northern Florida, and missionary

priests from Jacksonville serviced churches at Fernandina, Palatka, Mandarin-Loretto,

Tallahassee, Pablo (Jacksonville Beach), St. John’s Bar (Mayport), Green Cove Springs,

Black Creek (Middleburg) and Starke.110 By the year 1861, the parish was well

organized and Father Hamilton was transferred to Macon, Georgia. The second resident

pastor was Farther Michel V. Regnouf, a young priest who experienced the crucial years

of the Civil war.111 The first church was burned to the ground on March 28, 1863, during

one of several periods of occupation of Jacksonville by Federal troops during the Civil

War. A correspondent of the New York Tribune with the Federal Army at Jacksonville

gave an eyewitness account describing the damage that occurred:

108 Danese, One Hundred and Twenty-Five Years, p. 2.

109 Ibid., p. 3.

110 Gannon, “Immaculate Conception Parish,” p. 2.

111 Ibid., p. 2.

Yesterday, the beautiful little cottage used at the Catholic parsonage, together with the church, was fired by some soldiers, and in a short time burned to the ground. Before the flames had fairly reached the church, the soldiers had burst open the doors and commenced sacking it of everything of value. The organ was in a moment torn to strips, and almost every soldier who came out seemed to be celebrating the occasion by blowing through an organ pipe.112

Dr. Alfred Walton, medical officer of the Eighth Marine regiment at Jacksonville, wrote in his diary:

Saturday, March 28, 1863: At 0 a.m. some of the boys set fire to the Catholic church and it together with the parsonage, all furnished, was destroyed. Two other houses were also burned before the fire was put out.113

The author Thomas Davis talked with Union officers who came to Jacksonville after the war, and they said there was a persistent rumor that the burning of the town came about in this way:

One of the white regiments was a Roman Catholic regiment while the other was strongly Protestant. For reasons unknown, dislike and hatred existed between them to such an extent that vandals in the Protestant regiment set the Catholic Church on fire, and in retaliation, the Episcopal Church was burned by members of the Catholic regiment. From this other buildings caught, and the fire spread. The mania for burning was rampant in the town, and new centers were started by persons unknown.114

The Catholic Church appealed to the United States Congress for damages sustained in its loss but was denied on the ground that there was no direct evidence to prove the soldiers had burned the property. It is said that one article was saved from the fire, the

112 Danese, One Hundred and Twenty-Five Years, p. 5.

113 Davis, History of Jacksonville, p. 399.

114 Thomas Frederick Davis, History of Early Jacksonville, Florida (Jacksonville, FL: H. &W.B. Drew Company, 1911), p. 183.

painting of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, which was displayed behind the main altar. The painting has since disappeared and its history cannot be traced further.115

Being a time of financial depression following the Civil War, the rebuilding of a permanent church was delayed for eight years. In 1863 Father John Chambon arrived in

Jacksonville to serve as pastor, and directed the building of a temporary church to replace the one that had been burned. 116 In August 1871, Father Gaboury laid the cornerstone

for the new brick church on the southwest corner of Duval and Newnan Streets, the site of the first rectory.117 The church was constructed of white brick imported from Le

Havre, France, and was completed two years later, with Bishop William H. Gross from

Savannah presiding at its dedication on March 8, 1873.118

The church burned again, as was virtually all of the downtown area, by a great fire

which raged through Jacksonville May 3, 1901. A strong westerly wind fanned the fire that consumed the oldest and most densely populated part of the city, including 2,368

buildings, 23 churches and 10 hotels.119 The glow of the flames could be seen on the

horizon from Savannah, and the column of smoke from the burning of Jacksonville was

115 Davis, History of Jacksonville, p. 399; Davis cites Mrs. W.M. Bostwick as the source for this statement. See Reverend Father John H. O’Keefe, “Marian Year, 1953-1954: Centenary Dogma Immaculate Conception,” p. 11. Unpublished manuscript, 1955, gift by author to Diocese of St. Augustine, Catholic Center, Jacksonville, Florida; Father O’Keefe also mentions the painting but that its location after the fire was unknown.

116Danese, One Hundred and Twenty-Five Years, p. 5.

117Gannon, “Immaculate Conception Parish,” p. 3.

118Ibid., pp. 3-4.

119Wayne W. Wood, Jacksonville’s Architectural Heritage: Landmarks for the Future (Gainesville, FL: University of Florida, 1996), p. 26.

36 reportedly seen in Raleigh, North Carolina, 500 miles away. It was the largest metropolitan fire ever to occur in the South.120

After the fire, masses were offered in private homes until a temporary building for the congregation of Immaculate Conception was built with salvaged materials on the site of the basement of the burned church.121 Because the Catholic congregation of

Jacksonville was very small, being only 3% of the entire population, nation-wide petitions for help were made in Catholic publications and a general appeal for assistance to the city was made by the Jacksonville Relief Association.122

The tremendous task of reconstruction began again under the leadership of Father

Michael Maher whose tenure lasted until 1925. On May 17, 1906, Father Maher formed a building committee with himself as chairman. The group selected the present church location, although the three previous churches had been situated elsewhere in the property block. Still within the original block of land, the site for the new church was changed to the northeast corner of Ocean and Duval Streets, and on Sunday, April 7,

1907, the cornerstone of the present church was laid by Bishop William J. Kenney of St.

Augustine.123 Although the interior continued to be upgraded in following years, the original cost of the new church was $160,000. Requiring three years to build, the church

120Ibid., p. 26.

121Gannon, “Immaculate Conception Parish,” p. 7.

122Danese, One Hundred and Twenty-Five Years, p. 11.

123 Ibid., p. 12.

37 was dedicated by Bishop Kenney on December 8, 1910, in the presence of 2,000 spectators of all denominations.124

On December 8, 1979, the Immaculate Conception Church was “solemnly dedicated” by Bishop John J. Snyder. Solemn dedication is a rare honor for American parishes, and only two other Florida churches – the Basilica-Cathedral of St. Augustine and St. Leo’s Abbey in Miami – bear this distinction.125 Being solemnly dedicated means that the church cannot ever be purposefully torn down or used for anything but a church.

The altar at Immaculate Conception is permanently fixed to the ground as is required, and twelve red crosses representing the apostles have been fixed in the walls, the mark of a solemnly-dedicated church.126

The Church of the Immaculate Conception, located at 101 East Duval Street, is the oldest Catholic congregation in Jacksonville, and is one of a number of significant religious buildings built in downtown Jacksonville during the immediate years following the Great Fire of 1901 (Fig. 5). The church is one of the finest examples of Late Gothic

Revival church architecture in Florida,127 and contributes to the Historic Buildings of

124 Davis, History of Jacksonville, p. 400.

125 Lilla Ross, “Church Reflects Spirit of the City.” Florida Times-Union, 8 Dec. 1979, pp. 4-5.

126 Ibid.

127 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, ref. no. 92001695, sec. 7, Stephen Olausen, Historic Sites Specialist, pp. 1-2 (1992); The Gothic Revival style was most popular in the United States between 1840 and 1870, although it continued to be used into the twentieth-century. The twentieth-century variety of the Gothic style is termed Late Gothic Revival because of its resurgence in popularity distinct from the period ending in the 1870s.

Downtown Jacksonville under historic context. The church was placed on the National

The plans for the church were designed by the architect M.H. Hubbard, a native of

Utica, New York, who came to Jacksonville, as many other architects did, in search of

work after the Great Fire.129 Hubbard specialized in designing ecclesiastical buildings,

and his plans for Immaculate Conception were the two hundred and eighty-eighth drawn,

accepted, and built under his supervision.130 The plans were accepted in 1905 which promised to provide the largest and most magnificent church building in the city

(Fig. 6).131 A notification of the acceptance of bids for the construction of the

church was advertised in the Florida Times Union on May 28, 1906, and the contract was

awarded to the Halsema-Woodcock Company.132

Exterior Description of the Church of the Immaculate Conception

The church is an impressive two-story building which clearly expresses its Late

Gothic Revival styling (Figure 7). The church is constructed of rough-faced Kentucky limestone that starkly contrasts against the red-tiled roof. The steeply-pitched gable roof and each principal roof peak are crowned by stone crosses. Lancet windows finished with stone mullions and stained-glass, lancet door openings, stone cornices, and extensive

128 Ibid., sec. 7, p. 1.

129 Ibid., sec. 8, pp. 1-2.

130 Florida Times-Union, 22 September 1905, p. 1.

131 Ibid., 12 July 1905, p. 1.

132 Ibid., 16 June 1906, p. 1.

stone detailing are used throughout, creating a high degree of architectural

ornamentation.

Two spires of unequal height, reminiscent of the French cathedral at Chartres, are placed at each corner of the south façade, and are topped by crosses made of gold-plated copper. The west tower is the taller of the two, having a square base that rises to a belfry with louvered openings, topped by stone pinnacles. When originally constructed, the gold-plated cross atop the slender steeple was the highest point in the city, towering 178.5 feet, and was not surpassed in height until the fifteen-story Heard Building was completed in 1913.133 The spire was a dominant and impressive landmark in the city, as

a reporter noted, “It is most certainly the highest ever placed in the South … It may be

easily seen from any point in the city, as well as those aboard ships entering the harbor at

Mayport.”134 The east tower has a polygonal base topped by a highly ornamented open

belfry, compound of lancet openings framed by floral pilasters, with each lancet topped

by a carved stone pinnacle.

The belfry towers create a majestic focal point for the center and west tower

entrances on the south façade. The entries are recessed, having double oak doors framed

by floral pilasters, a floral crocketed archivolt filled with lancet strips of clear textured

glass, and surmounted by three stone pinnacles topped with floral finials. The center

upper portion of the façade is filled with a large double lancet window containing four

stained glass windows, surmounted by a rose window. Directly above, centered in the

133 Wood, Jacksonville’s Architectural Heritage, p. 47.

134 Florida Times-Union, 30 September 1909, p. 1.

uppermost area of the façade, is a stone statue of the Virgin Mary which stands inside a

pointed niche, honoring the patroness of the church.

The east and west sides of the nave are pierced with a series of large double lancet

stained-glass windows that alternate between stone buttresses capped with ornamental stone pinnacles. The clerestory contains a series of smaller lancet stained-glass windows topped by small gables with copper fleur-de-lis. The end walls of the projecting east and west transepts each reveal a large double lancet window containing four stained-glass windows, and portals located on the south side of each transept give entrance to the nave.

Originally, the west transept entrance, which faces Ocean Street, was “for colored people,

and the other side [which faces the courtyard] for the sisters from their convent.”135

Today, the transept entrances provide easy access for anyone wishing to enter the church.

The impressive north end of the church contains a projecting semi-octagonal apse with three large lancet windows. The east and west sacristies that flank the apse have hip roofs and smaller lancet windows, and lancet clerestory windows are located above the

sacristies. A pair of stone chimneys ascends from the sacristy roofs and rise well above

the church roof, that further emphasize the verticality of the structure.

Interior Description of the Church of the Immaculate Conception

The interior of the Immaculate Conception, as well as the exterior, is rich in Late

Gothic Revival architectural elements. Upon entering the church from the south façade,

three doorways lead immediately inside the vestibule whose extensive woodwork is

beautifully fashioned of oak with a natural finish. Two oak confessionals flank the

central entrance, and are decorated with intricately carved lattice work, carvings, and

135 Ibid., 22 September 1905, p. 1.

41 spires. To the left of the vestibule, an oak staircase elegantly carved with a balustrade leads to the choir loft that extends above the main vestibule, and is supported by four slender carved oak columns. A second flight of winding stairs continues upward to the west belfry tower. Although easily accessible from the vestibule or the east side aisle, the baptistery seems a separate entity from the church, and is enclosed behind back wrought iron rails.

Standing at the south end of the four bayed nave, the soaring quality of the vaulted interior is magnificent (Fig. 8), and is reminiscent of the visual effect found in the High

Gothic cathedral of Chartres. The full-height quadripartite ribbed vaulted ceiling extends downward to slender clustered piers of marble, visually supported by sculpted angels in the spandrels between the arches of the nave arcade. These white and gold plaster angels emerge out of small clouds above the capitals of each of the nave and transept piers located throughout the church.

Oak pews line the center aisle of the nave, the east and the west side aisles, and extend into the space of the transepts. The natural color of the pews is repeated in the oak tongue-and-groove planked floor and the oak paneling that covers the lower section of the nave walls. This provides a warm visual harmony to the church and serves as a graceful extension from the decorative woodwork of the vestibule. The Fourteen plaster relief Stations of the Cross hang at spaced intervals along the interior nave and transept walls. Each sculptured scene is molded in high relief and painted with great detail and realism.

The central nave is oriented toward the elevated sanctuary that is raised by two steps and separated from the nave by an ornate communion rail. The sanctuary includes

the main altar in the apse flanked by two side altars. The three altars and the communion

rail are carved of Carrara Italian marble and were placed in 1926 as a memorial to Father

Maher.136 A cohesive visual unit is created by the elevation of the sanctuary, covered with red carpet which strongly contrasts against the oak floors of the church, and the

symmetrical placement of the matching marble communion rail and altars.

The central main altar in the apse, resting upon three marble steps, is highly ornate and covered with detailed Gothic carvings. The retable behind the altar contains a figure of Christ standing in the uppermost niche, two angels at each end in lower niches, and a gold crucifix in the center niche. The two side altars flanking the main altar add to the

majestic lay-out of the overall sanctuary. Although sharing similar compositional

elements with the main altar, the side altars are smaller in size and less ornate. The east

altar, located on the Epistle side, is dedicated to St. Joseph, while the west altar on the

Gospel side is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Outside the altar rail in the east and west

transepts are two small marble statues that were added at an unknown later date, and

dedicated to Sts. Anthony and Therese of Lisieux.

It is important to recognize the relationship between the design of the building and

program of windows that indicated the architect’s and the Mayer designer’s interest in

integrating these complementary elements. The Church of the Immaculate Conception

reflects the medieval Gothic concept of gesamtkunstwerk wherein all elements of a work

of art contribute conceptually, stylistically, and symbolically to the whole. Thus, the

windows form an important component of the designer’s total concept for the church.

136 Danese, One Hundred and Twenty-Five Years, p.55. This 1926 sanctuary project was donated by the Knights of Columbus, Father Maher Council no. 648.

Because the windows were simultaneously executed by a single firm and designed

as a set, the stylistic characteristics in each window are similar. A single dominant

figural scene extends across each lancet, and the scenes are depicted following a uniform

scale and coloring. Identifying characteristics of major figure types are consistently

repeated throughout each figural scene, providing a continuous visual narrative for the

viewer. White glass meticulously painted with Gothic architectural elements extends

along the bottom sections and outside edges of each window, continuing upward to form

an ornate architectural canopy above each window.137 The figural and decorative

elements of the window are treated as a single unit, with the painted architectural

elements serving as a frame for the scene. This architectural framing device, as well as a

six-petalled rose crowning each window, provides a constant repetitive pattern which creates a stylistic unity.138

The windows are also stylistically integrated into the total design of the church which enhances their didactic and aesthetic quality. Each interior wall contains a lancet window which visually continues the upward movement of the bay openings and the ribbed vaulting, fully integrating the windows into the physical surroundings. An uninterrupted merging of the stained-glass with the overall verticality of the interior creates a harmonious atmosphere inducive for worship.

137 The creation of extensive framing devices consisting of architectural motifs is a major characteristic of medieval stained-glass. See: Louis Grodecki and Catherine Brisac, Gothic Stained Glass 1200-1300 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Park, 1984, p. 26; Lee et al., Stained Glass, p. 50-52; and James Bugslag, “The Early Development of Canopywork as an Iconic Framing Device in Medieval Stained Glass,” The Journal of Stained Glass 24 (2000).

138 The only exceptions are the three slender windows in the Baptistery which are not surmounted by a rose and are physically separate from the rest of the windows in the church.

The presence of angels is another device with assists in integrating the windows into the architectural surroundings. Angels are found in the choir loft window and in individual windows throughout the church, as well as in each rose on top of the transept and sanctuary windows. Sculpted angels which blow a trumpet or hold a scroll are placed in the spandrels above the capitals of each of the nave and transept piers located throughout the church, providing a common visual element with the windows. The plaster angels, as well as the plaster Stations of the Cross, are part of the original furnishings which were placed when the church was constructed. Since Franz Mayer and

Company specialized in the production of ecclesiastical objects as well as stained-glass, it is possible that the angels and the Stations of the Cross were specifically designed by the

Mayer Company to visually complement the stained-glass windows in the overall design of the interior.

CHAPTER 4 ICONOGRAPHY AND PROGRAM OF WINDOWS IN THE CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Introduction

This chapter begins with a discussion of major thematic concepts that are revealed in the iconography of the stained-glass windows, and that form the basis for the organization of the windows in the church. This is followed by a visual description of each window in its theological context, with attention given to the arrangement of the iconography in each window to support the major themes. Lastly, the intimate relationship between the design of the architectural space and that of the stained-glass windows to create a visually coherent environment is examined.

Major Thematic Concepts

Christocentric

Overall, the program portrayed in the ground floor windows is directly

Christocentric, and serves primarily to define the nature of Christ [Note: see Fig. 9 for the placement of each window within the program of stained-glass]. The windows are specifically positioned in the church to follow a definite scheme related to the Gospel story and to Church doctrine, and are chronologically arranged according to the historical life of Christ. The scenes and their locations are divided into three general sections: scenes illustrating the birth and childhood of Christ, located in the east transept and east nave windows; events which depict the teachings and miracles of Christ, located in the baptistery, west nave, and west transept windows; and events taken from the Old

45 46

Testament and the New Testament that are related to Christ’s sacrificial death, placed

within the sanctuary.

Familial Theme

By the 1890s, Jacksonville was no longer a frontier town but had become a thriving

city. Jacksonville was the shopping center for almost every town and hamlet along the

St. Johns River, where lumber mills, machinery warehouses, shipyards, marine railways,

stone and brick factories, and many other businesses resulted in significant population

increases.139 Continued development of the downtown area, new construction, and an expansion of local businesses brought a steady stream of laborers into the city who established residences, married, and raised families.

The Great Fire of 1901 brought an unprecedented level of urban reconstruction and population growth with architects, builders, and laborers flocking to the city seeking work and new opportunities.140 Seven months after the fire, the construction of new

buildings in downtown Jacksonville equaled nearly half the number destroyed by the fire,

and within three years, the number of new buildings exceeded the number that had been

burned.141

As the new community of Jacksonville was being built, newcomers seeking

employment provided the labor force for the economic expansion, many of whom were

Roman Catholic. Membership of the Church of the Immaculate Conception was largely

139 Richard A. Martin, The City Makers (Jacksonville, FL.: Convention Press, Inc., 1972), pp. 215-217.

140 Davis, History of Jacksonville, p. 500. Estimated population in 1880 was 7,650 and by 1910 had risen to 57,699, reflecting the enormous growth of Jacksonville’s population.

141Wood, Jacksonville’s Architectural Heritage, p. 28.

47 composed of middle class laborers who settled in Jacksonville with their families, living a simple way of life. This profile of the congregation was considered when the program of the windows was planned, and is reflected in scenes which support the social worth of work, marriage, and family.

Joseph has traditionally held a place of importance in the Church, although prior to the nineteenth-century there were no major papal declarations of liturgical honor. In his first devotional encyclical, Pope Pius IX (1846-78) stressed the importance of patronage to Joseph, holding him up as the model of all laborers and emphasizing his position as guardian of the Holy Family. This public pronouncement was made by Pius IX at the conclusion of the First Vatican Council on 8 December 1870, and declared Joseph

“Patron of the Universal Church.” This was followed in 1889 by the lengthiest Church pronouncement ever made regarding the saint, Quamquam Pluries, a devotional encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903). This devotional encyclical stressed the importance of patronage to St. Joseph, “the guardian of the Christian religion ... [and] protector and defender of the Church ....”142 Joseph’s significant place in the Holy

Family was recognized during a time when measures were being taken to strengthen marriage and family life by the Church. An encyclical dealing with Christian marriage had been issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1880, which encouraged the bishops to take measures to strengthen marriage and family life, and in 1892 he instituted the feast of the

Holy Family.143

142 Pope Leo XIII, Quamquam Pluries, Aug 15, 1889, http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo/113jos.htm. Papal Encyclicals Online, http://www.papalencyclicals.net, accessed Aug 2004.

143 Ibid.

This sanctification of the virtues of familial life is represented in the windows that

emphasize St. Joseph’s position as guardian of the Holy Family and his intimate

relationship with Jesus and Mary. This devotion to Joseph is exemplified through his

overt inclusion in five windows located in the east transept and east nave. These

windows include: The Adoration of the Shepherds (Fig. 9; window IC-1B); The Visitation

(Fig. 9; window IC-3); The Presentation in the Temple (Fig. 9; window IC-4); The

Finding in the Temple (Fig. 9; window IC-5); and The Holy Family in the Workshop (Fig.

9; window IC-6). In all of these narrative scenes Joseph serves as a virtuous model for the responsible father who provides physical as well as spiritual nourishment for his family. His presence thus reinforces the importance of marriage and family life to the congregation, and encourages them to imitate the virtues of the Holy Family.

Devotion to Mary

An additional theme relates to the exalted role Mary serves as the Mother of Jesus and the importance of devotion to her which has been unwavering since the early

centuries of the Church. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, although believed

by the faithful for centuries, was only defined as official dogma in 1854 through the

proclamation of Pope Pius IX, which stated Mary’s immunity from the stain of original

sin.144 The dominant presence of Mary in the windows located in the east transept and

east nave honors her place within the Church, and reinforces her position as “Mary,

Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church.”145 These windows include: The Annunciation

(Fig. 9; window IC-1A); The Adoration of the Shepherds (Fig. 9; window IC-1B); The

144 Catechism of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 1995), p. 138.

145Ibid., p. 273.

Visitation (Fig. 9; window IC-3); The Presentation in the Temple (Fig. 9; window IC-4);

The Finding in the Temple (Fig. 9; window IC-5); The Holy Family in the Workshop (Fig.

9; window IC-6); The Pentecost (Fig. 9; window IC-16); The Crucifixion (Fig. 9; window

IC-20); and The Feast at Cana (Fig. 9; window IC-24). The Church’s devotion to the

Virgin and its recognition of her role in the salvation of man is intrinsic to Roman

Catholic worship,146 and is a belief clearly manifested through the iconography of these specific windows. As patroness of this particular church, she is also portrayed in the rose window surmounting the south entrance to the church. The Virgin in Mary in Glory (Fig.

9; window IC-25B) is prominently displayed with honor above a double lancet window depicting The Choir of Angels (Fig. 9; window IC-25A).

The Sacrament of the Eucharist

The Eucharist, or Holy Communion, is the most sacred of the seven sacraments and is the culmination of the Catholic faith.147 Although all of the sacraments are

symbolically represented throughout the window program, the special importance given

to Communion is a theme reflected in the series of seven windows surrounding the

sanctuary that portray scenes symbolically related to the Eucharist.

Pope Pius X (1903-1914) is most universally known for issuing two great edicts

concerned with the reception of Holy Communion that immediately launched a spiritual

revival within the Catholic Church. The first decree in 1905 advised all to receive Holy

146Ibid., p. 275.

147Ibid, pp. 368-69.

Communion frequently and, if possible, daily.148 This was followed in 1910 by an officially promulgated decree recommending the administering of Communion to young children as soon as they had reached the age of discretion.149

The immediate effects of these proclamations are seen at Immaculate Conception

Church, where an emphasis is brought upon this sacrament through its symbolic

representation in the seven windows surrounding the sanctuary. These windows include:

The Sacrifice of Melchisedech (Fig. 9; window IC-17), The Manna in the Desert (Fig. 9;

window IC-18), The Last Supper (Fig. 9; window IC-19), The Crucifixion (Fig. 9; window IC-20), The Feeding of Five Thousand (Fig. 9; window IC-21), The Paschal

Lamb (Fig. 9; window IC-22), and The Sacrifice of Abraham (Fig. 9; window IC-23).

Their close proximity to the Communion rail and the altar serve to support the enactment of the liturgy, as well as occupy the attention of the congregation upon their entry into the church. This deliberate focusing of attention upon the large axial Crucifixion scene proclaims to the congregation not only the centrality of the Eucharist to the faith, but also serves to encourage frequent participation.

The distribution of the bread during Communion, as is symbolically portrayed in the windows of the apse, could also possibly serve as a reminder to the more fortunate of their need to feed the poor. The population expansion in Jacksonville during the first decade of the nineteenth-century would naturally be accompanied be an increased need

148 U. Benigni, trans. by David M. Cheny, “Pope Piux X”, New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia Online, 2003, www.newadvent.org/cathen/12137a.htm, accessed Aug 2004.

149 Ibid.

for charitable contributions to help meet not only the social needs of church members, but

the community at large.

Description of the Window Program

This section focuses upon a description of the iconographic program of the stained- glass windows of the Church of the Immaculate Conception. The 31 windows were

designed as a complete set by Franz Mayer and Company, and were placed in the new

church constructed after the Great Fire of 1901. Although the exact date for the

execution of the windows is unknown, construction of the church continued from 1907

through 1910. The windows were fabricated and installed within this three-year

period.150

All of the windows are composed of mouth-blown pieces of contemporary antique

glass, a translucent glass created following medieval formulas that allows the color to be

in the glass, not painted on it. With the exception of the single lancet baptistery

windows, multiple lancet windows of varying sizes are used throughout. Dominant figural scenes fill the main portion of each translucent window that extends across each pair of lancets, ignoring the central vertical mullion. Each window contains white Gothic architectural framing elements painted with silver staining that fill the lower, upper, and outer edges of the window, and is surmounted by a petalled rose window. The subject of

each window will be discussed according to its programmatic placement in the historical life of Christ.

150 Author correspondence with Wilfried Jäkel; saved records from the New York office indicate that the shipment of these windows to the Church of the Immaculate Conception extended from Aug. 31, 1909 through July 12, 1910. The two transept windows were shipped from the branch office Jan 15, 1912, and therefore would not have been in place for the dedication ceremony on Dec. 8, 1910.

Early Childhood

Pivotal events related to the early childhood of Christ are portrayed in six windows

located in the east transept and nave that begin the Christological program. Although

defining the nature of Christ is a major theme, additional themes are included that

emphasize the sanctity of family and marriage, as well as devotion to Mary,

The eastern wall of the east transept is filled with a large double lancet window

containing two scenes, surmounted by an eight-pedaled rose window.151 The

Annunciation (Fig. 10; window IC-lA) and The Adoration of the Shepherds (Fig. 11; window IC-1B) are paired together and portray the moment when “the Word was made flesh” (John 1:14),152 the beginning of Jesus’ earthly existence. The Annunciation reveals

the Archangel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she will become the mother of Christ

(Luke 1:26-38) and her impregnation through the Holy Spirit. The moment of

Incarnation through the Holy Spirit is symbolized by rays that emanate from a dove

hovering over Mary’s head. The Adoration of the Shepherds scene is depicted according

to Luke 2:1-20, and reveals the Christ child lying in a manger. Mary is portrayed

kneeling beside the Baby while Joseph stands attentively behind her. Five shepherds are

included who came in haste to witness the infant, having been told “this day is born to

you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

151 The window is surmounted by an eight petalled rose window containing two seraphim who are presenting a wreath of five red roses. Roses are symbolic for the Virgin Mary who is referred to as a “rose without thorns,” being immune from the stain of original sin (Gertrude Grace Sill, A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art, (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1975), p. 52. The rosary, which assists in prayers and devotions to the Virgin, can be considered a symbolic wreath of red roses.

152 Holy Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate (New York: The Douay Bible House, 1941). This edition is used throughout my dissertation for all scriptural excerpts.

The presence of the shepherds in the birth scene refers to their revelation of the

divine nature of Jesus. The familial theme is introduced through the presence of Joseph

who assumes his role as husband of Mary and protector of Jesus. Through the portrayal

of the virginal conception and birth scenes, Mary is pronounced as a woman “full of

grace” (Luke 1:28) as proclaimed by Pope Pius IX.153 The dedication of the church

under the title of the Immaculate Conception and its adherence to this doctrine is initially

proclaimed in the program of windows through these two images.

Four double lancet windows extend along each side of the nave with each window

containing a single figural scene, surmounted by a six petalled rose window decorated

with multi-colored foliage and flowers. The windows along the east aisle portray events

from the childhood of Jesus and tell the viewer, through various accounts taken from

Luke, who Jesus is.154 Joseph and Mary are included in each window, symbolizing the

importance of the Holy Family and thus the virtues of the Christian family. Within the

context of a family unit, Jesus is portrayed as an obedient son to His mother and foster

father. The scenes also serve to announce the ordained role Jesus willingly obeys and

accepts in the redemption of mankind,155 as each window symbolically refers to the mystery of redemption at work throughout His infancy.

153 Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 138.

154 The Gospel of Luke is used for descriptions pertaining to the early childhood of Jesus since his accounts are the most complete, giving information that is not found in the other Gospels. Only Luke mentions the presence of shepherds at the birth scene, Mary visiting Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the Temple, and Jesus in the Temple speaking with religious teachers of the Law.

155 Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 172.

The Visitation (Fig. 12; window IC-3) is the first window encountered along the

east nave, and depicts Mary and her cousin Elizabeth greeting each other, both women

being miraculously pregnant. In addition to the two women, Joseph is portrayed standing

behind Mary, and an elderly Zachary is standing behind his wife Elizabeth. The

inclusion of Joseph in the narrative scene is unusual for his presence is not mentioned in

the account given in Luke (1:39-56). Joseph’s deliberate presence, as well as that of

Zachary, serves to reinforce the familial theme. Through the figure of Elizabeth, who

kneels before Mary and announces “blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Luke 1:42), the divinity of Jesus and thus the exaltation of Mary is proclaimed. Zachary also serves to declare the divinity of Jesus, for he later describes his newborn son, John the Baptist, as a prophet who will prepare the way for the Messiah

(Luke 1:76).

The representation of the Holy Family continues in The Presentation in the Temple

(Fig. 13; window IC-4) that portrays Mary and Joseph offering their sacrifice of two doves for purification at the Temple as required by the Law after the birth of a child.

Their attention is given to Simeon who prominently displays the Child in his arms.

Simeon recognizes the Child as the long-awaited Messiah and refers to Him as “a light to the revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:32). Anna, an old prophetess, stands behind Simeon and raises her hand in a gesture serving to

acknowledge the Child as the Messiah (Luke 2:36-38).

The Finding in the Temple (Fig. 14; window IC-5) depicts the twelve-year-old

Jesus in discourse with the elders of the Temple. The figure of Jesus is emphasized in

this scene by His central placement, surrounded by five Jewish scholars who “were

astonished at his wisdom and his answers” (Luke 2:46-47). Again supporting the familial theme is the presence of Mary and Joseph who are placed in the background, watching the event from a distance. Although their small scale in relation to the other figures denotes their presence as secondary in importance to the main scene, their inclusion continues the programmatic theme along the west nave windows of family life. Mary and Joseph also serve to illustrate the emergence of Jesus as a public figure in His mission as the Son of God, for when they question Jesus as to His whereabouts, He replies, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my

Father’s business?” (Luke 2:48-49)

The fourth window along the east nave, The Holy Family in the Workshop (Fig. 15; window IC-6), is a non-Biblical scene inspired by Luke’s passage (2:51): “And He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them.” The domestic scene portrays the Holy Family in the carpentry shop of Joseph, for Jesus was known simply as the son of a carpenter (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3). Joseph is standing in front of a work table fashioning a piece of wood, while Mary is seated at the right end of the table sewing a piece of fabric. The young Jesus is seated at the feet of Mary, gazing upon a cross which He holds in His right hand, His left hand grasping a nail. This scene demonstrates the influence of the feast of the Holy Family solemnized by Pope Leo XIII in 1892. The virtues of the Christian family are taught through this humble domestic scene that portrays Joseph as the Guardian of the Holy Family, Joseph and Mary as ideal parents, and Jesus as an ideal and obedient child toward His parents. The scene also serves to prefigure Jesus’ Crucifixion upon the cross of Calvary, symbolizing as does The Finding

in the Temple, His divine status and His acceptance of the redemptive mission assigned to

Him by God.

The eastern windows of the east transept and the east nave windows illustrate

events from Jesus’ infancy and from His childhood that directly define him as the long

awaited Messiah and the Son of God, and offer a glimpse into His hidden life at

Nazareth. The devotion of the Church to Joseph, the guardian of the Holy Family, and to

Mary, the mother of Christ, is defined through their presence in these events. The

programmatic emphasis upon the Holy Family demonstrates the sacredness of the home

and the virtues of marriage and family. The ideal character of Joseph, Mary and Jesus

through their respective roles serves as a familial model that promotes the true Christian

family.

Initiation of Christ’s Ministry

The Octagonal baptistery in the east tower, located to the right of the front entrance,

occupies a separately defined space in the church. Because baptism is a rite of initiation,

the baptistery is located near the entrance, thus symbolizing entry into the Church. In the

baptistery, three slender single-lancet windows surround a marble font. The subjects

presented in these windows clearly allude to the necessity of baptism for entry into the

Christian community,156 but also signal the beginning of Jesus’ public life, and continue to pronounce His divine status. The use of three windows in the baptistery is important symbolically. From ancient times the rite of baptism has been performed by pouring the

156 Ibid., p. 352.

water three times over the candidate’s head; most importantly, the number three is

symbolic of the Holy Trinity157 that is iconographically portrayed in the central window.

The first window encountered along the northeast wall, Jesus Instructing

Nicodemus (Fig. 16, IC-7), portrays Jesus’ discourse with the Pharisee Nicodemus (John

3:1-21). Nicodemus ponders how a man can be “born when he is old ... [and] enter a

second time into his mother’s womb and be born again?” While explaining the need for

spiritual rebirth through baptism, Jesus describes Himself as the “Son of Man” and that

“whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.”

The central window of the baptistery is located on the southeast wall and illustrates

The Baptism of Jesus (Fig. 17; window IC-8). A dove representing the Holy Spirit hovers over the head of Jesus as He is baptized in the river Jordan by John the Baptist, symbolizing the revelation of Jesus as the “Son of God” (John 1:32-34). Because The

Baptism of Jesus symbolizes the basic sacramental rite of Baptism, it assumes a central place of prominence in the octagonal room, and is immediately visible upon entering the baptistery. The belief that Baptism is “the door which gives access to the other sacraments”158 is reinforced by The Baptism of Christ being visible in the baptistery upon

entering the nave.

The third window portrays Jesus Blessing the Children (Fig. 18; window IC-9) and

is located on the southwest wall. Jesus stands on a hillock with His hand extended over

the head of a child, while his mother stands approvingly nearby. Seated below on the

grass is a mother holding a baby and two children looking upward at Jesus. The practice

157 Sill, A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art, p. 137.

158 Ibid., p. 342.

of infant baptism is an enduring tradition of the Church159 that is reinforced by the

inclusion of this scene within the baptistery. The presence of children also serves to

sanctify the Church’s teaching of the youth and the sanctification of the family.

Public Ministry

The Christocentric emphasis of the program continues throughout the four west nave windows that depict events illustrating the miracles and teachings of Christ.

Interestingly, the first miracle of Christ is not located in the west nave but on the northern wall of the east transept. Jesus’ first public miracle, performed at the request of His mother Mary, is depicted in The Wedding Feast at Cana (Fig. 3; window IC-24). This

window portrays an opulently decorated room where people attending the marriage feast

are assembled around a long table. Jesus is seated while He instructs a young woman to

fill a group of stone waterpots with water. Mary stands behind the woman and points to

the water as it turns into wine, further emphasizing the miraculous event. This is the first

public miracle Jesus performed which served as a sign that He is the Messiah (John 2:1-

11).

Since this window celebrates the act of marriage, the placement of The Wedding

Feast at Cana on the east side of the church aligns it with the familial theme, and the

pronounced presence of Mary in this scene parallels her prominence in the east transept

and east nave windows. The Church attaches great importance to Jesus’ presence at the

wedding at Cana, seeing in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage, and Christian

marriage as a sacrament of the New Covenant.160

159 Ibid., p. 351.

160 Ibid., p. 450-1.

Returning to the west nave, nearest the entrance, the first two windows that

illustrate the teachings and miracles of Christ are The Raising of the Widow’s Son

(Fig. 19; window IC-10) and The Raising of Lazarus (Fig. 20; window IC-11). Both scenes portray Jesus miraculously resurrecting the dead to life again. The Raising of the

Widow’s Son depicts Jesus grasping the hand of a young man lying on a bier who is seen beginning to rise from his bed and speak. Two disciples and a crowd of people watch closely while the young man’s mother kneels beside his bed. After witnessing this event the people exclaim that “a great prophet is risen up among us” (Luke 7:16).

The following window, The Raising of Lazarus (Fig. 20; window IC-11), portrays

Jesus standing at the entrance of Lazarus’ tomb, accompanied by a Jewish leader, a disciple, and Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. The body of Lazarus is wrapped in white linen and he is depicted standing at the mouth of his tomb, having been commanded by Jesus to “come forth” (John 11:43). This miracle supports the truth of

Martha’s words when she answered to Jesus, “thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, who art come into this world” (John 11:27). The raising of Lazarus from the dead also serves as a precursor to Jesus’ own resurrection: “I am the resurrection and the life” (John

11:25). These two scenes serve as a reminder of Christ’s compassion toward the sick and

His many healings. Iconographically these images refer to the sacrament of the

Anointing of the Sick, and the belief that faithfulness to God according to his law restores life: “For I am the Lord, your healer” (Exodus 15:26).161

The next window depicts The Sermon on the Mount (Fig. 21; window IC-12),

where Jesus is sitting on a hillside, intimately surrounded by His disciples and a large

161 Ibid., p. 418.

crowd composed of men, women, and children. During the sermon Jesus describes the

traits He is looking for in His followers (Matthew 5-7). Through Jesus’ teachings

contained in the Beatitudes, the new Law is fulfilled and leads the old Law to its

perfection.162

It is important to notice that directly across the nave from The Sermon on the

Mount, are located The Presentation in the Temple (Fig. 13; window IC-4) and The

Finding in the Temple (Fig. 14; window IC-5). The close proximity of the windows that portray Jesus in the Temple during His childhood and the window portraying Jesus ministering as an adult is significant. During his public ministry, specifically through the

Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaimed his attitude toward the Law, which challenged

the legalistic religious leaders of the Temple. The crowds which listened to Jesus’

sermons were amazed, “for He was teaching them as one having power, and not as the

scribes and Pharisees” (Matthew 7:29). Through the location of these windows the suggestion is made iconographically that Jesus didn’t need to quote the Jewish elders who are depicted in the Temple, for He was the original Word (John 1:1).

The fourth window along the west nave portrays The Transfiguration (Fig. 22; window IC-13). Jesus, Elijah, and Moses are suspended in the air and framed by a circular cloud form filled with shimmering, yellow rays of light. Located below are the apostles chosen by Jesus as witnesses, Peter, James, and John, who look upward in astonishment at the miraculous event. Moses, representing the Law, and Elijah, the

Prophets, appears with Jesus, who is revealed as the fulfillment of both the Old

Testament Law and the Prophetic promises. The inclusion of the large cloud that

162 Ibid., p. 531.

occupies the upper half of the window is the source of God’s voice, who states: “This is

my beloved Son. Hear him” (Luke 9:35).163

The presence of Elijah and Moses in The Transfiguration encourages a parallel to be drawn between these Old Testament prophets and Jesus. Just as Elijah raised a widow’s son back to life (3 Kings 17:17-24), so does Jesus (Luke 7:11-17) in The Raising of the Widow’s Son (Fig. 19; window IC-10), who is believed to be a prophet by the people. Jesus is again compared with an Old Testament prophet in The Sermon on the

Mount (Fig. 21; window IC-12) and is symbolic of the new Moses.

The Sacramental Sacrifice

The Christocentric program of the windows continues from The Transfiguration in

the west nave to seven windows located in the sanctuary. Located at the north end of the

church, these windows extend across the length of the sanctuary. Their semi-circular

arrangement creates an impressive focal point in the church around the main alter.

Sacrificial themes from the Old and New Testaments are portrayed that bear a direct

reference to the sacrament of the Eucharist, “the source and summit of the Christian

Life.”164 The windows illustrate various examples of feeding that symbolically refer to

the spiritual feeding received through the Eucharist celebration. The prominent

placement of these windows in the church demonstrates the Church’s proclamation of the necessity of Communion for its members.

163 Ibid., p. 157; The signature of Franz Mayer and Company is located in the lower right corner of the Transfiguration window, as well as the Last Supper.

164 Ibid., p. 368.

Four small lancet windows portraying Old Testament events are located at the outer ends of the sanctuary.165 The Sacrifice of Abraham (Fig. 23; window IC-23), found on the east wall of the sanctuary, portrays Abraham poised with a knife, ready to sacrifice his son, Isaac. An angel is suspended in a cloud over a ram caught in a thicket, and gestures to stop Abraham from killing his son. The ram is sacrificed instead, thus initiating the Old Testament or Jewish covenant with God. Directly opposite from The

Sacrifice of Abraham, The Sacrifice of Melchisedech (Fig. 24; window IC-17) is located on the west wall of the sanctuary, and depicts an aged Abraham and his army of men assembled before the king and priest, Melchisedech. According to Scripture, when

Abraham was returning home after his victorious battle, Melchisedech met him and blessed him (Romans 7:1). Melchisedech stands before an altar and offers for the first time a non-animal sacrifice of bread and wine, for he was ‘the priest of the most high

God’ (Genesis 14:18).

The sacrifices of Abraham and Melchisedech are both stories from the book of

Genesis that serve to represent the Law under the old covenant. Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice his own son but spared by God’s grace, offers a ram instead that parallels the future offering of God’s Son as a substitute for mankind. In the Old

Testament the blood of an animal confirmed the Laws of the old covenant (Exodus 24:8); in the New Testament, the death of Jesus instituted the new covenant, thus fulfilling the old sacrificial agreement (Luke 22:20). The Church sees in the sacrifice of Melchisedech

165 Each small lancet window is surmounted by a rose window containing an angel kneeling upon a balcony. The architectural elements of the balcony extend outward filling the six petals of the rose. Identical rose windows are repeated above each small lancet window in the church, with the gestures of the angel and the coloring of their wings varied for visual interest.

a prefiguring of the Eucharist.166 Jesus is likened to Melchisedech, who did not become a

priest according to Jewish Law, but was a priest of God prior to the beginning of the

Levitical system (Hebrews 7:1-15). Christ is seen as the high priest of the new covenant who presides over every Eucharist celebration.167

The window at the east end of the north wall depicts a banquet scene representing

The Paschal Lamb (Fig. 2; window IC-22), recalling the Passover story when Moses

instructed the Hebrews to sacrifice a “lamb without blemish” (Exodus 12:5). The blood

from a killed lamb was necessary for protection, ultimately saving the Hebrews from

their captivity in Egypt. The scene in the window portrays a young man carrying a

platter with the roasted lamb to a table where a Hebrew family is assembled, and where

wine is being served. The window at the opposite west end of the north wall illustrates

The Manna in the Desert (Figure 25; window IC-18) and portrays Moses standing

underneath a shower of manna, or bread, which falls from a yellow burst of light from the

heavens. During the wandering of the Hebrews in the wilderness after their exit from

Egypt, manna was provided for nourishment by God (Exodus 16:1-17); hence, the

window scene portrays the people gathering the pieces of fallen manna from the ground.

The stories of the Paschal Lamb and the Manna in the Desert are from the book of

Exodus and, like the sacrifices of Abraham and Melchisedech, serve to prefigure the

Eucharist. Jesus compares Himself to the manna that Moses gave to their ancestors but

describes Himself as “the bread of life…the bread which cometh down from heaven; that

if any man eat of it, he may not die” (John 6:48-50). A comparison is also drawn

166Ibid., p. 371.

167Ibid., p. 376.

between the paschal lamb killed for the Passover meal and Christ killed on Calvary. Just

as no bones were broken in the sacrificial lambs according to Jewish ritual (Exodus

12:46), neither were the bones of Jesus broken at His death (John 19:36).

Earlier in chapter two a compositional comparison was made between The Paschal

Lamb (Fig. 2; window IC-22) and The Wedding Feast at Cana (Fig. 3; window IC-24), since both scenes portray the enactment of a banquet. The close proximity of The

Wedding Feast at Cana to the sanctuary windows aligns with the examples of miraculous

feedings, and contributes symbolically to the spiritual feeding provided through the

Eucharist celebration.

Within the sanctuary there are also windows depicting events from the New

Testament which complement the Old Testament scenes. Three large double lancet

windows are centrally placed in the polygonal apse on the north wall, and clearly hold a

place of prominence within the sanctuary, as well as within the totality of the

Christocentric program. Their grand size, as well as the highly elaborate architectural

framing found in the lower and upper sections of the windows, visually contributes to

their elevated status. The windows continue the sacrificial themes reflected in the smaller

lancet windows which surround them.

The flanking windows of the apse depicting The Feeding of the Five Thousand

(Fig. 26; window IC-21) and The Last Supper (Fig. 27; window IC-19) are similar in

content in that they both literally portray scenes of feeding.168 Described in all four

168 The upper portion of each flanking window contains a frontal full length angel wearing a golden robe with large, fully extended green wings, standing in a highly decorative architectural balcony. A rose window a multi-colored flowers and foliage surmounts each upper section, which is identical to the rose windows placed above each of the nave windows.

gospels, The Feeding of Five Thousand depicts a miracle performed by Jesus where five

thousand people were fed from only five loaves of bread and two fish (Luke 9:10-17).

Jesus and his disciples are holding baskets containing the bread and fishes that they

distribute among a crowd of people sitting upon the ground. In The Last Supper window,

the Passover meal is shared by Jesus and his disciples. Jesus is prominently placed at the

table, His twelve disciples seated and standing around Him. Jesus holds a goblet of wine

in His left hand, while His right is raised in a gesture of blessing. He gazes downward at

the platter of bread placed on the table in front of Him and says, “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life” (John 6:55).

The physical nourishment of food provided by Jesus in these two scenes is symbolic of the Eucharist, and the perpetual spiritual feeding that is offered through the sacrament of Communion.169 The miraculous feeding of the people with bread prefigures

the superabundance of the bread of the Eucharist; the bread and win offered by Jesus at

the Passover meal prefigures His death and resurrection.170 Because the Eucharist is the

memorial of Christ’s Passover, the Eucharist is also the memorial of Christ’s sacrifice.171

The large axial window of the apse portrays The Crucifixion (Fig. 28; window IC-

20). The dead body of Jesus and two angels suspended in the upper left section of the window are accented against a large expanse of crimson sky, for “there was darkness over the whole earth” (Matthew 27:45). Four additional figures are included portraying their grief as they witness the death of Jesus. John and the Virgin Mary stand on the left

169 Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 372.

170 Ibid., p. 372.

171 Ibid., pp. 380; 174.

side of the cross, and Mary Magdalene kneels at the base of the Cross-on the right, with

Joseph of Arimathea standing behind her.172

The Crucifixion represents the sacrifice of the new covenant that superseded all the

sacrifices of the old covenant,173 and that finds its most intense expression in the

celebration of the Eucharist. Through the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Christ that reconciled man with God is also made present in the sacrament of Penance and

Reconciliation.174 This ultimate sacrifice is the primary focus of the altar, recreated

perpetually through the Eucharist and supported iconographically through all of the

windows located in the sanctuary.

Final Stage

The completion of the program can be found in the three lancet windows of the

west transept. The two large windows on the western wall of the west transept portray

two significant Christological events, The Resurrection (Fig. 29; window IC-15A) and

The Ascension (Fig. 30; window IC-15B), surmounted by an eight-pedaled rose window.

A third window on the northern wall of the west transept depicts The Pentecost (Fig. 31;

window IC-16).

The Resurrection (Fig. 29; window IC-15A) portrays a triumphant Christ

suspended in the air, holding a cross staff with a banner symbolizing His victory over

death.175 An angel hovers over His empty tomb and announces that Jesus has risen from

172 The Crucifixion lancet is crowned by a rose window containing a regal angel wearing a purple robe.

173 Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 175.

174 Ibid., sec. 1440, pp. 400-401.

175 Sill, A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art, p. 97.

the dead (Matthew 28:5). The account by Matthew states that the tomb had been sealed

to prevent the removal of Jesus’ body, and that guards were posted to protect the tomb

from intrusion (Matthew 27:62-66). Four guards in various poses of bewilderment are

located in front of the empty tomb; because of their fear upon seeing the risen Christ,

were “struck with terror and became as dead men” (Matthew 28:4). The Resurrection

scene constitutes the confirmation of all Christ’s works and teachings.176 The truth of

Jesus’ divinity is set by his Resurrection that reveals Him as the Son of God.177

Jesus is portrayed in The Ascension (Fig. 30; window IC-15B) rising into the sky,

His hands raised in a gesture of blessing that reveals the nail wounds from His

Crucifixion. The Virgin Mary and the disciples reverently observe the event before them,

their heads raised upward as they watch Jesus ascent into the clouds. Like The

Resurrection scene, The Ascension serves to demonstrate the divine status of Jesus for the

transcendent event of the Ascension also presents Jesus as the Son of God.178

Before Jesus was raised up, He said to his disciples, “But you shall receive the

power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me…even to

the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The sacrament of Holy Orders is alluded to in

the Ascension scene, which depicts the apostles who would be endowed by Christ with a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and who “by the imposition of hands they passed

176 Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 187.

177 Ibid.

178 Ibid., p. 190.

on to their auxiliaries the gift of the Spirit,” a doctrine presently continued through

Episcopal consecration.179

The placement of The Resurrection and The Ascension windows in the west

transept directly across from The Annunciation and The Adoration of the Shepherds windows in the east transept emphasizes the Christocentric program. Christ’s

Resurrection is closely linked to the Incarnation of God’s Son, and is its fulfillment in accordance with God’s eternal plan.180 The final event of the Ascension is also closely

linked to the Incarnation, for only the one who “came from the Father” can return to the

Father.181

The north window of the west transept, The Pentecost (Fig. 31; window IC-16),

portrays an event which took place after the Resurrection and the Ascension. On the day

of the Jewish Festival of Pentecost, the apostles were gathered together when “suddenly

there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming: and it filled the whole

house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues, as it were of

fire: and it sat upon every one of them” (Acts 2:2-3). Eleven disciples are grouped around

Mary, portrayed in various poses and gestures of bewilderment. A single flame of fire

flickers above each of their heads, filling them with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). Fire

symbolizes the transforming energy of the Holy Spirit, and tradition has retained the

179 Ibid., p. 433.

180 Ibid., p. 187.

181 Ibid., p. 189; The resurrection and the ascension windows are surmounted by an eight petalled rose window containing two seraphim who are presenting an ornate gold crown. The crown symbolizes Jesus’ victory over death and his everlasting authority; Sill, A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art, p. 130.

symbolism of fire as one of the most expressive images of the Holy Spirit’s actions.182

This scene celebrates and sanctifies the sacrament of Confirmation, the full outpouring of

the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost.183

The location of the Pentecost in relation to the sanctuary windows and The

Wedding Feast of Cana (Fig. 3; window IC-24) has symbolic relevance in the

Christocentric program. The Pentecost is placed to the left of the sanctuary and symbolically refers to the ritual of communion, for the Holy Spirit is the anointing of

Christ which is offered through the Eucharist.184 As previously noted, The Wedding

Feast at Cana located on the north wall of the east transept and directly opposite the

Pentecost, also symbolically refers to the Eucharist through the nature of the subject

being a banquet scene, as well as the changing of the water into wine.

Additional symbolism can be found for the deliberate pairing of these two windows

at the opposite sides of the sanctuary. These two scenes represent the first and last

miracles of Jesus recorded in the Gospels, and both scenes prominently feature the figure

of Mary. Although Mary is included along with the disciples in the Pentecost the Gospel

account makes no mention of her presence. Although the primary purpose of the events

depicted in the windows is to reveal the true nature of Jesus, the Church’s teachings about

Mary serve to illustrate its beliefs about Christ.185 These two windows acknowledge that

182 Ibid., p. 201.

183 Ibid., p. 363.

184Ibid., p. 213.

185 Ibid., p. 136.

Mary’s role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ, and flows directly from it.186

Clergy Memorial

The remaining two windows located on the ground floor form a mini-program outside of the main Christological program of windows discussed. The southern windows in the east and west transepts do not hold a visually prominent position in the church and cannot be seen upon entry. Located above the transept portals, the primary purpose of these windows is to pay homage to the priests and nuns who worked so diligently in the service of the church.

In the east transept St. Patrick in Ireland (Fig. 32; window IC-2) portrays an event in the missionary efforts of St. Patrick among the Celts, but allegorically honors the missionary efforts of Irish priests in Florida as well as those assigned to the Church of the

Immaculate Conception. These men include Father William Hamilton, the first pastor, and Father William Kenny, whose pastorate spanned the most turbulent years of the parish’s history including the yellow fever epidemic and the fire of 1901. Father Kenny assisted in the rebuilding of the parish as well as the city of Jacksonville, and in 1902 was elevated to the episcopacy and consecrated as third Bishop of the Diocese of St.

Augustine;187 Father Michael Maher assumed the tremendous task of rebuilding the church after the 1901 fire, and served a 23 year tenure. His successor, Father James

186 Ibid., p. 273.

187 Danese, One Hundred and Twenty-five Years, p. xiv.

Meehan, had an outstanding record of accomplishments spanning his 28 years as

pastor.188

In the west transept, The Sisters of Immaculate Conception (Fig. 33; window IC-

14) portrays two nuns taking vows, surrounded by the Mother Superior and members of

the clergy. Symbolically, the scene honors the Sisters of St. Joseph who administered the

first convent-school, which was established in 1869;189 Sister Mary Ann and others who helped formally establish the orphanage, St. Mary’s Home;190 and the many other sisters

associated with the Church of the Immaculate Conception for their works of charity and

dedication to the poor.

Clerestory

Continuing with the iconographic program, there are seven additional Franz

Mayer and Company windows located in the clerestory of the church [Note: see Figure

34, clerestory program plan]. These windows are auxiliary to the general Christocentric

theme that the ground floor windows follow. Their prominent display in the sanctuary

gives them visual importance in relation to the overall window program.

On the south wall above the entrance of the church and appropriately located

above the choir loft, a large double lancet window depicts The Choir of Angels (Fig. 35;

window IC-25A) with a congregation of eleven angels arranged in a semi-circle on a riser

of clouds, playing medieval instruments and singing. Putti are interspersed at the lower

188 Ibid., p. 21; Although only four pastors are specifically mentioned in this paper, the long list of pastors and their assistants in the history of the church are honored and memorialized through this window.

189 Ibid., p. 6.

190 Ibid., p. 7.

72 and upper sections of the windows that assist in producing a heavenly ambiance.

Traditionally in the Christian Church, song and music have formed an integral and necessary part of the liturgy, and the window symbolizes the musical legacy of the

Church.191

Above the lancets is a large eight petalled rose window portraying The Virgin

Mary in Glory (Fig. 36; window IC-25B). A young, beautiful Mary is depicted with hand crossed at her breast, gazing upward toward Heaven. Golden rays emanate outward behind her and extend into the petals of the rose. As discussed previously, the image of

Mary plays a dominant role in the iconography of the windows of the church, and the inclusion of a portrait of the Virgin Mary above the entrance properly demonstrates the

Immaculate Conception Church’s devotion to her and her importance as the Mother of

Jesus.

Continuing at the clerestory level on the north sides of the transepts, there are four additional small double lancet windows. The north sides of the transepts portray the four

Church Fathers who were distinguished for their theological contributions to the Church, and the four evangelists, the authors of the four Gospels in the New Testament. The north wall of the east transept includes Sts. Augustine and Gregory (Fig. 37; window IC-

26A & B) and Sts. John and Luke (Fig. 38; window IC-27A & B). The north wall of the west transept includes Sts. Mark and Matthew (Fig. 39; window IC-30A & B) and Sts.

Jerome and St. Ambrose (Fig. 40; window IC-31A & B). Each figure is dressed

191 Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 326.

according to traditional iconography and holds a pen and scroll or book symbolizing their

major works.192

The church has always venerated the Scripture of the evangelists and the tradition

of the Church Fathers, for through them the word of God is revealed.193 Through these

inspired and sacred books the Church finds spiritual nourishment and strength,194 and their author’s placement on either side of the sanctuary supports the theme of spiritual feeding, which is portrayed through the ground floor windows.

The last two double lancet windows are located on the east and west sanctuary walls and each portray a pair of angels. Each angel is dressed in a white robe and carries objects associated with the Passion of Christ. The eastern Angels window (Fig. 41; window IC-28A & B) portrays an angel carrying a sponge on a lance, pincers, and a hammer, and a second angel carrying a crown of thorns. The western Angels window

(Fig. 42; window IC-29A & B) portrays an angel carrying a reed, serving as a mock scepter and a Roman whip, and a second angel carrying a wooden cross and three nails.

The Instruments of the Passion support the sacrificial theme of the sanctuary windows that culminates in The Crucifixion (Fig. 28; window IC-20), located directly below these angels.195

192 Sill, A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art, p. 129.

193 Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 36.

194 Ibid.

195 Above each window is a small rose window filled with multi-colored flowers and foliage. The decorative quality of the rose windows corresponds with the decorative floral bordering of the small lancet windows.

There are ten additional clerestory windows along the nave and south walls of the east and west transepts that were originally clear, textured glass. These were replaced in

1973 with geometric, non-figural stained-glass windows that are not part of the original iconographic program, and therefore not included in this discussion.

The ability of Franz Mayer and Company to create a program of stained-glass that integrates and enhances the architectural surrounding is evident at the Church of the

Immaculate Conception. The program of stained-glass windows also attest to the designer’s complete familiarity with Roman Catholic doctrine and ritual, and their ability to portray the teachings of Scriptures and apostolic traditions through convincing pictorial representations.

The stained-glass windows are significant and important to the Church’s affirmation that for believers, the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation.196 The Christological program clearly emphasizes the mysteries of Christ’s life, progressing from His Incarnation through His outpouring of the Holy Spirit at

Pentecost. It is the mysteries of Christ that are the foundations of what He would dispense in the sacraments.197 Just as the liturgical celebrations make the rites by which the sacraments are celebrated visible, so do the windows make visible the sacraments instituted by Christ. It is important to note that all seven sacraments are symbolized through the images of the stained-glass program, which through contemplation by the viewer, nourishes the faith of the believer: Baptism, through The Baptism of Jesus (Fig.

17; window IC-8); Matrimony, through The Wedding Feast at Cana (Fig. 3; window IC-

196 Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 319.

197 Ibid., p. 316.

24); Annointing of the Sick, through The Raising of the Widow’s Son (Fig. 19; window

IC-10) and The Raising of Lazarus (Fig. 20; window IC-11); the Eucharist and Penance,

through The Crucifixion (Fig. 28; window IC-20); the Holy Orders, through The

Ascension (Fig. 30; window IC-15B); and lastly, Confirmation, through The Pentecost

(Fig. 31; window IC-16).

CHAPTER 5 HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE SACRED HEART CHURCH

Introduction

The Sacred Heart Church has been a continual source of inspiration for the residents of Tampa since 1905, and serves as an important historical and visual contribution to the downtown area. In order to provide a foundation for better insight and understanding of the stained-glass program, this chapter begins with a discussion of selected key events that were pertinent to the establishment of Sacred Heart Parish and the construction of the present building. Next, a visual description of the exterior and interior of the building follows to provide the architectural context necessary for a thorough appreciation of the stained-glass program.

History of the Sacred Heart Church

Long before the establishment of Sacred Heart Parish, Spanish explorers sailed along Florida’s coasts accompanied by missionaries whose guiding principle was to

Christianize the native population. On Good Friday, April 15, in the year 1528, a party of six hundred Spanish explorers led by Pánfilo de Narváez sailed to the Tampa Bay area of

Florida’s west coast.198 The party included five Franciscan friars and an unknown number of secular priests.199 The identity of only one priest is partly known under the

198 Michael V. Gannon, “Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida,” from “Catholic Parish Histories”, p. 1. Unpublished manuscript, 1965b, Special and Area Studies Collections, Smathers Libraries, University of Florida.

199Ellwood C. Nance, The East Coast of Florida, vol. II, 1500-1961. (Delray Beach, FL: The Southern Publishing Co., 1962), p. 439. Under the direction of Hernando de Soto,

76 77

name of El Asturiano. Among the Franciscans was the first Bishop-designate of Florida,

Father Juan Suarez, although nothing came of this first missionary effort and attempt to

establish a diocese.200 Although lacking official documentation, it is assumed that one or

more Masses were offered at the landing site, considering such an assemblage of men.

Among the first Domincan priests to proselytize in the Tampa Bay area was Father

Louis de Cáncer, the leader of a group of missionaries who sailed from Vera Cruz,

Mexico, and landed near Tampa Bay in 1549.201 After several excursions ashore, Father

Cáncer was attacked and clubbed to death by Indians. It was seventeen years later in

response to the request for missionaries by Governor Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, that the

first Jesuit priest, Father Juan Rogel, reached the west coast of Florida in 1566, and

settled at Charlotte Harbor where the Spanish maintained a military post.202 Here Father

Rogel began a mission to the Calusa Indians in the region of Charlotte Harbor where, under the order of Governor Menendez, he participated in the building of the first chapel on the West Coast of Florida, and also visited Tampa Bay where there had been a fort established by Menendez.203 After this first Jesuit mission came to an end in 1572, it

would not be until the mid-nineteenth century that the Jesuit Fathers returned to Florida

Spain sent another expedition including twelve priests, eight religious and four secular priests that entered Tampa Bay in 1539.

200 Ibid.

201 Gannon, “Sacred Heart Church,” pg. 1.

202 The Jesuits in Florida: Fifty Golden Years, 1889-1939. (Tampa, FL: The Salesian Press, 1939), p. 7.

203Ibid.

for the purpose of conducting missions and retreats, and are documented again in the records of the Tampa Bay area.

Until the establishment of the Diocese of St. Augustine in 1870 by Bishop

Augustin Verot, the Catholic congregation of Tampa belonged first to the Diocese of

Mobile and later to the Diocese of Savannah. Tampa was visited occasionally during the

Second Seminole Indian War (1835-1842) by Irish priests sent by Bishop John Barry of

Savannah, and in 1847 from St. Augustine by Fathers Edmond Aubril and Benedict

Madeore, former professors of Spring Hill College, Alabama.204 On May 2, 1853, a

permanent location for worship was made possible through the board of Hillsborough

County Commissioners, who donated lot 4, block 35, “for the use of the Catholic church

if built in Tampa.”205

The property was located approximately where Ashley and Twiggs Streets meet

today, and was exchanged later for the Florida Avenue site where the present Sacred

Heart Church stands (Fig. 43). Father Aubril, who oversaw the construction of the first

Church of the Immaculate Conception in Jacksonville, returned to Tampa in 1857 to

assist in soliciting funds for the building of Sacred Heart Church. The following year

Bishop Verot came to Tampa to approve the plans for a small frame building that was

finished the following year.206 On June 19, 1859, Father Aubril blessed and dedicated the

204Ibid, p. 15; Gannon, “Sacred Heart Church,” p. 2.

205Sacred Heart Parish Centennial, 1860-1960. Souvenir program for Sacred Heart Parish Centennial February 21-23, 1960. (Tampa, FL: Sacred heart Catholic Church, 1960), p. 2. At this time the board also made property available for every religious denomination.

206Mary Floyd, A House Where God Lives, Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida: A Brief History of God’s People on the Shores of Tampa Bay, Issued in Observance of the 75th Anniversary of the Dedication of Sacred Heart Church, January 15, 1905, to January

small wooden church under the patronage of King St. Louis IX of France, and in memory

of Father Luis Cáncer, the Spanish Dominican who had been martyred by the Indians in

1549.207

The parish history of what is today Sacred Heart Parish began in February of the

following year when Bishop Verot recruited a young priest from France, Father Charles

A. Mailley, to serve as the first resident pastor of St. Louis Parish.208 The parish boundaries included the entire Tampa Bay area, but the mission field for the parish was vast and extended from one coast to the other and as far south as Key West.209 Due to his

failing health, Father Mailley was transferred to the north of Florida early in 1864 and for

the next five years the parish, being without a resident pastor, was served periodically by

visiting priests.210 Even after the establishment of the diocese in 1870 the pastors who came to Tampa stayed only briefly.

A terrible yellow fever epidemic descended on Tampa during the years 1887 and

1888 that resulted in the tragic loss of three priests within less than a year.211 Because the

15, 1980. (Hackensack, NJ: Custombook, Inc., 1979), p. 7. An eight-sided belfry topped with a cross was built by Constant Bourguardez in 1858. His bill was fifty-eight dollars.

207Sacred Heart Parish Centennial, p. 3.

208Ibid. Father Mailley is listed in an 1860 census as being 27 years old. Due to illness he left Tampa in the middle of January for Georgia and didn’t return until September.

209Gannon, “Sacred Heart Church,” p. 3.

210Sacred Heart Parish Centennial, p. 3.

211 Ibid; Gannon, “Sacred Heart Church,” p. 4-5: Father Charles Peterman, pastor of St. Louis since 1883, died on October 27, 1887. To his assistance came Father Felix Swemberg, a diocesan priest who had been working in Orlando and Sanford. Succumbing to the illness almost immediately, Father Swemberg died October 31. He was replaced by Father Henry Clavreul who stayed until the replacement, Father Denis

Bishop of St. Augustine was without priests to send to the afflicted Tampa parish and its

surrounding missions, he requested assistance from the Jesuit Fathers. Bishop John

Moore wrote for help to Reverend Father John O’Shanahan, the Superior of the Jesuit

Mission in the South with headquarters in New Orleans, begging for a Spanish-speaking

priest to be sent to Tampa.212

Bishop Moore’s request was granted when on October 17, 1888, 63 year old Father

Thomas de Carriere, S.J., left New Orleans for Tampa where he remained for the next

decade.213 Since all others had fled the fever, Father de Carriere was the only minister of

any kind; he had sole responsibility for serving the parish that included Hillsborough,

Polk, De Soto, Manatee, Osceloa, Lee, Dade, and Monroe counties.214 Although

working under the authority and direction of Bishop Moore, Father de Carriere’s

presence marked the return of the Jesuits to Florida after a lapse of three centuries, an

event that held great significance for the future of St. Louis Church.215

O’Sullivan, arrived. A volunteer from the North for the yellow fever epidemic, Father O’Sullivan served as pastor until he contracted the illness in September of 1888.

212The Jesuits in Florida, p. 12. Bishop Moore also requested a priest be sent to Jacksonville where Yellow Fever was also rampant. Father James Duffo, S.J., was sent at once and served until the epidemic had passed.

213Ibid.

214Ibid.

215Father J.B. Quinlan, Father Snebelen, and Father Thomas de Carriere, “Historical Records of the House and Church of the Society of Jesus, Tampa, Florida,” p.2. Unpublished manuscript, Historical Records Survey, Works Progress Administration State Office, Jacksonville, Florida, 1938. Special and Area Collections, Smathers Libraries, University of Florida. A primary source used for the compilation of this manuscript is the “Diary of St. Louis Catholic Church” by Mrs. Otis Brown; Special and Area Collections, Smathers Libraries, University of Florida.

Because of Father de Carriere’s work in Tampa, Bishop Moore requested that the

New Orleans Jesuit province assume spiritual care of the missions of South Florida.

After this request was rejected by the Mission of Louisiana, Bishop Moore then wrote to the Jesuit Fathers of Castille who also were thankful to the Bishop but rejected his offer as well.216 After additional correspondence, the Superior of the Louisiana

Missions accepted Bishop Moore’s offer in Florida; thus the church of St. Louis and its

numerous missions came under the supervision of the Jesuits. On February 11, 1895, a

letter was received from Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore approving the transfer of the St.

Louis Church property from the St. Augustine Diocese to the Jesuit Mission of Louisiana.

On July 5, 1895, the properly signed deed arrived at St. Louis Church.217

The pastor who received the transferred deed was Father W.J. Tyrell, S.J., who

came to St. Louis Church on July 26, 1892.218 Under his seven-year leadership numerous

projects were started or completed in the rapidly expanding parish ultimately known as

Sacred Heart Church, at the site of the old St. Louis Church.219 On October 24, 1897,

Father Tyrell announced the intent to build a new church. Less than a month later on

November 16, he began the work of moving the Presbytery to the south side of the block.

216Ibid.

217Ibid.

218Ibid.

219 Sacred Heart Parish Centennial, p. 5. Additional projects include the Young Men’s Catholic Club; St. Ignatius Church, Port Tampa; and two African-American churches and schools.

Four days later the old St. Louis Church began to be moved as well, leaving a large area at the southeast corner of Florida and Twiggs Street for the new church.220

Surviving documents are unclear concerning the architect for the new church in

Tampa. An entry in the diary of the church states that on December 12, 1897, Nicholas

Joseph Clayton was in Tampa discussing construction plans and expenses for the church with Father Tyrrell.221 Clayton was one of the first professional architects to establish a practice in Texas and dominated Galveston architecture from 1873 to1900.222 Although precise documentation does not exist to positively identify the architect of Sacred Heart

Church, a collection of original design drawings by Clayton, which are labeled as the St.

Louis Church, Tampa, Florida, strongly suggest that he was primarily responsible.223

These drawings share a close affinity with the existing church and the ground plan drawing from this collection (Fig. 44) appears to be an accurate rendering of the finalized structure (Fig. 45).

Interestingly, during his career Clayton is noted as having worked closely with a

Jesuit lay brother, Cornelius Otten, S.J., the two having collaborated on the construction

220 Mrs. Otis Brown, “Diary of St. Louis Catholic Church,” p. 2.

221 Ibid.

222 Nancy Sparrow, “Nicholas Joseph Clayton (1883-1916) Architectural Drawings and Manuscripts Material, 1833-1901, Galaveston, Texas,” Oct 1992. The Alexander Architectural Archive, The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro, accessed Jun 2004. Clayton was involved in the design of most building types of the period and although his work varied stylistically, it consistently revealed a High Victorian sensibility.

223 Ibid. The Nicholas J. Clayton Papers contain 490 drawings of archival material for 18 projects that Clayton designed.

of the Church of the Sacred Heart in Galveston, dedicated in 1892.224 Besides the state of

Texas, Otten is also credited with building Jesuit churches in Louisiana, Georgia and

Florida.225 He even is cited as being architecturally responsible for the church in Tampa,

“his masterpiece,” where he was given full control in adapting the design of Clayton.226

Another important figure involved with the construction of the church was the contractor,

S. S. Leonard, who directed the digging of the foundations and was present at the ceremony for the laying of the first stone on February 16, 1898.227

The following year Father Tyrrell was appointed president of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, but was to return frequently to Tampa to supervise the building of the church and assist with related ceremonies.228 He was in attendance not only on

February 4, 1900, when the corner stone of the present church was laid and formally

blessed by Bishop John Moore of St. Augustine,229 but also for the dedication ceremony.

Except for a one-year lapse, construction continued for five years and on January 15,

224 Edward J. Cashin, The Story of Sacred Heart (Augusta, GA: Sacred Heart Cultural Center, 1987), p. 8.

225 The Jesuits, pp. 8-9,13, 18-19. The documented projects associated with Father Otten are: St. Charles College Church, Grand Coteau, LA, 1879; The Church of the Sacred Heart, Galveston, TX, 1892; The Sacred Heart Church, Augusta, GA, 1897; St. Joseph’s church, Macon GA, 1901; and the Sacred Heart Church , Tampa, FL, 1900.

226 Ibid, p. 23.

227 Quinlan et al., “Historical Records of the House and Church of The Society of Jesus,” p. 2. This ceremony was conducted by Father Power, Superior of the Jesuit Mission House of New Orleans, and Father Tyrrell.

228 Ibid; A House Where God Lives, p. 15. Father Tyrrell was succeeded by Father Daniel O’Sullivan, S.J.; Father John J. Navin, S.J. was pastor when the building was completed.

229 Tampa Morning Tribune, 5 February 1900, p. 1.

1905, the dedication and blessing of the new church took place with the Bishop of St.

Augustine, Bishop William J. Kenney, officiating.230 The Tampa Tribune reported that

the church was “conceded to be the finest church south of Baltimore not excepting even

Washington, the capital city of the nation … or New Orleans, the most Catholic city in

the United States.”231 Although many generous donations were received from the

parishioners and parish organizations, the Society of Jesus assumed about two thirds of

the estimated $250,000 cost of construction.232

At the dedication ceremony the name was officially changed from the Saint Louis

Church to the Sacred Heart Church. The name change was chosen because Devotion to the Sacred Heart was strong in the parish, and also as a tribute to the Jesuits who had been the first to follow the devotion in the seventeenth-century. Additionally, the Jesuits had provided an important supportive role in the establishment and continuation of the

church and its missions in Tampa.233

Sacred Heart Church, located at 509 North Florida Avenue, possesses a

distinguished history, its pre-parish roots harkening back to the landing of Spanish priests

in 1528. Almost three hundred years later in 1860, the Sacred Heart parish was the first

in South Florida to service Catholics and has continued up through the present to play an important role in the service of the community. During the late 1990s, Sacred Heart

Church initiated a restoration and repair campaign which included plans for the cleaning

230 Tampa Morning Tribune, 15 January 1905, p. 1.

231 Ibid.

232A House Where God Lives, p. 15.

233Ibid.

of the exterior façade as well as the entire program of stained-glass. The windows were

completely dismantled, each piece of glass cleaned and repaired, and new caming was

created for the secure reassembly of the glass pieces.234 Due to the dedication and

commitment of members and friends of the parish, the clarity and radiance of the Mayer

windows have been restored to their original brilliance and continue to function

physically and spiritually as integral elements in the historic Sacred Heart Church.

Exterior Description of the Sacred Heart Church

The Romanesque Revival style is clearly articulated in the architectural elements of

the façade and lends an imposing stability and presence to the church (Fig. 46). The wide

central western façade is constructed of smooth white marble extending its entire height.

All the remaining façade sections extending around the building, however, are constructed of two contrasting stone surfaces. A rough-hewn brown granite was used for

the lower sections, and the white marble of the western facade was repeated along the

upper sections as well as the dome. The original slate roof had been subsequently

replaced twice with ones of copper, and the present pitched roof was installed in 1977.235

The gable of the west façade is topped with a copper cross as is the lantern of the dome.

The hallmark characteristic of the Romanesque style, the semicircular arch, is

234 This project was completed by Bovard Studio, Inc., Fairfield, Iowa. All of the repaired windows had been reset into their original locations by the end of July, 2004. The cost of this phase of the Heritage of the Heart Campaign which included the renovation of the exterior façade and the windows totaled approximately $2.5 million dollars.

235 A House Where God Lives, p. 22; The roof was replaced as part of a major repair project undertaken with the discovery of water and termite damage in the trusses supporting the dome. The total cost of restoration of the roof was five hundred thousand dollars which also included adding a ramp for the south entrance and the closing-in of the sacristy.

86 consistently repeated for all door and window openings. Other distinguishing

Romanesque features include the marble belt course extending along the lower sections of the walls, and the decorative marble molding enriching the eaves, visually recalling a corbel table.

The western façade is flanked by two identical polygonal towers that appear to be left unfinished from their original design. A front elevation drawing by Nicholas J.

Clayton suggests that the towers were intended to be topped with conical spires rising to the height of the central gable.236 Two elevated platforms of stairs lead upward to three rounded recessed entries, each of which contains double oak doors and stained-glass in the tympanum. Since the central portal is the main entry it is larger than the two flanking doors. The entries are framed by slender attached half-columns with capitals carved of floral and geometric ornamentation, and are significantly recessed resulting in darkened spaces into which the oak doors visually seem to recede.

Several iconographic devices are centrally placed on the pediment of the west façade to indicate that Sacred Heart Church is a Jesuit church. Resting on corbels and placed directly above the central portal, the small pediment is inscribed with the Greek letters for Jesus, IHSUS, adopted by the Society of Jesus as their device, and serves to distinguish Sacred Heart Church as a Jesuit church.237 Furthermore, the initial letters AM and DG are also inscribed on the pediment, signifying the Latin motto of the Jesuits, Ad

236 Sparrow, “Nicholas Joseph Clayton;” one of nine design drawings in the collection of The Alexander Architectural Archive.

237 JCJ Metford, Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1983), p. 126.

Majorem Dei Gloriam,238 and a marble statue of Jesus is affixed to the apex of the

pediment.239

The upper section of the façade is deeply recessed by a large compound arch

formed by three concentric arches that rest on tall flanking columns topped with foliated

and geometric capitals. The space within the central arch is filled with a large rose

window whose stone tracery is composed of rounded forms that repeat the rounded forms of the windows and doors. The absolute symmetry of the façade is reinforced further by

the placement of two smaller rounded windows above each of the outer portals, and two

flanking octagonal buttresses topped with small spires that contribute to the majestic

entrance.

The rusticated lower story along the north and south sides of the nave is covered by

a copper lean-to-roof. Each side contains a series of five single large rounded stained- glass windows that alternate with brown stone buttresses. The smooth white façade of

the clerestory contains a series of smaller rounded stained-glass windows that alternate with smaller unadorned buttresses that visually blend into the marble surface. The design

elements of the gabled end walls of the projecting north and south transepts resemble

those of the west façade but contain subtle differences. Instead of oak doors, three large

round stained-glass windows are located in the lower story, surmounted by a centered

pediment. As already noted in the western façade, a rose window occupies the upper

story of each transept, which along with the flanking octagonal buttresses topped with

238 Originally the carved letters were highlighted with gold; Tampa Morning Tribune, 15 Jan 1905, p.1.

239 Quinlan, “Historical Records of the House and Church of the Society of Jesus,” p. 1. The marble statue was a gift of the Knights of Columbus and was unveiled on October 14, 1906.

spires, provides a strong symmetrical balance to the structure. Entry to the nave is

provided by narrow double oak doors located on the west side of each transept, above

which are placed two small rounded windows surmounted by a small oculus. All door

and window openings along the sides of the nave and the transepts are trimmed with a

wide band of white marble, which creates a striking contrast with the rusticated brown

granite and also provides a visual unity to the overall exterior façade.

The prominent polygonal apse of the east façade contains five large rounded

stained-glass windows, which like the upper north and south sides of the nave, alternate

with smooth marble buttresses. The north and south sacristies each contain four small

rounded windows and are covered with copper hip roofs. A pointed octagonal dome rises

over the crossing space of the church, and is pierced with eight rounded windows of clear

glass. The gable motif from the façade is integrated into the dome by a small gable being

placed above each window, assisting in leading the eye upward to the crowning lantern

that is topped with a copper cross.

Interior Description of the Sacred Heart Church

Upon entering the church one experiences an immediate uninterrupted view of the

magnificent interior (Fig. 47). Although the vestibule area is unhampered by partitions or doors from the remainder of the church, the sense of a separate space is achieved

visually by the use of a low, flat ceiling supported by four Corinthian columns of Georgia

granite. The ceiling also serves as the floor for the great choir loft and organ above that

is not visible upon entering. To the immediate left of the vestibule the northern tower

contains a circular oak staircase that provides access to the choir loft above. The space of

the southern tower originally was used as a baptistery, but serves as a private chapel

today. The rich oak double-doors and tympanums match the ninety-eight original oak

89 pews located in the central nave, north and south side aisles, and into the transepts.

Although the oak floor under the pews is now carpeted, originally it was left bare and its natural color would have blended easily with the pews to create a seating area extending throughout the church. The remaining wooden floor of the church is still covered with the original white porcelain tile that extends throughout the building; a porcelain decorative multi-colored border demarcates the seating areas in the nave, side aisles and transepts.

Upon passing through the vestibule and entering into the nave, the Romanesque

Revival architectural elements are immediately apparent with the repeated use of the round arch for all openings and many of the decorative embellishments. The church follows a clearly defined cruciform plan, and boasts an impressive barrel vaulted nave that dominates the axial movement toward the oriented apse. Prominent rounded transverse arches whose undersides are embossed with gold rosettes reinforce not only the barrel vaults of the nave and transepts, but also the groin vaults of the side aisles.

Each transverse arch of the nave and transepts extend downward to a pair of short engaged columns resting on corbels in the narrow gallery. A large single Georgia granite column with a geometric or foliated Romanesque Revival capital marks each bay along the nave and transepts; larger but identical columns are used at the crossing, with matching smaller columns forming a semi-circle around the altar. The columns serve as structural support but also provide a stylistic element that is reiterated in the Fourteen

Stations of the Cross sculptures that hang prominently along the western, northern and southern walls. Each Station of the Cross sculpture is framed by flanking paired columns

supporting a round arch, which provides conceptual and stylistic continuity throughout the interior.240

The square crossing space rises some 70 feet above floor level to the squinches that form a supportive platform for the octagonal dome. Soaring upward an additional 135 feet, the dome creates an impressive focal point of light in front of the apse. A decorative balustrade encircles the base of the dome, and supports eight Corinthian colonettes that alternate with eight rounded windows. The upward visual movement is continued by the extension of eight slender ribs from the colonettes, merging together at the top of the dome.241

The sanctuary, like the remaining floor of the church, is covered with white porcelain tile and separated from the church by a magnificent marble chancel rail with

brass gates placed at the foot of each aisle. The church rail’s intricate carved design

consists of round arches supported on small columns of onyx. The main altar is elevated

upon three marble steps and rests in front of a large intricately carved retable; at either

end are statues of St. Edward the Confessor and St. Anne, the patron saints of the

donor.242 Flanking the main altar are two smaller side altars; St. Joseph is located on the

Epistle side, and the Virgin Mary on the Gospel side. Located at the far extremes of the

sanctuary are two additional altars dedicated to St. Aloysus on the eastern end, and St.

Ignatius on the west.

240 Author correspondence with Wilfried Jäkel; the Stations of the Cross were probably designed by Franz Mayer and Company.

241 The painted motifs and designs are later additions and were not part of the original design of the interior. The walls were originally mauve with maroon trim.

242 The communion rail and the main altar were donated by Edward and Anna B. Smith in memory of their parents.

A clear articulation of architectural space is achieved through the extensive and repeated use of the round arch and a limited number of decorative embellishments. The neutral coloration of the walls throughout the interior blends easily with the natural

stonework of the interior, yielding a rich contrast with the vibrant palette of the Franz

Mayer and Company windows. The implementation of the round arch is also integrated

into the shaped of the stained-glass windows themselves.

With the exception of the window over the central portal of the west facade, all of

the large windows designed by Franz Mayer and Company share common stylistic

characteristics. The single figural narratives of the windows are placed in round arch

openings that enhance an uninterrupted visual progression throughout the sacred spaces

of the building. Additionally, stylistic characteristics of the major figures are consistently

repeated throughout multiple scenes, thus providing a continuous and undisruptive visual

narrative for the viewer. Each window is framed by painted Romanesque architectural

elements that extend along the bottom sections and outside edges of each window,

continuing upward to form an elaborate architectural canopy above each window. The

like treatment of each window with this repetitive decorative patterning serves to create a

stylistic unity within the overall stained-glass program.

CHAPTER 6 ICONOGRAPHY AND PROGRAM OF WINDOWS IN THE SACRED HEART CHURCH

Introduction

This chapter investigates the program of stained-glass windows in Sacred Heart

Church, and attempts to discern the various influences that contributed to its finished design. A discussion is first directed toward the major thematic concepts portrayed in the

iconography of the windows as well as their placement in the church [Note: see Fig. 48

for the placement of each window in the program of stained-glass]. Each window is then

described in relation to its theological context, with attention given to any special visual

attributes that assist in comprehending the nature of the scene.

Major Thematic Concepts

The Jesuits and the Saints

The Society of Jesus grew out of the activity of its founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola

(1491-1556), and was solemnly confirmed by Pope Paul III (1534 - 1549) in the bull

Regimini militantis ecclesiae on Sept. 27, 1540.243 Their motto, Ad Majorem Dei

Gloriam, “To the greater glory of God,” indicates that from their beginning they have

been directed towards preaching, teaching, and missionary work with absolute obedience

to the pope. Although they weren’t the first religious order to distinguish themselves as

243 C. De Dalmases, “St. Ignatius of Loyola,” New Catholic Encyclopedia (Washington, DC.: The Catholic University of America, 2003), p. 313. Paul III approved the first outline of the order’s makeup, Prima Formula Iinstitute, authorized the framing of detailed constitutions, and limited membership to 60 (which was withdrawn four years later).

92 93

teachers, they were the first to promote education as their principal work.244 With the

exception of education, missions have engaged more men than any other work in the

order. The constitutions of the order designated the order as a missionary society, and they had a special vow to undertake missions for the pope in any part of the world.

Not long after the canonical establishment of the Society of Jesus in 1540, Jesuit missionaries accompanied the Spanish expeditions of exploration and colonization to the

Florida peninsula. With the establishment of a permanent settlement in St. Augustine in

1565, Jesuit priests played an active role in proselytizing the Indians and serving the religious needs of the soldiers. The history of their hard labor and dedication working in the Tampa Bay area and surrounding missions resulted in the Jesuit Province in New

Orleans assuming the spiritual care of the missions in South Florida, as well as the administration of Sacred Heart Church in 1895.

This special relationship between the Sacred Heart Church and the Society of Jesus is overtly evident in the inclusion of two important Jesuit saints in the stained-glass program. The founder of the Order, St. Ignatius of Loyola, is portrayed in the western

flanking axial window of the apse (Fig. 48; window SH-11), and St. Stanislas Kostka

(1550-68), a member of the Order, is depicted in the south nave (Fig. 48; window SH-1).

In close proximity to the window of St. Ignatius and occupying the axial window of the apse is St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-90), who received spiritual counseling and

assistance from Jesuit priests that was important to the development of the Devotion of

the Sacred Heart (Fig. 48, window SH-9). Although not Jesuits themselves, four

additional saints important to the propagation and defense of the Christian faith are also

244 J.F. Broderick, Lapomarda, V.A., “Jesuits,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, p. 780.

included in the iconographic program: St. Louis IX, King of France, located in the

eastern flanking window in the apse (Fig. 48; window SH-7); St. Patrick, bishop and

apostle (Fig. 48; window SH-2) and St. Dominic (Fig. 48; window SH-5), founder of the

Black Friars, both depicted in the south nave; and lastly, St. Peter, who was of

considerable importance in the foundation of the Church. St. Peter is featured in three

north nave windows (Figs. 48; window SH-15; Fig. 48; window SH-16; Fig. 48; window

SH-17). Additionally, saints who maintained a familial relationship to Christ are found

in the south nave. These include the parents of Mary, Saints Joachim and Anna (Fig.48;

window SH-3), and Joseph (Fig. 48; window SH-4).

Teaching and Baptism

The Jesuit vows of absolute obedience to the Church, and a willingness to go

anywhere the pope requested in order to serve the needs of the Church were made visible

by their initial presence in Florida some four hundred years ago. Shortly after the

dedication of the St. Louis Church in 1859, Jesuit priests were integral to the

establishment and gradual development of the Sacred Heart parish in Tampa. From the

beginning of its formation, the Jesuit Order has always placed importance upon teaching

and educational work in general; teaching the young and uneducated, as well as

missionary enterprises, were among their earliest goals.245 Through the select

iconography of the five north nave windows these primary ideals of the Jesuit order,

teaching, proselytizing, and protecting and defending the Church, are explicitly presented. These windows include: The Finding in the Temple (Fig. 48; window SH-13);

245 Ibid.

Jesus Blessing the Children (Fig. 48; window SH-14); Jesus Giving St. Peter the Keys to

the Kingdom

(Fig. 48; window SH-15); Jesus Saving Peter from Drowning (Fig. 48; window SH-16);

and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Fig. 48; window SH-17).

Devotion to the Virgin Mary

As the Mother of Jesus, the Virgin Mary is pre-eminent among all the saints and

has been steadfastly venerated since the early centuries of the Church. The title

Theotokos was bestowed on Mary by the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431 because

“she brought forth according to the flesh the Word of God made flesh.”246 This

proclamation of Mary as the receptacle of divinity immediately resulted in the tradition of

Mary being visually depicted as majestically enthroned, and crowned as the Queen of

Heaven.

Devoted to the Virgin Mary his whole life, Pope Pius IX officially pronounced the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception that contributed to the increased veneration of

Mary during the last half of the nineteenth-century. The emphasis upon the unique holiness of the Blessed Virgin continued with Pius IX’s successor, Pope Leo XIII, who especially promoted an increased devotion to Mary. The theological emphasis placed on the unique holiness of the Virgin Mary during the nineteenth-century is reflected in her numerous depictions in the windows at Sacred Heart Church. Of the 18 major Mayer windows, 8 explicitly include Mary and are placed in key locations within the architectural setting. Along the south elevation of the church, she is found in three of the four nave windows as well as the large central window of the transept. The scenes

246 Metford, Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend, p. 242.

illustrated include: St. Anne and St. Joachim Presenting Mary in the Temple (Fig. 48;

window SH-3); The Death of St. Joseph (Fig. 48; window SH-4); St. Dominic Receiving

the Rosary from the Blessed Virgin Mary (Fig. 48; window SH-5); and The Ascension

(Fig. 48; window SH-6). Two prominent axial windows of the apse on the east wall

illustrate The Annunciation (Fig. 48; window SH-10) and The Adoration of the Shepherds

(Fig. 48; window SH-8). Along the north nave the Virgin is portrayed in The Finding in

the Temple (Fig. 48; window SH-13) and lastly, above the central portal of the west wall,

she is depicted in the Coronation of the Virgin Mary (Fig. 48; window SH-18).

Devotion to Joseph

Generated in the east from the sixth century, the cult of Joseph was extended to the

west in the sixteenth-century through the initiative of Theresa of Avila, as well as

Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits, all of whom were devoted to his memory.247 In 1621

Pope Gregory XV (1621-3) declared March 19 a universal feast day in his honor. This encouraged the spread of his cult, resulting in Joseph emerging as a man of great strength, the perfect father, and protector of the Christ-Child.248 Devotion to Joseph rose

rapidly during the nineteenth-century. On September 10, 1847, Pope Pius IX extended to

the Universal Church, in addition to the Feast of St. Joseph, the Feast of the Patronage of

St. Joseph.249 The pope then granted theological recognition on December 8, 1870, by

solemnly proclaiming St. Joseph “Patron of the Universal Church.”250 Following in the

247 Gaston Duchet-Suchaux and Michel Pastoureau, The Bible and the Saints (Paris: Flammarion, 1994), p. 199.

248 Metford, Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend, p. 146.

249 Jean M. Farnsworth et al., Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia, p. 190.

250 See discussion of St. Joseph, Chapter 4.

footsteps of Pius IX, Leo XIII issued the encyclical Quamquam Pluries on August 15,

1889, calling upon the faithful to uphold this special devotion to St. Joseph.251 Appealing

not only to the poor and laboring classes, the pope called on all heads of families to

model themselves after the virtues of Joseph as protectors and providers of their families.

St. Joseph appears in the following south nave windows: The Death of St. Joseph (Fig.

48; window SH-4); The Adoration of the Shepherds in the apse (Fig. 48; window SH-8);

and in the north nave, The Finding in the Temple (Fig. 48; window SH-13).

Devotion to the Sacred Heart

This special form of piety gives particular attention to Christ’s heart as an object of

devotion insofar as symbolizing his love and compassion for man. This devotion evolved

gradually throughout the Middle Ages and continued through the following centuries

with great popularity. The apparitions made to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-90), a

Visitation nun at the convent of Paray-le-Monial, were especially significant in helping to spread the devotion. The private revelations made to St. Margaret Mary between 1673 and 1675, while not the source of the cult, gave a great impetus to publicizing the devotion and to shaping its practices.252 These experiences became known and

sanctioned through her director, the Jesuit Claude de la Colombière.253

The last half of the nineteenth-century witnessed an increase in the various groups

and communities consecrating themselves to the Sacred Heart, in addition to the papal

251 Ibid.

252 C.J. Moell, “Devotion to Sacred Heart,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, p. 491.

253 Ibid; St. Margaret Mary was assisted by two additional Jesuits, Jean Crosiet, author of the first theological treatise on the devotion, and Joseph Francois de Gallifet, promoter of the cause in Rome.

initiatives. Pope Pius IX extended the Feast of the Sacred Heart to the Universal Church

on August 23, 1856, and in 1875, to mark the bicentennial of the event at Paray-le-

Monial, the pope instructed all Catholics to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart.254

The century culminated with Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Annum Sacrum on May 25,

1899, that decreed the consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart.255 The importance

of this devotional practice to the clergy and congregation of Sacred Heart Church is apparent not only in the namesake of the church but also in the stained-glass program.

For the vision described by Leo XIII is faithfully depicted in the central axial window in the apse (Fig. 48; window SH-9), “… the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, with a cross rising from it and shining forth with dazzling splendor amidst flames of love”256

Description of the Window Program

This section provides a description of the iconographic program of the stained-glass

windows of the Sacred Heart Church. Franz Mayer and Company created the eighteen

windows that still remain located within the church as originally intended by the

designer. Construction began in earnest in 1901 and was completed by the dedication

ceremonies on January 15, 1905, and so the windows were probably installed in 1904.

The windows were fabricated using pot-metal glass, a translucent glass that is

colored while in the molten state. Each single light window is placed within a vertical

opening topped by a round arch, and portrays a single figural scene occupying the main

254 Farnsworth et al., Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia, p. 182.

255 Pope Leo XIII, Annum Sacrum, May 25, 1899, http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/13annum.htm, Papal Encyclicals Online, http://www.papalencyclicals.net, accessed Jun 2004

256 Ibid.

section of the window.257 Each figural scene is topped by an architectural canopy

consisting of Gothic architectural framing elements painted with silver stain that extends

along the outer and lower edges of each window. The fictitious but realistic frames echo

architectural elements of the church itself, thus facilitating the visual integration of the

windows within their surrounding space. While serving as an integral element in the

overall pictorial composition, the framing device also results in the creation of a standardized and localized area from which each scene is enacted.

The South Nave

The first window (Fig. 49; window SH-1) encountered along the south nave illustrates the Jesuit saint, St. Stanislaus Kostka (1550-68). St. Stanislaus was born of a wealthy family in Poland, and later educated in Vienna by the first Jesuits to establish themselves in that city. Although always sickly as a child, at the age of seventeen he traveled to Rome and was received by St. Francis Borgia, friend and advisor of Ignatius

Loyola, into the Society of Jesus. However, only nine months after joining the order he died at the young age of eighteen. St. Stanislaus lived an exemplary religious life during which he experienced heavenly apparitions and visions. The saint is remembered for his purity that is symbolized by his emblem, the white lily, placed visibly in the foreground of the painting.258

This scene portrays St. Stanislas shortly before his impending death; the saint is

experiencing a vision in which he has invoked the assistance of his patron, St. Barbara.

He is located in his private chamber, dressed in the Jesuit habit, kneeling beside his bed

257 The only exception is the semicircular window located in the tympanum area above the central portal.

258 Metford, Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend, p. 42.

100

while grasping a Crucifix in his left hand. In a shower of divine light, St. Barbara

appears above him to administer Communion, and in accordance with tradition, is

assisted by two angels who present her attributes, a prison tower and the host and

chalice.259 St. Stanislas was canonized in 1726 and is one of the patron saints of Poland.

The following window illustrates St. Patrick (c. 390-c.461), credited as being the

first real apostle of Ireland who traveled there as a missionary where he founded the see

of Armagh (Fig. 50; window SH-2). He spent the rest of his life spreading the Christian

faith and is thus considered the patron saint of Ireland. In the narrative scene St. Patrick

Preaching in Ireland, the saint is easily identified standing prominently in the center of a

wooded clearing. He is depicted according to standard representations in the

seventeenth-century, wearing a full beard and a bishop’s bright red chasuble and mitre,

while converting the pagan King Loigaire and his entourage. St. Patrick exhibits his

emblem, the three-leaved shamrock, whose leaves are separated yet united in one stem, to

explain the mystery of the Trinity.260 Another attribute that follows St. Patrick’s

traditional iconography is the Paschal Fire burning in the foreground of the window.

This is the fire that he miraculously kindled on Easter Eve in order to confound King

Loigaire.261

St. Anne and St. Joachim Presenting Mary in the Temple (Fig. 51; window SH-3) is

depicted in the third window along the south nave, a narrative taken from the

Protevangelium of James. This book is considered one of the most important and

259 Ibid.

260 Ibid, p. 192.

261 Ibid.

101

influential of the apocryphal gospels from which the developed doctrines of Mariology

can be traced.262 In this scene Mary is represented as a young child, obedient to the

instructions of her parents as well as to the requirements of Mosaic law, ascending the

steps of the Temple in Jerusalem. She is greeted by the elderly priest Zacharias, who

after kissing and blessing her, said, “The Lord has magnified your name among all

generations; because of you the Lord at the end of days will reveal his redemption to the

sons of Israel.” 263 In accordance with the custom of offering the firstborn in early

infancy, the New Testament apocryphal literature describes Mary as being brought to the

Temple at the age of three. Although her presentation as an adolescent deviates from this

custom, ultimately the adherence to the Law is presented and serves as a visible symbol

of the Virgin’s consecration as the “chosen vessel” of Christ’s Incarnation.264

Just as Mary gained greater significance through infancy gospels in the apocryphal literature as opposed to the canonical Gospels, so did Joseph. As a counterpart to the many legends that developed around the figure of Mary, and probably inspired by the

Protevangelium of James, the Coptic fragment of the History of Joseph tells of his death265 that is illustrated in the fourth window along the south nave, The Death of St.

Joseph (Fig. 50; window SH-4). The story is narrated by Jesus who says “I sat at his

head, Mary at his feet.”

262 J.K. Elliott, The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), p. 48.

263 Ibid, p. 60.

264 James Hall, Dictionary of Subject and Symbols in Art (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1974), p. 252.

265 Elliott, The Apocryphal New Testament, p. 111.

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The window scene depicts a faithful rendering of this passage portraying the elderly

Joseph resting in bed, while being comforted by Jesus who is standing at his side. In

marked contrast to the advanced age of Joseph, the Virgin Mary retains her youthfulness

and kneels devotedly at his feet, her hands clasped in a gesture of piety. The sanctity of the moment is enhanced by the inclusion of three angels, one kneeling at Joseph’s side and two hovering above his head.

After the Council of Trent (1545-1563), the advocating of St. Joseph as patron of the dying became popular. During the Counter-Reformation, St. Joseph was considered as a companion who guided the dying through the last rite of passage, and scenes of St.

Joseph dying offered comfort to those about to experience the same fate.266 During the

late nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the Death of St. Joseph was a popular

subject for stained-glass windows, and as an image in Catholic homes as a focal point for

family and domestic devotions.267

The last window of the south nave, St. Dominic Receiving the Rosary from the

Virgin Mary (Fig. 53; window SH-5), portrays the Spaniard St. Dominic (1170-1221),

who was distinguished for his preaching and missionary work, as well as founding the

Friars Preachers, or Black Friars, so called after the color of their habit. In 1215 St.

Dominic received papal sanction for the foundation of the new order, the Dominicans,

and spent his last years building centers of learning whose members would be devoted to

study, teaching, and preaching as well as prayer. The Dominicans rapidly spread all over

266 Farnsworth et al., Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia, p. 198.

267 Ibid. A significant body of religious literature of the period attests to the prevalence of invoking Joseph as protector at the hour of death, the basis of which is set forth in a mid- nineteenth-century devotional manual, The Devout Client of St. Joseph.

103

Western Europe and became a pioneering missionary force in Asia and much later, the

Americas.268

The invention of the rosary was claimed for St. Dominic by early historians of the

Order, who related that the Virgin appeared to him in a vision and presented him with a

chaplet of beads that he called “Our Lady’s crown of roses.”269 St. Dominic encouraged

the use of the rosary as an aide to devotion for the illiterate, and is portrayed in the

window receiving the prayer beads from the Virgin Mary. Wearing the characteristic

white robe and black cope of the Dominican habit, which was adopted to recall the death

of St. Mary the Virgin,270 St. Dominic kneels in the lower left section of the painting looking upward toward the enthroned Virgin, as the Christ Child leans forward from His mother’s lap to place the beads in the saint’s hand. Fostered during the Counter-

Reformation of the sixteenth century, this scene depicting the vision of St. Dominic was a predominant theme of the rosary, found frequently in paintings completed for the

Dominican order.271

Transepts

Each transept wall is filled with three single light windows portraying a narrative scene that extends from the large central window across both of the smaller flanking windows. The iconography of the south and north transept windows function as a pair

268 James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects & Symbols in Art (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1974), p. 334.

269 David Hugh Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford University Press, 1992), p. 134. A key attribute of Dominic is the rosary which he was erroneously believed to have invented.

270 Metford, Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend, p. 86.

271 Ibid.

104

based upon their placement in the church; The Resurrection (Fig. 54; window SH-12),

located in the south transept wall, directly faces The Ascension (Fig. 53; window SH-6),

located in the opposing north transept wall. These coupled windows become more

clearly visible as the faithful move from the nave toward the sanctuary for participation in the Eucharist, and serve as powerful visual affirmations of Jesus’ divine status as the Son

of God.

The upper portion of the central window of The Resurrection on the north transept

is reserved for the figure of Christ who triumphantly rises from the tomb, carrying His

Resurrection staff, and Cross and banner, a sign of His victory over death.272 Directly

below Christ’s raised right hand, a heavenly angel kneels in the lower left area of the

window. The angel serves to visually meld the three windows that depict events taken

from two separate Scriptural accounts. The first is taken from Matthew who describes an

angel whose “countenance was as lightning … and for fear of him, the guards were struck

with terror and became as dead men” (Matthew 28:3-4). Both the central and flanking

right window depict the four Roman guards falling away in fright from the vision of the angel. However, the left flanking window portrays the account from the Gospel of Mark.

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome near the entrance of the tomb

as they carry containers of spices to anoint the lifeless body of Christ. The viewer anticipates the emotional encounter when the angel says to the women, “Be not affrighted

... he is risen: he is not here” (Mark 16:1-6).

The Ascension narrative located in the south transept is similar to The Resurrection scene in that it extends across three lights. The most detailed account of the Ascension is

272 Sill, A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art, p. 97.

105

from the Acts of the Apostles (1:9-12), where Luke describes Jesus as being “raised up:

and a cloud received him out of their sight.” As in the Resurrection depiction, Christ’s

figure occupies the upper half of the central window. Prominently displaying the wounds

from the Crucifixion on His hands and feet, He miraculously ascends in an aura of light

above the eleven apostles, who are scattered across the lower sections of all three

windows. While the apostles react with a variety of emotional gestures, the mother of

Christ maintains a stoic countenance. Although she is not mentioned in Scripture as

having been present at this event, following tradition she has been included and occupies

a central position in the composition, creating a direct vertical alignment to the risen

Christ. This arrangement symbolically represents the belief of the faithful in the Marian

role of Mediatrix, her unique prerogative as the mediator between the Creator and

mankind.

Apse

These two pivotal events taken from the last days of Christ’s earthly appearances

are contrasted with two narrative scenes taken from the beginning of His early earthly

existence. Flanking the central window in the polygonal apse, these images are The

Annunciation (Fig. 56; window SH-10) and The Adoration of the Shepherds (Fig. 57;

window SH-8), two scenes pertaining to the birth story as recorded in the Gospel of

Luke. The Annunciation window features the archangel Gabriel as he alights in Mary’s

bedchamber, carrying his attribute of the Annunciation, a scepter tipped with a lily.273

While hovering above Mary he announces that she shall “bring forth a son ... [and] he shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:31-32). A white

273 Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, p. 124.

106

dove floats above both Gabriel and Mary, symbolizing the sacred moment of the

Incarnation.

The infancy scene of the Nativity serves as a companion to the Annunciation and

portrays the account recorded in Luke 2:1-20. After having “brought forth her firstborn

son and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes” (Luke 2:7), Mary affectionately attends

the Child while Joseph and three shepherds gather closely around the crib. In the night

sky above are two angels singing of the “great joy that will be for all the people” and

carry a banner proclaiming “Gloria in Excelsis Deo”.

The central axial window of the apse portrays The Revelation of the Sacred Heart

of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (Fig. 58; window SH-9), an event that transpired

at the Visitation convent of Paray-le-Monial. Over a period of eighteen months between the years from 1673 to 1675, Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) experienced a series of visions of Christ during which she was commissioned to spread devotion to the

Sacred Heart, and to work for a special feast day in honor of the Sacred Heart.274 The mystery of the Heart of Jesus had started with the Fathers of the Church, and continued through the Middle Ages to the seventeenth century, but the liturgical and public phase of the Sacred Heart devotion received its greatest impetus from the revelations to St.

Margaret Mary.275

It was only after the vision to St. Margaret Mary that the iconography of the Sacred

Heart appears; it was popularly depicted with a wound, encircled by a crown of thorns

274 M.L. Lynn, “Margaret Mary Alacoque,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, p. 203.

275 Farnsworth et al., Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia, p. 182.

107

and a small cross above, the whole radiating light.276 The Sacred Heart of Jesus is

depicted according to this traditional description in the apse window. Jesus appears

before Margaret Mary suspended upon a cloud, His right hand directing her attention to

His heart, while blessing the saint with His left hand. St. Margaret Mary kneels before

Him with her arms flung open, enacting the love for Christ which the devotion proposes.

Jesus stands in front of the altar near the monstrance, revealing the Host that radiates with

rays of light, just as light emanates from the Sacred Heart. Through these images the

doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the consecrated bread and wine is explicitly

presented during the Eucharistic celebration, the central act of worship and sacrament of

the Christian Church.277

The historical and theological importance of the images portrayed in this window

scene warrant its central placement in the apse, and thus being the visual focus of the

sanctuary. The subject speaks not only to the namesake of the building, the Sacred Heart

Church, but also to the Society of Jesus which was instrumental in popularizing the devotion from the seventeenth century onward. The monogram of the Jesuits, IHC, is

boldly displayed in the architectural framing of the lower section of the window.278 The positioning of the window between The Annunciation and the Adoration of the

Shepherds narratives speaks to the Church’s veneration and adoration of “the incarnate

276 J.U. Morris, “Iconography of Sacred Heart,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, p. 493.

277 Metford, Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend, p. 210.

278 The Mayer signature appears at the bottom of this window, as well as the windows depicting the Coronation of the Virgin (SH-18), and Jesus Giving St. Peter the Keys to the Kingdom (SH-15).

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Word and His Heart which, out of love for men, He allowed to be pierced by our sins.”279

Because devotion to the Sacred Heart focuses attention on the physical heart of Jesus, and

is a special form of devotion to the Word Incarnate,280 its placement between the infancy

windows serves a theological function and augments its spiritual meaning.

The two flanking apse windows remaining to be discussed are St. Louis on Crusade

(Fig. 59; window SH-7), located to the right of The Adoration of the Shepherds, and St.

Ignatius Taking First Vows (Fig. 60; window SH-11), located to the left of The

Annunciation. King Louis IX (1214-70) is considered a model Christian king who was canonized soon after his death by Pope Boniface VIII in 1297. Louis was respected for his pious and virtuous lifestyle by his contemporaries who testify to his benevolence in almsgiving, in establishing monastic foundations, and in founding hospitals for the poor and sick. Louis is remembered for participating in two crusades although both expeditions resulted in disaster. The first was launched from Paris in 1248 with the king returning in 1254. Despite physical illness Louis insisted on launching a second crusade in 1270 that ended shortly thereafter with the king’s untimely death.

Easily identified by his full royal regalia, the King of France stands majestically underneath a canopy while dramatically taking the Cross, signaling his willing participation in the Seventh Crusade. His commitment to this cause is demonstrated by holding the Cross high above his head for all his soldiers to see. The men are gathered

around their leader, dressed in a variety of military garb, giving their allegiance to Louis

IX and to France. Like the central apse window devoted to the Sacred Heart, this

279 Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 703.

280 C.J. Moell, “Devotion to Sacred Heart,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, p. 490.

109 window has special meaning pertaining to the namesake of the church. The parish was originally named St. Louis in honor of Louis IX as well as to commemorate Father Luis

Cancer, the Dominican priest martyred in Tampa Bay in 1549.

Both the window of Louis IX and its opposite flanking window, St. Ignatius Loyola

Taking First Vows, are thematically related in that they both portray military soldiers devoted in their service to the Church. St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556), the founder and first general of the Society of Jesus was a distinguished Spanish military soldier.

Wounded while defending Pamplona against a French invasion, he was forced into a period of convalescence. During this time he read many devotional books that led him to devote himself to the service of Christ. After taking a degree from the University of

Paris, he banded with a small group of followers who on Ascension Day, August 15,

1534, arrived at the crypt of St. Denis at Montmartre to pledge themselves to service in the Church.281 Here they took their monastic vows of poverty and chastity, and solemnly promised to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. These seven men formed the nucleus of this new order that dedicated themselves to absolute obedience to the Pope and to promoting the Faith, particularly in education and in overseas missions. Formal establishment of the order came September 27, 1540, with the approval of Pope Paul III.

Although not yet a canonical religious order, this narrative scene portrays the seven men solemnly reading their vows before Christ, whose presence is represented in the

Eucharistic celebration. Peter Faber, the only ordained priest at this time, raises the Host while the young Ignatius reads the chapters of the rule, which he had authored while the

281 Manfred Barthel, The Jesuits: History and Legend of The Society of Jesus (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1984) pp. 32-34. The six members of the order included Peter Faber, Francis Xavier, Nicholas Boabdilla, Simon Rodriguez, Alfonso Salmeron, and Diego Lainez .

110 others participate silently with gestures of piety. All the members are dressed alike in the

Jesuit black habit, but focus is placed upon the figure of Ignatius. His body is substantially lighter in hue, thus clearly setting him apart visually from the rest.

Traditionally Ignatius is portrayed with a halo and with light emanating from his body, symbolic of the heavenly inspiration he received in compiling the Constitutions of the order and the famous Spiritual Exercises. Canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 12,

1622, St. Ignatius is the patron saint of the Society of Jesus, and of all soldiers.282

The North Nave

Turning away from the sanctuary and returning down the nave, discussion of the iconographic program continues with the five north nave windows. The Gospel of Luke

(2:46-50) records the story of The Finding in the Temple (Fig. 61; window SH-13) which is significant as the first recorded example of Christ’s teaching.283 Jesus is featured as a twelve-year old with his family in Jerusalem during the time of the Feast of the Passover.

After leaving Jerusalem to return to their home town of Nazareth, Mary and Joseph realized the young Jesus was not with them and so began looking for Him. In Jerusalem they “found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking questions” (Luke 2:46).

Although six Jewish scholars occupy the majority of space in the composition,

Jesus is clearly the focal point. He is centrally placed in front of an ornate high-backed throne that alludes to his divine and royal status; Jesus is intended to be seen as the legitimate heir to the Jewish patriarchy and priesthood. The teachers are positioned in a

282 Duchet-Suchaux and Pastoureau, The Bible and the Saints, p. 178.

283 Hall, p. 104.

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great variety of poses and exhibit assorted reactions to Jesus’ acclamations. A rich diversity is achieved through their splendid garments and Eastern head gear that lends

opulence to the setting. Mary and Joseph enter the interior space from the right, exhibiting astonishment as well at the event unfolding for “all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers” (Luke 2:47).

In the following window, Jesus Blessing the Children, Christ appears as a mature man already active in His public ministry (Fig. 62; window SH-14). He stands in the center of a lush garden setting surrounded by a variety of trees and bushes, blessing and touching children of all ages who gather around Him. Standing behind Jesus in the right area of the window, two disciples are partially visible, talking to each other and rebuking those who are gathered around their leader. In indignation Jesus said to the disciples,

“Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not ... and embracing them and laying his hands upon them, he blessed them” (Mark 10:14-16).

The apostle Simon Peter, the leader of the twelve apostles and one of the closest to

Christ, is featured in the next three north nave windows. Jesus Giving St. Peter the Keys to the Kingdom (Fig. 61; window SH-15) depicts two of the most important gospel texts bearing upon Peter’s authority in the early Church: Matthew 16:16-19 and John 21:15-19.

Illustrating the scene from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus stands with three apostles on a shallow rocky ledge while Peter kneels before Him with outstretched arms of acceptance.

Jesus raises his right arm in a gesture of authority as He hands two yellow keys to Peter,

one for heaven, the other for the earth, saying, “ … thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church … And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven”

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(Matthew 16:18-19). This mission to Peter demonstrated his exclusive position in the

Church and substantiated the primacy of the Pope as the apostle’s successor.284

The second important and specific reference to Peter is found in the Gospel of John

that records the appearance of Jesus for the third time to his apostles after his death.

After they had finished eating the bread and fish that Jesus miraculously provided, Jesus

said to Peter, “… lovest thou me more than these?” After Peter replied yes, Jesus said,

“Feed my sheep” (John 21:15). Twice more this question and answer was posed to Peter.

Significantly, two sheep share the foreground space of the composition with the apostle

Peter. This inclusion of the animals directly refers to the post-Resurrection charge to feed the sheep of Christ’s flock, a charge that further substantiated the unique mission given to Peter. The combined iconography of the keys and the sheep are symbolic of this pastoral office held by Peter as well as the other apostles that belong to the Church’s very foundation, and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope, Peter’s successor.285

The narrative source for the following nave window, Jesus Saving Peter from

Drowning, again emphasizes the special relationship between St. Peter and Christ (Fig.

64; window SH-16). After having sent the disciples by boat to cross the Sea of Galilee,

Jesus went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. During the evening He went out to

his disciples, miraculously walking on the water. The apostles are portrayed riding in a

small boat while a storm gathers around them. The Mayer artist has convincingly depicted the boat tossing due to the strong wind, with its sail billowing. According to

284 Metford, Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend, p. 196.

285 Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 254.

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Matthew (14:22-31), when the apostles saw Jesus walking toward them they cried out in

fear, but were comforted by Jesus who said, “Be of good heart. It is I. Fear ye not.”

After Peter stepped out of the boat to come toward Jesus, he became afraid and began to

sink, crying out, “Lord, save me.” Immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and took hold of Peter, and said to him, “O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?” This emotional encounter between Jesus and Peter is dramatized by their placement in the immediate foreground of the window. As Peter’s body slips into the dark water he extends both arms toward Christ. Stoically standing on the water surface, Jesus grasps the apostle’s hand while simultaneously commanding the winds to subside.

The rite of Baptism is the sacrament by which a person is received into the fellowship of the Church, and signifies the beginning of new life.286 A direct reference to

the sacrament of Baptism is symbolized through the inclusion of three white birds flying

in the sky. Symbolizing the Trinity, one holds a small fish in its beak while hovering

prominently over the head of Christ. According to the Great Commission, Christ

instructed his apostles to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the

name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (John 3:19). The fish has been

used since Early Christian art as a symbol for Christ, the fisher of souls, as well as for

Christians who were spoken of as fish because they lived in the waters of baptism.287

Furthermore, the fish is an attribute of St. Peter who was a fisherman.288

286 Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 354.

287 Metford, Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend, pp. 99-100.

288 Ibid.

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According to the narrative account Peter’s immersion in the water was the result of

his lack of faith (Matthew 14:31). Catholic doctrine states that Baptism is the sacrament

of faith and it is only within the faith of the Church that this is possible.289 Yet, the faith

for Baptism is not a perfect and mature faith, but one which must grow after Baptism.290

The symbolic presence of the Trinity along with Peter’s immersion in the water recalls

the rite of baptism that is symbolically joined with the mutually dependent act of faith.

These doctrines are also alluded to in Fig. 62 (window SH-14), Jesus Blessing the

Children, and are central to the Jesuit mission.

In both Fig. 63 (window SH-15) and Fig. 64 (SH-16), Peter is located in the same

foreground area in the compositional space, and is depicted in a similar profile stance.

These similarities allow the viewer to more quickly identify the apostle and the narrative

being enacted. However, the consistent treatment of his physical characteristics, such as

an older but vigorous man with short gray curly hair, a short curly beard, and wearing a

yellow cloak, also assist in his easy identification.291 These characteristics make Peter instantly recognizable in the last window of the nave, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

(Fig. 65; window SH-17).

This narrative is included in the Synoptic Gospels and describes Christ’s last

moments before his arrest in one of his favorite places, the garden of Gethsemane,

located on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. Jesus had asked the apostles to wait for

289 Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 351.

290 Ibid.

291 Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, p. 239. These iconographic features for Peter have remained remarkably constant in art, making him one of the most immediately recognizable of the apostles.

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Him while he prayed, but asked Peter, James, and John to accompany him a distance away from the others. After asking them to keep watch, Jesus walked a little father alone and prayed, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee: remove this chalice from me; but not what I will, but what thou wilt.” After returning to his apostles he found them sleeping, and addressing Peter, asked him to stay awake to watch and pray; he left and returned twice more, each time finding Peter and the others asleep (Mark 14:32-42).

The lightened figures of Christ and the three apostles stand in strong contrast to the darkened blues of the night sky, as does the towering olive tree and foliage of the garden.

Because the composition is divided into two parts the figures are better isolated according to their respective roles in the narrative drama, thus providing more direct communication with the viewer. The upper section portrays Christ kneeling upon a rocky ledge, intensely praying for deliverance while an angel appears before Him, holding the chalice of death. Peter, James, and John are huddled together in the lower section, their heads down-cast as they sleep soundly, unaware of the drama unfolding before them.

Just as Peter was singled out from the other apostles in the scriptural passage by being called upon by Jesus, he also is emphasized in the window by his central placement between James and John, and within the overall composition. His sword is accentuated by its alignment with the vertical axis of the window, and its use as a physical support for the sleeping apostle. Peter’s sword is also important as a reminder of his future encounter with Malachi and the tragic events that will soon transpire after Christ’s arrest. By again being portrayed with identical and consistent physical attributes, St. Peter is easily recognized, and just as in Fig. 63 (window SH-15) and Fig. 64 (SH-16), this unique individualization signifies his position of elevated importance among the apostles.

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The West Façade Window

The window above the central portal in the west façade portrays the Coronation

of the Virgin Mary (Fig. 66; window SH-18) and completes the program of stained-glass

at the Sacred Heart Church. Images of Mary crowned like an empress, or Maria Regina, was a Western conception originating in the 6th century.292 Although discussed by

prominent theologians and authorities throughout the history of the Church, this event was not recorded in the New Testament, and was deduced by allegorical interpretation of scriptural texts.293 The crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven, a theme more symbolic

than narrative, was not a frequent image until the Middle Ages when the cult of the

Virgin was at its height, and it was from the 15th century that the presence of the Trinity was depicted.

Mary’s corporeal reception into the heavens and her Coronation is depicted as a glorious and magnificent event. She assumes a posture of piety with hands crossed across her breast as she rises effortlessly, wearing a regal tunic embroidered in gold with the emblem of purity and virginity, the lily. Placed in a central position within the composition, she gazes directly toward the viewer while personifications of the Trinity surround her. Flanking figures of God the Father and God the Son simultaneously suspend a gold crown decorated with pearls above her head, over which the white dove of the Holy Spirit hovers. This window contributes to the overall prominence of the Virgin

Mary in the iconography of the stained-glass program, and also serves to display her

292 J. Lafontaine-Dosogne, “Iconography of Mary, Blessed Virgin,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, p. 274.

293 Pius IX instituted the liturgical feast proclaiming the Queenship of Mary (Ad Caeli Reginam) October 11, 1954, a Marian year, and repeatedly used this royal title when referring to her.

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elevated importance within the Church as the Mother of Jesus. Because this window is

placed above the central portal of the west façade, it is the last image seen by the faithful when exiting the building. Thus, a lasting reminder of the regal stature of Mary as Queen of Heaven is majestically pronounced.

The remaining stained-glass windows in the church are not included in this discussion since they were not produced by Franz Mayer and Company, and therefore not relevant to this study. These non-figural windows that are decorated with geometric forms are original to Sacred Heart Church and were placed at the completion of construction in 1905. However, no information exists to identify the studio. These windows include 2 tympanums in the west façade, 20 clerestory windows located in the nave, transepts and sacristies, and 2 small windows over each transept portal.

This chapter has demonstrated how the narrative scenes depicted in the 18 stained-glass windows were selected by the clergy in order to address the needs of the congregation of Sacred Heart Church. With the assistance of the Mayer designer, specific contemporary as well as historical theological issues were successfully portrayed. The intimate familiarity with Roman Catholic doctrine and ritual that is characteristically revealed through the work of Franz Mayer and Company is superbly displayed throughout the iconographic program at Sacred Heart Church.

CHAPTER 7 HISTORICAL, PHIILOSOPHICAL, AND GENERAL AESTHETIC INFLUENCES ON THE MUNICH STYLE OF FRANZ MAYER AND COMPANY

Introduction

This chapter examines the general stylistic characteristics of the Munich style developed by Franz Mayer and Company as evidenced in the programs of stained-glass windows located in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, and the

Sacred Heart Church, Tampa. In an effort to provide a more comprehensive understanding of this pictorial style, attention is devoted to the cultural milieu of the nineteenth-century with an examination of particular historical, philosophical, and aesthetic influences that came to bear upon development of the Munich style and its popularity with patrons. General stylistic characteristics from art historical sources are discussed that were incorporated by the Mayer artists and are evidenced in the general programs of stained-glass windows of both churches.

The Revival of Art in Germany in the Nineteenth-Century

Germany entered the nineteenth-century as a conglomeration of independent states, principalities, and courts, each with its own very individualized identity.294 Lacking a

central political and cultural focus, German intellectuals longed for a simple, but at the

same time prouder and more powerful Germany – the old medieval “Holy Roman Empire

294 William Vaughan, German Romantic Painting (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980), p. 1.

118 119

of the German Nation.”295 The greatness of Germany’s heroic past was found to reside in

the glory of the Middle Ages, a time seen as a mythical golden age when Europe was a

Christian country, and a time believed to have been the peak of Germany’s cultural

achievements. It was an idealized vision of a calm and stable life with the Church acting

as the common bond between men, when Germans had last felt themselves to be united

as a nation.296 The revival of interest in medievalism that was common throughout

Europe took a specific direction in Germany, becoming a symbol for unification.297

There was a general movement by writers and artists to recapture Germany’s

Gothic past that would provide a spiritual rallying point for renewal. The medieval revival in German art was in part a reaction to the political upheavals resulting from the embarrassing and humiliating French invasions under Napoleon, and to the general degenerate atheism and materialism of modern times.298 As part of this nationalistic

movement, special emphasis was placed upon the past and an increased awareness of the

need to defend this heritage. This resulted in a conscious desire to revive the Christian

spirit of the ‘age of faith’ and to revive Germany’s long-forgotten arts.

When Bavaria became a kingdom in 1806 with large new territories, Munich’s

artistic importance greatly increased under the patronage of King Ludwig I. Ludwig

remained an active patron of the arts until his death in 1868, and enlisted many artists to

295 Kermit S. and Kate H. Champa, German Painting of the Nineteenth Century (New Haven, MA: Yale University Art Gallery, 1970), p. 10.

296 Vaughan, German Romantic Painting, p. 12.

297 Ibid., p. 96.

298 Ibid., p. 2.

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decorate his new monumental streets and buildings.299 The king promoted an artistic revival in Munich that fostered the emergence of a number of German stained-glass studios, including Franz Mayer and Company. These studios were guided by the traditions set by the Royal Bavarian Glass-Painting Studio founded by Ludwig I in 1827.

With the goal of resurrecting the craft of monumental stained-glass painting, these glaziers looked to their Medieval and Renaissance artistic heritage as well as to contemporary sources to define the Munich style of stained-glass that characterizes their work.

Contemporary Theological Influences

The two programs of stained-glass in Jacksonville and Tampa portray not only the theological traditions of the Church, but also reflect contemporary Catholic doctrine resulting from papal pronouncements and encyclicals. The nineteenth-century witnessed a flowering of Marian studies filled with popular as well as official veneration of the

Virgin. Numerous Marian visions comprised one aspect of a general Catholic nineteenth- century fascination with Mary, such as those experienced at Lourdes (1858), La Salette

(1846), and Pontmain (1871).300 In 1846 the American Catholic hierarchy declared Mary

Immaculate the patroness of the United States, and in 1900 Our Lady of Guadalupe

became patroness of the Americas.301 Additionally, the newly established Notre Dame

299 Eberhard Ruhmer, “Ludwig I,” The Dictionary of Art, 1st edition.

300 Colleen McDannell, Material Christianity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995, pp. 136-7.

301 Ibid.

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University became a leading Catholic educational institution and a critical force behind

the American promotion of Marian devotions.302

As significant as these events were to the sustained growth of the Marian movement, devotion to Mary was also directly inspired by the official pronouncement of the Immaculate Conception. On December 8, 1854, in the presence of more than 200 bishops in St. Peter’s, Rome, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the Immaculate Conception as official dogma in his apostolic letter Ineffabilis Deus.303 Through this doctrine the pope

proclaimed that “the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception …

was preserved free from all stain of original sin.”304

The emphasis upon the unique holiness of the Blessed Virgin continued with Pius

IX’s successor, Pope Leo XIII. Leo XIII insisted on the dominant role of devotion in

faith and especially promoted an increased devotion to Mary. In his first encyclical

pertaining to the rosary, Supremi Apostolatus Officio, delivered September 1, 1883, the

entire month of October was decreed to be solemnly celebrated with special services as

302 Ibid. The founder of Notre Dame, Edward Sorin (1814-93), was a member of the newly formed French religious order of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. After being sent to America to establish a community, the bishop of Vincennes, Indiana, gave Sorin a section of land upon which he founded the school for boys in 1842. The key to the spread of Marian devotions from Notre Dame was the founding in 1865 of the journal Ave Maria which by 1897 had achieved a circulation of 22,000 and had become one of the most popular Catholic weeklies.

303 Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, Dec 8, 1854, http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pious09/p0ineff.htm, Papal Encyclicals Online, http://www.papalencyclicals.net, accessed Jun 2004.

304 Ibid.

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part of the devotion of the rosary.305 In the encyclical Diuturni Temporis, delivered

September 5, 1898, he described the Virgin as “the august Queen of Heaven … [whom

we] shall cherish and preserve inviolate, ever thanking her and proclaiming her

benefits.”306 Leo XIII’s influence on Mariology was significant throughout his tenure in

which he presented ten encyclicals promoting the rosary as a fitting method of venerating

the Virgin.

Devotion to the Virgin Mary and related papal pronouncements during the

pontificates of Popes Pius IX and Leo XIII were recognized and theologically understood

by Franz Mayer and Company. This is evidenced by the prominent role Mary is assigned in the two programs of stained-glass of this study. In the Church of the Immaculate

Conception, she is included in 10 of 25 windows, while at Sacred Heart Church she is

represented in 8 of 18 windows. In both churches, windows portraying Mary are placed

in key locations which serve to augment their intended theological meaning.

Additionally, each congregation must pass under her image when entering and exiting the

building. At the Church of the Immaculate Conception she is prominently displayed as the Immaculate Virgin, and at the Sacred Heart Church as the Queen of Heaven.

Previously mentioned in Chapters 4 and 5, additional nineteenth-century

encyclicals are also reflected and figure notably in the two stained-glass programs. The

last half of the century witnessed an increase in the devotion to the Sacred Heart,

305 Pope Leo XIII, Supremi Apostolatus Officio, Sep 1, 1883, http://papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/13supre.htm, Papal Encyclicals Online, http://www.papalencyclicals.net, accessed Jun 2004.

306 Pope Leo XIII, Diuturni Temporis, Sep 5, 1898, http://papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/13diutu.htm, Papal Encyclicals Online, www.papalencyclicals.net, accessed Jun 2004.

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encouraged through the extension of the Feast of the Sacred Heart to the Universal

Church in 1856 by Pope Pius IX, and Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Annum Sacrum of 1899 that proclaimed the consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart.307 Consequently, in

the Sacred Heart Church the central axial window of the apse displays the revelation of

the Sacred Heart made to St. Margaret Mary, and the devotional practice is venerated in

the namesake of the church. Furthermore, increased devotion to St. Joseph was fostered

by these same popes. Through the pronouncement Quemadmodum Deus in 1870, Pius

IX declared Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, and Leo IXXX issued the

encyclical Quamquam Pluries in 1889, declaring him as the guardian, protector, and

defender of the Church.308 Depicted in scenes accompanying Mary, Joseph also shares

an elevated role within the totality of the stained-glass programs.

The stained-glass programs in the two Florida churches illustrate a rich and extensive range of narrative scenes that exhibit an interesting iconography of popular subjects. These images reflect traditional as well as newly formulated dogma initiated by contemporary popes that had become widespread during the second half of the nineteenth-century. Franz Mayer and Company was in tune with their Catholic patrons and developed window designs to meet the renewed devotions to the Virgin Mary,

Joseph, and the Sacred Heart. This study will now continue to consider other contemporary philosophical influences that came to bear upon the development of the

Munich style of Franz Mayer and Company.

307 See Chapter 5, p. 7.

308 See Chapter 5, p. 6.

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Nineteenth-Century Philosophical Influences

Partly in response to the search for a cultural focus, the revival in the arts of

nineteenth-century Germany called for a return to the principles associated with the work

of two revered artists, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) and Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520).

This was a response which reflected contemporary philosophical ideas that encouraged a

reappraisal of the early masters and the establishment of a specifically Christian art.309

The writer Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder (1773-98) had great influence on his contemporaries through his seminal Herzensergiessungen eines kunstliebenden

Klosterbruders (Outpourings of an Art-Loving Friar), published anonymously in 1797.

These writings were instrumental in not only stimulating a revival of medieval art, but

also in demonstrating the spiritual nature of true art, and Wackenroder encouraged artists

to express deep and genuine religious feelings in their works.310 While emphasizing a

spiritual approach to art, Wackenroder also emphasized its devotional nature, and envisioned the role of the artist as priest, guiding the community towards piety and humility.311

Wackenroder praises Dürer as the embodiment of German art, for it was only

during the golden age of Dürer, “once the pride of Germany,” that “the Germans still

possessed a unique and firm national character.”312 Believing that the German character

309 Keith Andrews, The Nazarenes: A Brotherhood of German Painters in Rome (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964), p. 13.

310 Vaughan, German Romantic Painting, p. 163.

311Ibid, p. 164.

312 Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder and Ludwig Tieck, Outpourings of an Art-Loving Friar, translated by Edward Mornin (New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., Inc., 1975), p. 55.

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as well as German art had been lost during his time, Wackenroder saw Dürer as

personifying “the only time that Germany could boast of a true national art.”313

Additionally, Wackenroder considered the young Italian Raphael as “the brightest star in the heaven of art” and was held, along with Dürer, with particular awe.314

The most direct influence exerted by Outpourings of an Art-Loving Friar was in

the area of painting where its impact was intensified through the writings of Friedrich

Schlegel (1772-1829), the other key-figure with Wackenroder in the quest for a Christian

art.315 Schlegel was a philosopher and critic who wrote reviews of exhibitions which he

saw in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands in a magazine he edited, the Europa.316 In

his writings, Schlegel asserted that the only purpose of art was to extol religion, and he

called upon German painters to portray Christian subjects.317 Breaking with his own

previous views on art, Schlegel no longer examined works of art for their artistic worth

but judged them by their religious – specifically Catholic – content, and by their

nationalistic subject-matter.318

313 Ibid, p. 58.

314 Ibid, p. 6.

315 Ibid, p. xxiv.

316 Andrews, The Nazarenes, p. 16.

317 Wackenroder, Outpourings of an Art-Loving Friar, p. xxiv; Schlegel rejected the mature Raphael and later Italian artists as models, believing they had led to a decay in art. Instead, he recommended the younger Raphael and painters before him, and also promoted the ‘primitive’ or medieval German artists, such as Dürer.

318 Andrews, The Nazarenes, p. 17.

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The Heroic Past: Albrecht Dürer

Germany’s most celebrated artist, Dürer, is best known for introducing the classical

forms and ideas of the Italian Renaissance into Northern Europe. Dürer’s two journeys to

Italy, in 1494-95 and again in 1505-7, were central in his acquisition of detailed

knowledge for the exact rendering of nature, of illusionist perspective, and of a new

treatment of the human figure. Dürer’s discovery of nature and his attempts to reproduce

it faithfully, in a thoroughly lifelike manner, were among the crucial innovations that he

introduced into art.319 Rejecting the old formulas for trees and plants, Dürer was the first

to formulate the idea of referring to nature as the starting point of art and to put this

theory into practice.320 His conviction regarding the importance of acquiring a

knowledge and awareness of nature is stated in his Treatise on Proportion:

But life in nature manifests the truth of these things. Therefore observe it diligently, go by it and do not depart from nature arbitrarily, Imagining finding the better by thyself, for thous wouldst be misled. For, verily, art is embedded in nature; he who can extract it has it.321

Focusing his compositions on the three-dimensional figure, Dürer used architecture

and landscape to extend the pictorial space. The bold linear treatment of the figures and

architectural backgrounds of Dürer’s graphic works were clearly influenced by the work

of the engraver Martin Schongauer (c. 1450-1491).322 Schongauer’s engravings present figures that are no longer two-dimensional and linear, but sculpted forms created through

319 Peter Strieder, The Hidden Dürer, (Chicago: Rand McNally Co., 1978) p. 129.

320 Ibid.

321 Ibid.

322 Strieder, The Hidden Dürer, p. 50.

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light and shadow. Dürer acknowledged his debt to Schongauer frequently by borrowing

figures, themes, and whole compositions.323

During the first decades of the sixteenth-century a wealth of stained-glass was

produced fully equal to the best contemporary panel painting and graphics in Germany.324

A major influence on glass production was Albrecht Dürer, a pivotal figure in history

because his work marked an end to Germany’s long attachment to the monumental

simplicity of the Gothic style. Without rejecting the individualism of the northern

medieval tradition, Dürer’s painting and prints assimilated the objectivity and naturalism

of Italian art, and provided contemporary makers of stained-glass with designs in the new

spirit of the Renaissance.325

Dürer himself seems to have designed stained-glass throughout most of his career,

perhaps even while traveling as a journeyman.326 The immediate effects of Durer’s new

aesthetic for stained-glass can be seen in the workshops of Nuremberg and Cologne, the

two most prolific stained-glass centers in Germany at that time. His influence continued

to be exerted through the window designs of his pupils, as well as sixteenth-century windows throughout Europe which have been inspired by, or blatantly copied from, his

woodcuts and engravings.327 The indirect influence of Dürer through his paintings,

323 Charles Ilsley Minott, Martin Schongauer (New York: Collectors Editions Limited, 1971), p. 54.

324 Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg, (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986), p. 92.

325Lee, et al, Stained Glass, p. 136.

326 Barbara Butts and Lee Hendrix, Painting on Light: Drawings and Stained Glass in the Age of Dürer and Holbein (Los Angeles, CA: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2000), p. 84.

327 Lee, et al., Stained Glass, p. 136.

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woodcuts, and engravings inspired countless stained-glass windows and continued to be a

source of inspiration for stained-glass designs of the nineteenth-century.

Dürer’s designs and those of his students present saints and other figures with a

size and monumentality that had not been approached in stained-glass before.328 Flat, decorative backgrounds were replaced with convincing architectural settings and receding landscapes that mimic the three-dimensional naturalism of painting. The personalized characters that occupy these unified illusionist spaces assume a physical reality and interact with each other in a convincing manner, allowing the viewer to interact with the action taking place. The narrative scene now ignores the mullions and stretches across multiple lights, while the characters are portrayed with brilliant color and detail.

One of Dürer’s designs executed by the workshop of Veit Hirsvogel the Elder, the official glazier of Nuremberg, reveals the new pictorial realism that was achieved during the first few decades of the sixteenth-century in glass.329 The Annunciation (Fig. 67)

window located in the Tucher Museum, Nüremberg, portrays a young Virgin kneeling

before a devotional book as a majestic Archangel Gabriel approaches. Mary is

traditionally portrayed, surrounded by the conventional symbols of the white lilies and

Dove while assuming a modest posture. Both figures are adorned with opulent flowing fabrics, as is the three-dimensional domestic interior. A partially open back wall reveals an extended landscape in the distance with steeply rising hills. The emphasis on

328 Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg, p. 192.

329 Butts and Hendrix, Painting on Light, p. 114; See also Lee, et al., Stained Glass, p. 137; the design is attributed to Hans von Kulmbach, one of Dürer’s most famous pupils, whose designs were also adopted by the Hirsvogel workshop.

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draughtsmanship reflected in the bold linear treatment of the figures, the surroundings,

and the modeling of forms is reminiscent of the technique of woodcut and engraving.

Dürer’s new realism achieved by the imitation of the art of painting was possible not

through the assembling of individual pieces of glass by the glazier, but by the techniques

of the painter.

The glass commissions of Dürer and his students that were produced by various glass workshops portray the figures realistically within three-dimensional settings, creating the illusion of a stage on which the biblical scenes are reenacted. During the medieval period theatrical effects and stage designs used in miracle plays and sacred dramas frequently served as a source for imagery in stained-glass windows.330 Not only

were the stained-glass images used to inspire and instruct the faithful, but the images had

to be presented so that they were instantly recognizable, in accordance with iconographic traditions.

These general characteristics are Dürer’s legacy and were clearly adopted by the

Mayer artists as is evidenced in the stained-glass windows at the Church of the

Immaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart Church. The biblical scenes are boxed with a variety of sets, such as richly patterned tapestry hangings, architectural elements such

as arches and columns, or distant landscapes detailed with hills and trees. The figural types possess a personalized characterization that is consistently repeated throughout the program, allowing the viewer to intimately associate with their individualized roles.

These general characteristics of the Munich style are evident in many of the stained-glass

330 Lee, et al., Stained Glass, p. 26.

130 windows at both churches, and are especially noted in both of The Annunciation scenes

(Fig. 10 window IC-1A and Fig. 56; window SH-8).

The Idealism of Raphael and the Italian Renaissance

The pictorial realism found in the windows of the Church of the Immaculate

Conception and Sacred Heart Church reflects the German cultural roots of Dürer, but also reflects the southern influences of the Italian Renaissance. The technical advances of the

Renaissance revolutionized the pictorial realism achieved by Dürer and other northern artists, and also introduced a renewed interest in the classical works of antiquity. The search to find truth in nature was synthesized with canons of harmony and proportion wherein the idealized human form was placed. By studying the architectural and sculptural works of antiquity, Renaissance artists created masterpieces of disciplined form and idealized beauty.

It was the artist Raphael whose graceful works expressed the ideal of this style more than any other painter, and to whom later artists repeatedly turned for models of human beauty and spatial harmony. The altarpiece of The Coronation of the Virgin (Fig.

68), completed in 1503 and now located in the Vatican, illustrates Raphael’s skill in endowing figures with great expression as well as grouping multiple figures into a harmonious arrangement. The twelve disciples are portrayed with a variety of postures and facial expressions reflecting their religious piety. Their symmetrical placement is carefully poised, enabling them to interact with subtle and graceful gestures as they look upward at the miraculous event unfolding. The Franz Mayer and Company artists incorporated these aspects of Raphael’s art into their own Munich style.

The idealized Renaissance figural types that dramatize the narrative events portrayed in the windows at the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Sacred

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Heart Church directly recall those created by Raphael. Sharing compositional similarities with The Coronation of the Virgin by Raphael, The Ascension scenes (Fig. 30 window

IC-15B and Fig. 55; window SH-6) also contain multiple figures arranged symmetrically around a central focal point. Similar to those painted by Raphael, the disciples in the windows wear full and flowing garments that are carefully delineated and modeled, resulting in the figures possessing a convincing weight and presence. Each figure is painted with bright colors that provide a clarity as well as variety to the overall arrangement. The carefully arranged and posed figures possess an expressive calmness, and interact with elegant gestures which exhibit their deep devotion. Although great variety is achieved in the various postures and facial types, a Raphaelesque gracefulness and reverence is shared by all of the figures which enhances the sacredness of the scene.

The Nazarenes

The emphasis on contour, clarity of design, and pure color seen in Raphael became the hallmark of a nineteenth-century group of German students at the Viennese Academy.

Rejecting what they perceived as the superficial art of the Academy, they formally founded in 1809 the Lukasbund or the Brotherhood of St. Luke. Their choosing of St.

Luke, the patron saint of the medieval artists’ guilds, reveals the religious nature of the group. Composed of six students, two of the chief members expressed their goals: Franz

Pforr (1788-1812) wanted “to induce meditation through pious objects,” while Johann

Friedrich Overbeck (1789-1869) saw a union of the Ideal and of Nature solely in

Christianity, in the “tradition of the church…as revealed in the holy scriptures and in the living church.”331

331 Andrews, The Nazarenes, p. 21.

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Wishing to put their ideals into practice, the group moved to Rome in 1810, and

after only a few months moved into the empty monastery of S. Isidoro, following the

spirit of Wackenroder’s monastic ideal.332 Because these painters emphasized a Catholic

vision by following a monastic way of life, wearing wide cloaks and long hair, they

provoked the nickname ‘The Nazarenes” from critics.333 The painters were not searching

for the classical antiquities of Rome, but for the churches and devotional images which

would lead them to truth and a spiritual renewal.334 By rediscovering the earlier Masters

of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance periods in which they believed the ideal and the natural had been reconciled, the Nazarenes endeavored to rediscover the methods of work

and way of life of past ages.335

In pursuing their ideal life of monastic solitude, the Brothers were consciously

attempting to revive quattrocento art and life in the Romantic tradition of Wackenroder’s

Outpourings from the Heart of an Art-Loving Friar and the writings of Schlegel.336 In line with the views of Wackenroder and Schlegel, the Nazarenes followed a spiritual approach to art in an attempt to renew Christian artistic traditions, ideally resulting in an awakened religious awareness for the viewer. Their concerns were primarily moral and religious, and they looked for inspiration in the spiritual content of late-medieval northern

332 Robert E. McVaugh, “The Nazarenes,” The Dictionary of Art, 1st edition.

333 Andrews, The Nazarenes, p. 29.

334 Ibid., p. 23.

335 Lucius Grisebach, “German Painters in Rome,” Apollo 102 (December 1975), p. 464.

336 Mitchell Benjamin Frank, German Romantic Painting Redefined: Nazarene Tradition and the Narrative of Romanticism (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2001), p. 13.

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painting and in the idealized forms of the Italian Renaissance, especially Raphael.337

The Nazarene school of painting was “without question the most significant influence for

German nineteenth-century glass.”338

Friedrich Overbeck was considered within the Brotherhood of St. Luke as “the

priest of the group”339 and its leader as well as its major source of inspiration.340 Deeply committed to his views on the religious mission of art and its moral purpose, Overbeck’s oeuvre emphasizes Christian messages in order to record the dogma of the Catholic

Church. Overbeck and the Nazarenes produced narrative scenes of Catholic sentiment merged with idealized Renaissance sweetness. Their designs emphasized the importance of line and clear, glowing color which strengthened and defined their figural compositions.

Overbeck’s familiarity with early Italian art and the frescoes of Raphael in the

Vatican is demonstrated in his painting dated 1826, Christ Blessing the Children (Fig.

69). The composition is rationally organized horizontally into three zones: the background, the middleground, and the foreground that is divided vertically into three carefully delineated distinct groups of people. The natural landscape contains

Renaissance perspective techniques that create a convincing gradual recession of space, and serves as a backdrop for the bright and clearly defined figures in the foreground. The children are seated and kneeling in pious postures around the central figure of Christ

337 Farnsworth et al, Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia, p. 137.

338 Virginia Raguin, “Revivals, Revivalists, and Architectural Stained Glass,” Journal SAH 49 (Sep 19901), p. 323.

339 Frank, German Romantic Painting Redefined, p. 59.

340 Andrews, The Nazarenes, p. 26.

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while He bestows His blessing upon them. Flanking the children are their mothers who

also assume pious and attentive stances as they witness the event unfolding. The

maternal figures and their children stylistically recall those found in Raphael’s The Mass

of Bolsena (Fig. 70) located in the Stanza d’Eliodoro, and assume a Raphaelesque appearance through their gently idealized postures, graceful gesturing, and harmonious coloring, characteristics also shared by Nazarene painting. These elements also became part of the Franz Mayer and Company’s Munich style.

The popular nineteenth-century scene of Jesus Blessing the Children is included in the programs of stained-glass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Sacred

Heart Church (Fig. 18; window IC-9 and Fig. 62; window SH-14). Figural types similar to those appearing in Overbeck’s Jesus Blessing the Children are easily recognized in

both windows. Devoted mothers carefully attend to their small children who direct all

attention to the central figure of Jesus. The personal and emotional characterizations of the characters portrayed in these scenes consistently appear throughout the programs of glass, and share general stylistic characteristics with Nazarene painting. A characteristic seen in the work of Overbeck, as well as the work of other members of the Brotherhood, is the pious simplicity in which the religious figures are portrayed. They appear extremely modest and humble not only due to their physical expressions, but also owing to their clothing. They wear very simple and plain fabric that drapes their bodies unpretentiously, without adornment or embellishment.

In the two programs of stained-glass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart Church, the general simplicity of Nazarene settings and figural types are more noticeable in the narrative scenes that take place outdoors, as opposed to

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interior scenes. The general stylistic elements for landscape used in Nazarene paintings

are also present in the Mayer windows, such as palm trees, medieval or biblical

cityscapes in the distance, pale blue or purple mountains silhouetted against the horizon

line, with the far background occupying approximately the upper one-third of the picture plane. Although a sense of richness is always cast upon religious figures, anonymous figures that make up the crowds are common and plain, but always portray deep devotion.341

However, in contrast to the simplicity of exterior scenes a general characteristic of

the windows in the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart Church

depicting interior scenes is the use of profuse architectural detailing in the plush

surroundings, and the rich fabrics and ornamentation that are used to accentuate the

figures. The luxurious use of color, pattern and meticulous detail is a particular

characteristic of the Franz Mayer and Company. The richness of clothing, accessories,

and surface ornamentation in general lends a dignified sense of royalty to any scene, no

matter how humble, and creates a visual wonder for the viewer.

The Pre-Raphaelites

An additional source of possible stylistic influences upon the windows at

Immaculate Conception Church suggests itself particularly in interior scenes. The Mayer

designer fills the rooms with meticulous details found in the furnishings, floor coverings,

curtains, architectural surroundings, and various other objects. The rooms seem to

341 Harrison, Victorian Stained Glass, p. 35; During the 1840s prints of Nazarene works began entering England and, due to the linear nature of the engravings, were easily transposed into the medium of stained glass. The most influential figure was Overbeck who’s popular Christ Blessing the Children was adapted by a number of firms who favored the pictorial style.

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overflow with a visual variety of contrasts in color, texture, and shape. Since this

characteristic is not to be found in the work of the Nazarenes, this study suggests that the

Mayer designer drew heavily from English Pre-Raphaelite painting for interior visual

images.

As we have seen previously, Franz Mayer and Company employed British artists

whom the company credits as being instrumental in forging aspects of their distinct

style.342 One important British artist who left England to work for the Franz Mayer and

Company in 1894 was William Francis Dixon, whose work reflects his acquaintance with

Pre-Raphaelite artists.343 Although the Pre-Raphaelites disbanded as an organized group

after only four years, these artists set in motion an artistic revolution that was to have

momentous consequences on English art until the end of the nineteenth-century, and even

continued well into the twentieth-century.344

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was initially formed in 1848 as a secret society

known only to its members: Dante Gabriel Rosetti (18281882), William Holman Hunt

(1827-1910), and John Everett Millais (1829-1896). These three central members were students at The Royal Academy, and were united in their rejection of Academic standards and certain nineteenth-century artistic practices. They were similar to the Nazarenes in

342 Handbook: Franz Mayer of Munich, p. 22: “… and with the help of best English stained glass painters, Mayer and Zettler had developed the famous ‘Munich Style,’ [and] had made ‘Munich Glass’ the name in ecclesiastical stained glass …”

343 Harrison, Victorian Stained Glass, p. 61; Haward, Nineteenth Century Suffolk Stained Glass, p. 157.

344 Christopher Wood, The Pre-Raphaelites (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1981), p. 9.

137 that both groups held that art had strayed from the path of truth and sincerity, and that the era before Raphael held the key to a revival of contemporary art.345

‘Truth’ was the central precept for both groups, but their interpretation of truth varied. To the Nazarenes, truth was only to be derived from the Christian heritage. For the Pre-Raphaelites, truth was the avoidance of any preconceived formulas and instead, they strove to intently examine and portray nature.346 For the Pre-Raphaelites, the idealized world of the Nazarenes had no place. However, the Nazarenes did contribute to the nineteenth-century revival of interest in Early Italian art which the Pre-Raphaelites shared. Nazarene art served most significantly as a model of a simple, humble approach to art, sincere and unpretentious, which the Pre-Raphaelites hoped to rediscover for their own time.347

When the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was formed, the Gothic revival and associated interests pertaining to the Middle Ages was already well underway in England.

As in Germany, Victorian medievalists were searching for a spiritual meaning that seemed to be missing in everyday life. Partly as a reaction against the harsh and dreary realities of materialism fostered by the Industrial Revolution, the medieval past seemed to hold what was pure and noble.

Medieval themes and subjects abound in Pre-Raphaelite art. The Pre-Raphaelites’ study of medieval art helped shape their original aims, such as the blending of spirituality

345 Andrews, The Nazarenes, pp. 78-79.

346 Ibid., p. 80.

347 James Gallant, The Influence of Late Medieval Art on the Pre-Raphaelites (Storrs, CT: The University of Connecticut, 1988), p. 76.

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and naturalism, and the concern for ornament and color.348 Perhaps the most outstanding characteristic of Pre-Raphaelite work was the radical use of color that reintroduced into painting, ranges and relations of color unused in European art since the Middle Ages.349

Pure colors and their juxtaposition became a powerful means for emotional effect.

In England, an inherent part of the Gothic Revival was an interest in early German art.350 The Pre-Raphaelites had contact with a variety of early Northern European sources which influenced their stylistic development, especially the use of luminous color

and meticulous attention to detail. Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Wedding Portrait (Fig. 71),

completed in 1434, had been acquired by the National Gallery of Art in London in 1843,

which the entire Pre-Ralphaelite circle undoubtedly knew.351 When the painting first

went on display it was praised in the press for its imitative qualities, similar to remarks

that would be made about the Pre-Ralphaeites a decade or so later: “The various traceries,

the border-and-scroll work, the enriched minor details of the room, seem to be

daguerreotyped rather than painted, such is their extreme fineness and precision.”352

As students at the Royal Academy in the 1840s, Hunt and Millais studied the

German masters in the Print Room of the British Museum, and had a special affection for

Dürer; Rossetti repeatedly turned to Dürer as “one of the richest sources of quaint

348 Ibid., p. 3.

349 Raymond Watkinson, Pre-Raphaelite Art and Design (London: Trefoil Publicatoins, 1970), p. 6.

350 John Christian, “Early German Sources for Pre-Raphaelite Designs,” The Art Quarterly 36 (Summer 1973), p. 56.

351 Jane Langley, “Pre-Raphaelites or ante-Dürites?” The Burlington Magazine 37 (August 1995), p. 505.

352 Ibid., p. 502.

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medieval detail.”353 John Ruskin, one of England’s leading art critics who highly

defended the Pre-Raphaelites, was buying prints by Dürer on an extravagant scale and

incorporated them as a crucial part of his teaching program for students.354 Ruskin was

also an avid collector of medieval illuminated manuscripts, and used them as illustrations

for his lectures and essays on color, ornament, and style.355

The Pre-Raphaelites’ study of medieval manuscripts began in the British Museum

which at that time owned many famous illuminated manuscripts, with an especially large

holding of fifteenth-century manuscripts.356 Besides the collections held by Ruskin and the British Museum, the Pre-Raphaelites also freely used as a resource Henry Shaw’s

Dresses and Decoration of the Middle Ages, published in 1843, which contains

illustrations of illuminated manuscripts, as well as early Flemish paintings, and works by

Schongauer and Dürer.357 Most of the Pre-Raphaelites were acquainted with medieval

manuscripts, and their use of luminous color, rich surface pattern, and love for

ornamentation suggest the art of illumination as an additional stylistic source.

The decorative nature of Pre-Raphaelite painting is obvious in The Last Day in the Old Home, painted by Robert Braithwaite Martineau in 1861 (Fig. 72). Martineau was a close friend and pupil of Hunt, and both shared an interest in portraying a modern-

353 Christian, “Early German sources for Pre-Raphaelite Designs,” pp. 56, 62.

354 Ibid., pp. 60-61. Christian describes how Ruskin used Dürer’s engravings for his pupils at the Working Men’s College as a study source, and his textbook for young artists, The Elements of Drawing, 1857, abounds in references to Dürer.

355 Gallant, The Influence of Late Medieval Art on the Pre-Raphaelites, p. 98.

356 Ibid., p. 98.

357 Christian, “Early German Sources for Pre-Raphaelite Designs,” p. 56.

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life scene with a moral message.358 This painting portrays an artistocratic family that is

forced to vacate their ancestral home that had been lost due to the young man’s excessive

gambling. Medieval motifs can be found in the decorative objects placed around the

room, such as the pieces of armor, stained-glass, a carved Gothic crucifix, and the

luxurious fabrics hanging on the back wall and window. The jewel-tone colors enliven

the scene with visual interest. The complex tapestry pattern covering the floor is

composed of rich reds, blues, and greens that are repeated in the variety of objects that fill

the room. The striking juxtapostion of the woman’s red clothing and the green chair, the

intricate carving of the wooden furniture, the reflective nature of the armor positioned along the back wall created by the light entering the window on the left, and the various objects scattered along the floor are remindful of the Arnolfini portrait’s more memorable details. In both works the multitude of objects have an intended purpose and are symbolically significant.

Martineau has created an interior where space is at a premium, a Victorian room overflowing with decorative elements. This concern for enclosure and confinement can be seen in many Pre-Raphaelite paintings, and is also characteristic of Franz Mayer and

Company’s Munich style that is evident in the windows portraying interior scenes at both the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart Church. For example, no rooms could be more ornately decorated than those created by the Mayer artists for The

Annunciation scenes (Fig. 10; window IC-1A and Fig. 56; window SH-8), where all available space is overflowing with objects of intense color, creating a complex composite of pattern and texture but yet full of symbolic meaning. Although each

358 Wood, The Pre-Raphaelites, p. 72.

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stained-glass scene contains differentiating and unique elements, there are notable

compositional and stylistic similarities.

In both examples the Archangel Gabriel wears an opulent robe and brocade mantle

with magnificent wings extending behind. The Virgin is dressed symbolically in a white

gown embroidered with gold patterning, and a brilliantly colored robe which is

illuminated by radiating tones of blue. A luxurious red carpet covers the tiled floor, while ornate tapestry hangings decorate the back wall. Additional decorative furnishings of a Victorian interior, such as those illustrated in Martineau’s painting, are further suggested by the intricately carved wooden furniture and architectural detailing behind the figures. In both the Pre-Raphaelite painting and the Mayer stained-glass scenes, the characters are boldly positioned in the immediate foreground space, thus presenting the figures directly to the viewer to heighten the instructional value.

Summary of the General Stylistic Influences Evident in the Stained Glass-Windows in the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart Church

This discussion so far has included a general description of various attitudes and

influences which merged together during the nineteenth-century to produce the general

stylistic characteristics evident in the Munich style developed by Franz Mayer and

Company, as seen in the program of stained-glass windows in the Church of the

Immaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart Church. To summarize, these stylistic

characteristics developed in Germany during a time when strong nationalistic and

religious feelings became a part of a conscious desire to create a unified identity. This

sense of unity was found in the Middle Ages, a period that reminded Germans of their

great heroic past when Christianity provided a common bond. This desire to revive the

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Christian spirit of the ‘age of faith’ became a rallying point for German unification, and

served as a foundation for a revival in the arts as well.

The intense devotion shown to Dürer and Raphael can be attributed to the

influential writings of Wackenroder and Schlegel, who encouraged an appreciation of

these early masters as a starting point in the establishment of a specifically Christian art.

The works of these two painters were held as the supreme models to follow, works that contained the vision and guidance for which German artists were searching.

The religiosity of this era is reflected in the Nazarene school of painting that centered on a spiritual approach to art, and attempted to renew Christian artistic traditions. The Nazarenes were the most significant influence on the development of

German nineteenth-century stained glass. In developing a Christian art to serve the spiritual needs of their patrons, the Nazarenes looked to the graphic works of German

craftsmen, such as Dürer and Schongauer, and to Italian painters of the Renaissance, such

as Raphael. The Mayer designer of the windows of the Church of the Immaculate

Conception looked to the pictorial style of Nazarene painting for stylistic elements that

were integrated into his stained-glass designs. These include idealized figural types that

are consistently presented with personalized characterization and iconographic

symbolism. Clarity of design is achieved through a precise linear contouring of the figures who assume controlled and graceful poses. The harmonious and symmetrical figural groupings are placed within three-dimensional architectural, and natural surroundings depicting a dramatic event in rich narrative detail.

British influences from the nineteenth-century Pre-Raphaelites were also suggested.

As in Germany, Victorians were searching for a religious renewal, looking to the

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medieval past for inspiration. The Pre-Raphaelites shared an interest in early German and Italian art, especially the simple, imitative qualities of nature that this art expressed, that they merged with their own personal modern views. Although sharing some affinities with the Nazarenes, the Pre-Raphaelite fondness for luminous color, rich surface pattern, and detailed ornamentation sets them stylistically apart. Because Franz

Mayer and Company employed British artists during the last half of the century when

Pre-Raphaelitism was prevalent; their artistic movement has been suggested as an

additional artistic influence found in the program of windows at the Church of the

Immaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart Church. Pre-Raphaelite characteristics are

especially noted in interior scenes which overflow with ornamentation and complex

patterns of texture and color.

By integrating general characteristics of the German Nazarenes with the experience

and talent of British Pre-Raphaelite glass painters, Franz Mayer and Company developed

a unique Munich style and achieved a prominent and leading position as a provider for

ecclesiastical glass in the United States.

American Receptiveness to the Munich Style

In the United States during the nineteenth-century, religious congregations

frequently turned to American craftsmen for windows of purely ornamental design, such

as those consisting of geometric patterns or floral motifs. However, foreign studios were

the first choice for windows depicting the human figure since these designs were believed

to demonstrate “good drawing skills” during a time when a premium was placed on academic draftsmanship.359 A review of patterns of patronage and written opinion during

359 Jean M. Farnsworth, “An American Bias for Foreign Stained Glass,” Nineteenth Century 17 (Fall 1997), p. 15.

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the nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries indicates that there was a bias in this country for foreign-made stained glass.360 Thus, those glassmakers working in the Munich style

enjoyed great success; the larger German firms such as Franz Mayer and Company and

Zettler, whose businesses came to be joined at one point, experienced extraordinary success in Germany as well as the United States. Franz Mayer and Company’s windows are prolific in American Catholic churches, and their commissions include over seventy- six cathedrals, twenty-six of them in this country.361

The Church of the Immaculate Conception in Jacksonville and the Sacred Heart

Church in Tampa, dedicated in 1910 and 1905 respectively, hold the honor of being the

earliest Catholic congregations in their particular areas. Not only were both churches constructed within the first decade of the twentieth-century, but both were also established under the Diocese of St. Augustine and are located in close proximity to each other in north-central Florida. As new and developing urban institutions, the cities of

Jacksonville and Tampa experienced considerable growth in population resulting in the much-needed construction of the new church buildings.362

360 Ibid; The author notes that by the 1870s, there are numerous occasions when congregations replaced their American-made stained glass windows with those from European firms. See also, Edward Lapotka, “The Crux of the Situation,” The Ornamental Glass Bulletin 13 (February, 1919):8-10.

361 Raguin, Stained Glass, p. 209.

362 See James B. Crooks, Jacksonville After the Fire, 1901-1919 (Jacksonville, FL: University of North Florida Press, 1991), pp. 10-15. Jacksonville had grown from a small, predominantly resort community in the 1870s to Florida’s major metropolis by the turn of the century, with 28, 429 residents. See also Karl H. Grismer, Tampa: A History of the City of Tampa and the Tampa Bay Region of Florida (St. Petersburg, FL: The St. Petersburg Printing Company, Inc., 1950), p. 190. From 1880 to 1890 Tampa’s population expanded from 720 to 5,532; by the turn of the century the Florida census reported the population had soared to 15,839, making Tampa the fastest growing city in Florida.

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These newly constructed churches serviced the religious needs of the growing working populations rapidly moving into Florida at the beginning of the new century, while their programs of stained glass appealed directly to Catholic sensibilities while functioning as a repertoire of religious instruction. A parish which commissioned windows from Franz Mayer and Company could be assured that they would be provided with a meaningful and appropriate iconographic program of windows consistent with

Roman Catholic doctrine. Mayer artists were extraordinarily gifted in creating narrative scenes that clearly presented the liturgical traditions, sacraments, and articles of faith of the Church. Furthermore, the Mayer artists were also knowledgeable of legends and characters from the homelands of the various immigrant parishes, and were able to portray them when needed by a particular congregation.363

The vast majority of nineteenth and early twentieth-century Mayer windows exported to the United States is in the Munich pictorial style.364 The success of Franz

Mayer and Company directly resulted from their being able to meet the needs of their patrons. Expertly-crafted narrative scenes filled with carefully modeled and idealized forms, placed within well-defined three-dimensional spaces, provided a high quality pictorial realism that satisfied the tastes of the patrons. Numerous prestigious titles and commissions awarded the Franz Mayer and Company, including an official endorsement by the Church in Rome, further enhanced their reputation and popularity with Catholic patrons.365

363 Farnsworth et al., Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia, p. 140.

364 Ibid, p. 442.

365 See Chapter 1, p. 18; In 1892 the Franz Mayer and Company was awarded the prestigious title “Pontifical Institute of Christian Art.”

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The Mayer studio often incorporated imagery from Great Master paintings as well

as compositions borrowed from nineteenth-century artists, a standard practice in public

decorative work of the era.366 These designs were frequently adapted from originals by

Renaissance masters during the first half of the nineteenth-century.367 This practice

continued into the early part of the twentieth-century with designers looking to books of

reproductions of religious paintings and prints as visual sources.368 Familiarity with these

“master works” provided a sense of nostalgia and comfort for the patrons that heightened the appeal and attraction to the Franz Mayer and Company. In addition, the predictable rendering of these figural compositions resulted in Mayer windows sharing strong similarities despite the difference in location,369 resulting in further reassurance to the

American buyer.

This success is appreciated when viewing the programs implemented by Franz

Mayer and Company at the Church of the Immaculate Conception and Sacred Heart

Church. Because each set of original windows was placed as a group simultaneously and

can be seen in the exact setting for which it was intended, each church offers an exciting

opportunity to experience the original artistic intent of the designer. And because of the

366 Raguin, Stained Glass, p. 209.

367 Harrison, Victorian Stained Glass, p. 17.

368 Brown, “The Influence of German Religious Stained Glass in Canada,” p. 26.

369 Ibid.

147 visual coherence of the entire program of windows in the church surroundings, it is suggested that the Franz Mayer and Company utilized a single Master designer who oversaw the planning of each commission in its entirety.

CHAPTER 8 STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF SPECIFIC WINDOWS IN THE CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Introduction

This chapter consists of a visual examination of 10 of 31 windows at the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Visual comparisons are drawn between the subjects portrayed in these windows and specific historical and contemporary works of art for the purpose of suggesting possible compositional and stylistic sources used by the Mayer designer.

The Annunciation

The stained-glass window of The Annunciation (Fig. 10; window IC-1A) portrays the Archangel Gabriel appearing before the Virgin to announce that she will become the mother of Christ. The scene takes place in an ornately decorated room, with Mary surrounded by sumptuous hanging curtains and furnishings that compositionally serve to restrict the boundaries of the interior space. A centrally placed rounded stone arch opens the rear wall, revealing the illusionist recession of space. Mary occupies the lower right section of the window, kneeling upon a tasseled cushion before an intricately carved priedieu. This first window introduces the Virgin wearing a white tunic and a jewel- toned blue mantle which she wears throughout the remainder of the narrative program, thus serving to visually identify her personage. Indicative of her youthfulness, her long hair flows freely down her back while a golden nimbus filled with white stars symbolizes her state of grace. With arms folded lightly across her breast she willfully accepts the

148 149 message brought by the Archangel Gabriel. Appearing in the upper left corner, Gabriel is richly dressed in a white and gold tunic and a brilliantly patterned red mantle, with beautifully feathered golden wings extending outward. His right hand is raised in a gesture of blessing toward the Virgin, while his left hand bears a slender golden staff topped with a lily. Above the Archangel Gabriel the white Dove of the Holy Spirit, encircled by rays of golden light, issues forth diagonal rays of blue light which rest directly above Mary’s head, symbolizing the exact moment of the Incarnation. The upper right section of the window is filled by a golden canopy portraying a statue of King

David and an angel, both figures playing harps. A blue and purple vase filled with white lilies rests in the lower left foreground, and a single yellow rose lies upon the red carpet.

The scene at Immaculate Conception is modeled after traditional interpretations of the Annunciation in that the Virgin is placed in a domestic setting. In this respect, the engraving of The Annunciation, c. 1475 by Martin Schongauer (Fig. 73), is unusual. It portrays the Virgin in a somewhat ambiguous setting, appearing to be a low-walled terrace. Nevertheless, Schongauer’s Annunciation does contain specific elements comparable to the window scene, beginning with the general placement of key elements within the composition. In the Schongauer engraving the Virgin kneels in the lower right area, the Archangel Gabriel is in the upper left, and the rounded canopy occupies the vertical space along the upper right edge of the composition. Additionally, the source of the Incarnation emanates from God the Father in the upper left space directly above

Gabriel’s head, with rays falling diagonally upon the Dove and the Virgin Mary. An almost identical compositional arrangement of these important aspects of the story is reflected in the Mayer window. Schongauer uses the horizontal terrace as a device to

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define the foreground area where the Virgin and Gabriel are located, providing a closed

and intimate space that allows the viewer to focus on the Divine act unfolding. The

horizontal green curtain hanging behind Mary, visually reinforced by the stone ledge

extending behind it, serves a similar purpose in the window.

The Schongauer engraving doesn’t portray a bed as is usually expected, but

instead places a canopy and a stool behind Mary. These objects serve as royal items symbolic of the Virgin’s regal role which is being revealed by Gabriel.370 This throne-

like setting is reinforced by the carpet upon which Mary kneels. A similar relationship

can be seen when viewing the window, for Mary also kneels upon a carpet that is before

not a bed, but a carved gothic canopy whose basic form resembles that in the Schongauer

print. A prominent statue of King David stands underneath the canopy symbolizing the royal lineage of Mary, thus announcing her elevated status. A banderole above David’s head is symbolic of this proclamation, and recalls the banderole attached to Gabriel’s staff in the engraving. The banner draped over the edge of the priedieu is embroidered with the final Greek letter of the alphabet, recalling, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end” (Revelations 1:8). Painted purple, the banner further symbolically supports the regal nature of the setting. The color purple is repeated on the vase containing white lilies, and the prominent placement of the flowers on the lower left recalls the lilies in the Schongauer engraving. The prominent yellow rose laying on the carpet before Mary is not included in Schongauer’s version, but it does serve to support what has been suggested as the royal nature of the scene, for a yellow rose is symbolic of

370 Charles Ilsley Minott, Martin Schongauer (New York: Collectors Editions Limited, 1971), p. 34. Minott states that the canopy and stool seem to be meant as visual symbols of the Virgin’s Transformation effected by Gabriel’s message.

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impossible perfection and papal benedictions.371 Considering the close likeness of

general and specific elements within the engraving and the window, it is plausible to suggest that the Mayer designer received inspiration form the German engraver

Schongauer.

Another version of The Annunciation (Fig. 74) is taken from Dürer’s Life of the

Virgin series, c. 1502, and contains several similar compositional and iconographic elements that strongly suggest the woodcut as an additional visual source used by the

Mayer artist for the window design. In both examples of The Annunciation a large and prominent rounded stone arch provides the architectural setting through which the recession of atmospheric space is depicted, along with a similar horizontal linear treatment of the sky. Another shared close likeness is the Archangel Gabriel who is placed on the left in profile, directing the viewer’s attention toward the Virgin. Identical poses are found with the exact positioning of the right hand and the grasping of the staff crowned with a lily.

In both the window and the woodcut a similar treatment of the somewhat angular depiction of the drapery and the sumptuously feathered wings, both of which extend behind the angelic figures, suggests a feeling of forward movement. Additionally, in both scenes the edge of the cushion on which Mary kneels is placed to her left; the hanging tassels are an added detail which helps bring this object to our attention. Lastly,

Dürer places the Dove within a nimbus composed of sharp, radiant diagonal lines that symbolizes the presence of the Holy Spirit. As noted previously, Scongauer as well portrays the Dove in a similar fashion. Similar stylistic characteristics of these two

371 Sill, A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art, p. 52.

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artists, such as the overall detailed draughtsmanship and emphasis upon line enhance the

resemblances found in their work. This bold linear treatment characteristic of engraving

and woodcut is also present in the window design, thus supporting the suggestion that the

Mayer artists used the work of these two German masters as visual sources.

The Adoration of the Shepherds

The influence of Schongauer can also be found in the adjacent window, The

Adoration of the Shepherds (Fig. 11; window IC- 1B). This version is depicted according to Luke 2:1-20, and portrays the Holy Family being visited by the shepherds. Mary is kneeling on the left looking downward at the Baby who is lying in a crib of straw. Her attire is identical to that in the nearby Annunciation window, wearing a white gown, blue mantle, and golden nimbus with white stars.372 Wearing an orange robe, Joseph stands

protectively behind the Virgin, gazing lovingly at the Child. On the far left, partially

hidden and emerging from the edge of the window, an ox and an ass peer at the Child

over Mary’s shoulder. Five shepherds arrayed in a variety of clothing occupy the right

area of the window assuming various reverential poses. A young shepherd holding a

baby lamb kneels in the immediate foreground, while behind him is an old shepherd with

a long white beard, also kneeling with his hands in a position of prayer. Further back,

three shepherds are standing holding staffs. A dilapidated architectural ruin with a large

rounded arch opening, wooden cross beams, and a thatched roof establishes the three-

dimensional setting for the figures assembled. Three cherub faces hover in the upper left,

with foliage occupying the upper right area.

372 There are three windows which make an exception to this iconographic formula in that Mary wears a pink gown: The Visitation, the Finding in the Temple, and the Wedding at Cana. Raphael and Overbeck both predominately portray Mary with these colors in their paintings, and perhaps there is a connection.

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A strong affinity with compositional elements is found in Schongauer’s engraving

completed c. 1475, The Adoration of the Magi (Fig. 75). The Virgin Mary is placed on

the left, while an ox and an ass are partially seen emerging from the area behind her. The

lower left corner of the composition is occupied by two objects, a blooming plant and the

kneeling Magus’ crown. In the same location, the stained-glass window also contains a

detailed plant bearing a blossom, and a second object, a wicker basket containing a white

piece of linen. The basket parallels the crown in the Schongauer print because of its

round form and by providing a detail of interest to the scene. The window also contains additional details of interest in the immediate foreground, such as grass, leaves, another

flower, and random scattering of small stones and pebbles, all of which lend a touch of

natural realism.373 Schongauer, and Dürer to a greater degree, include such natural

details in the foreground area of their prints. Several small stones can be seen in the

lower right of Schongauer’s Adoration of the Magi which suggests another similar

influence from these German draughtsmen.

The triangular placement of the three Magi in relation to the Child and their

physical postures resemble the shepherds in the window. The Magus kneeling in profile

before Mary is almost identical to the older shepherd in the window, sharing a close

resemblance in their facial type and bodily stance with hands clasped in prayer.

Attention is focused upon the older Magus due to his close positioning next to the Child;

when viewing the shepherds in the window, attention is first drawn to the older shepherd

due to his blue gown which balances that of the Virgin.

373 Marcia Pointon, “William Dyce as a Painter of Biblical Subjects, “ Art Bulletin 58 (June 1976): p. 264; The detailed clarification of stones, twigs, and plants is characteristic of Pre-Raphaelite painting that has already been suggested as a visual influence.

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Although Schongauer’s version presents a noticeable difference between the two

scenes by its elaborate retinue with banners, these figures serve a compositional need by

filling the upper right section of the space, as well as lending a feeling of receding space.

The window uses this area of the setting in a comparable manner. Additional shepherds are standing behind those kneeling that yield the same sense of multiple figures assembling, while palm trees occupying the upper right give a sense of distance. The general feeling of verticality that is achieved through the use of multiple figures and palm

trees in the window, and the multiple figures and banners in the engraving, draw similar

compositional parallels in both works.

The dominating Gothic architectural ruin in the left upper area of the engraving

seems to have served as a visual source for the building in the window. Attention is

drawn in each work to the large arched opening constructed of uneven blocks of stone,

resulting in a jagged edge along the upper outside wall. One difference is that

Schongauer uses a Gothic arch whereas a rounded one is used in the window. Perhaps

this difference can be explained by the close association of The Annunciation and The

Adoration of the Shepherds scenes that are combined in the large window found in the

east transept. The rounded arch in The Annunciation was already mentioned as perhaps

being taken from Dürer’s graphics, but because of the two windows’ close proximity, the

Mayer designer would want them to ‘match’ for design reasons, and also to provide an

element of visual consistency for the viewer. This may account for the round arch in The

Adoration of the Shepherds window.

One detail that deserves attention is the particular curved capitals of the columns

that support the Gothic arch in Schongauer’s print. The identical capital decorated with a

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curved incised line is recognized above the single column supporting the left side of the

arch in The Adoration of the Shepherds window, further suggesting that the Mayer

designer was familiar with Schongauer’s version when creating his drawing. Lastly, the

downward diagonal thrust of the roof originating from the upper left of each composition makes these architectural buildings very similar, the thatch in both created by the same linear treatment.

The Holy Family in the Workshop

The third subject to be discussed concerning possible stylistic influences upon the designer of the windows at Immaculate Conception Church is the Holy Family in The

Workshop (Fig. 15; window IC-6). This domestic scene portrays Joseph, Mary, and the

Child Jesus at home in Nazareth. Standing barefoot on the left, Joseph is working at a horizontal wooden worktable wearing a brown carpenter’s apron over a short-sleeved purple tunic. Standing on a beam of wood that is perpendicular to the table, he holds a chisel in his left hand which, with the mallet in his right, is being hammered into the end of a beam of wood that is lying on the table. Objects related to his trade are hanging on the wall behind him while others are scattered on the floor around his feet: hand saws, a chisel, pincers, an axe, a hammer, and a shaving of wood. A wicker basket filled with short pieces of wood sits in the lower left corner.

Joseph pauses from his work to glance down at Jesus, about twelve years old, who is seated on a low wooden stool at the lower right. He is barefoot wearing a red tunic and a brown work apron, and is gazing upon a wooden cross which He holds in His right

hand, while grasping a nail in His left hand. Directly behind Him, Mary is seated on a

stool at the end of the worktable where she is pensively sewing a piece of fabric that she holds in her lap, with a needle and thread in her right hand. She is wearing an ornately

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patterned white gown and blue mantle, and a golden nimbus with white starts, recalling

her attire in previous windows. A blue and crimson colored vase containing white lilies

is placed in the far lower right corner, and a yellow and green hanging curtain is

suspended behind her.

A horizontal stone ledge and an open round arch behind the figures define the

foreground area. Green ivy grows around a column on the left, and a bush covered with

red roses emerges on the right behind Mary. The open back wall reveals a garden in the

far distance, and a mountain topped with a fortress occupies the upper left background, its

treatment in reds, yellows, and oranges repeated throughout the sky.

It has already been noted that Franz Mayer and Company employed the best

English stained-glass painters who are credited in helping develop the distinctive style of

the company.374 By the mid 1850s most ambitious young English artists were

experimenting with aspects of Pre-Raphaelite style, and many of its ideas and styles were

adapted in the work of later Victorian artists.375 It is logical to consider that those artists employed by Franz Mayer and Company would have been acquainted with contemporary trends in English painting. Therefore, this paper suggests that the placing of the Holy

Family within a carpenter’s shop may have been influenced indirectly by the painting,

Christ in the House of His Parents (Fig. 76) by John Everett Millais, one of the original

members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Painted in 1850, this work most clearly

374 See Chapter 1, p. 11.

375 Elizabeth Prettejohn, The Art of the Pre-Raphaelites (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000), p. 117.

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exemplifies the Brotherhood’s aims for biblical painting by attempting to represent as

accurately as possible an event that actually occurred, or that might have occurred.376

The goal of the Pre-Raphaelites to demonstrate “truth” also included applying this

dictate to the human figure. After viewing this painting at the 1850 Royal Academy

exhibition, critics found the figures disconcertingly “lifelike” in part due to the portrayal

of physical characteristics with great specificity.377 This was the picture most violently

attacked by the critics, especially Charles Dickens, who described it as “mean, repulsive and revolting.”378 This portrayal of the Holy Family as commoners crudely dressed was

not easily accepted by the critics, and did not meet mid-Victorian expectations. The

window depiction of the Holy Family presents the figures in a more suitable manner with

idealized figural characterizations, following the traditions established by the Nazarenes.

Regardless of this difference, many similar elements are still present which suggest a Pre-

Raphaelite influence.

Millais uses several compositional elements to establish the setting that are

analogous to the window scene. A characteristic of Pre-Raphaelite compositions is the

use of a three-sided room, presumably historically accurate,379 which places the viewer as

a witness to the event, thus encouraging participation. A general characteristic of the

Franz Mayer and Company window program is the treatment of each subject as a mini-

theater where the religious scene is ‘boxed’ with various objects, creating a realistic

376 Herbert Sussman, Fact into Figure: Typology in Carlyle, Ruskin, and the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1979), p. 47.

377 Prettejohn, The Art of the Pre-Raphaelites, p. 189-90.

378 Wood, The Pre-Raphaelites, p. 17.

379 Sussman, Fact into Figure, p. 49.

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setting that assists the spectator in transcending his physical surroundings, and actually

experience the drama being performed. Although this trait is especially noted in all of the

interior scenes at Immaculate Conception Church, the Holy Family is the only subject where the three sides of the room are clearly presented, just as in Millais’ painting.

The use of a long, wooden table placed parallel to the picture plane for

organizational purposes is a second device that is seen in both works, the table obviously

providing a focal point for the arrangement of the figures. Both tables are similar in color

and form, and are identified as a work table by the round vice attached to the side. Most

importantly, the table is a literal source for the rich symbolism alluding to the future

Crucifixion that is the major focus in both works.

In the painting, the seemingly common carpenter tools hanging on the center wall

and the many wood shavings on the floor identify the room as Joseph’s workshop, but

specific tools are featured, as in the window, that are traditionally associated with the

Passion. Millais portrays Joseph gazing upon the Child as he inspects Jesus’ wounded

palm which drips blood, while part of a hammer is conspicuously held in Joseph’s right

hand, and pincers are prominently laid open around a nail on the table. Symbolic

associations to the Passion of Christ are also drawn from specific tools included in the

window scene. Holding a nail in His left hand, the young Jesus gazes upon an overt

Cross held in His right. The thoughtful gaze of Joseph is directed toward the seated Jesus

as is the hammer that he holds; a pair of open pincers is laid below his feet. Included in

both the painting and the window, these particular tools are Instrument of the Passion,

and directly refer to the Crucifixion.380 The beam of wood lying on the table in the

380 Sill, A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art, p. 66.

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window scene is remindful of the vertical post of the Cross, especially when seen in

relation to the perpendicular piece of wood laying on the floor, emphasized by the

placement of Joseph’s foot. Thus, the hammer becomes a more deliberate reference to

the tool that will be used to affix Christ to the Cross.

The Pre-Raphaelite love of ornamentation and meticulous detail is apparent in

Millais’ painting where a wealth of visual interest is provided in the depiction of those

items associated with a carpenter’s workshop. Likewise, the window design also

contains a number of similar objects and details reflecting the artist’s interest in

descriptive details. In addition to the similarity of the literal objects portrayed, in both

examples these seemingly common objects serve a prophetic function in that they symbolically allude to the Crucifixion itself. It is plausible to suggest that the Mayer artist borrowed compositional and stylistic elements from Christ in the House of His

Parents to create a similar emotional premonition of the Passion and Crucifixion.

Mary’s actions also directly refer to the Crucifixion, although her actions are treated differently in each composition. In the painting she kneels beside the Child, just as

she will kneel before the Cross, her pose alluding to a Pietà. In the window she sits

sewing a piece of fabric which is also a reference to the Passion, symbolizing the

seamless garment of Christ.381 This domestic image of Mary sewing could be derived

from another famous Pre-Raphaelite painting, The Girlhood of Mary Virgin (Fig. 77),

painted in 1849 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. This was the first major oil painting Rossetti

had completed and is full of symbolic references to the life of Christ. The posture of

Mary in the window is closely aligned to Rossetti’s image, where she is seated on the

381 Ibid, p. 67.

160 right, holding a needle and thread in her right hand. Emphasis upon the needle, which pierces the piece of fabric, might also refer to the piercing of Christ’s side.

Other elements from Rossetti’s painting could possibly have influenced the Mayer artist’s composition of the Holy Family. In both scenes Mary is positioned in front of a wall hanging which not only provides an element of domesticity, but provides a solid background which emphasizes her presence. In the background of the painting, the trellis forms a Cross upon which green ivy winds around. Ivy is a dominant Pre-Raphaelite motif which is found in countless Pre-Raphaelite works, often winding around columns, dilapidated ruins, or as a natural observation in landscape.382 Ivy is also included in the

Holy Family window winding around the column located on the left and furthermore, is likewise visually aligned with Joseph, suggesting the incorporation of this element from

Rossetti’s painting. Symbolically, the ivy has always been identified with death and immortality and is an appropriate motif to include in this particular subject.383

The Pre-Raphaelite’s attention to minute detail in order to faithfully reproduce nature resulted in their giving an equality of visual emphasis to the entire painting, not just to the central event being portrayed. This technique is apparent in Millais’ painting

Christ in the House of His Parents, where even the most inconsequential details, such as the wood shavings, receive as much attention and illuminations as the figure of Jesus.

This attention to secondary objects where they are painted with the same level of detail and realism as the major objects is present in the window scene as well.

382 Wood, The Pre-Raphaelites, passim.

383 George Ferguson, Signs & Symbols in Christian Art (NY: Oxford University Press, 1961), p. 33.

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Many of the natural facts depicted in Millais’ painting are easily identified by the viewer for their symbolic content. However, there are some objects which exhibit no evident iconographic associations, such as the shavings and the basket placed in the lower left corner of the painting.384 Interestingly, the inclusion of a single shaving in the window seems to serve no other purpose than to heighten the realism of the workshop, as well as the woven basket sitting in the lower left corner. The inclusion of these inconsequential objects suggests that the Mayer designer was familiar with Millais’ painting and represents another stylistic parallel between the two.

Jesus Blessing the Children

As previously mentioned, the Nazarene school of painting was the most significant influence for German nineteenth-century stained-glass. The Nazarenes’ idealized figural types were incorporated by the Mayer designer into the program of windows at Immaculate Conception Church. Although the gentle and idealized Nazarene poses can be found in any of the stained-glass windows, this discussion will first focus upon Jesus Blessing the Children (Fig. 18; window IC-9)

This subject portrays Jesus wearing a white tunic, red mantle, and an ornate golden nimbus which he consistently wears throughout the program of windows. He is standing on a rounded hillock, surrounded by mothers and their children of various ages.

His left hand is extended lovingly over the head of a small child, His right raised in a gesture of blessing as the child’s mother stands approvingly nearby, her hand resting on the child’s shoulder. Assembled on the ground is a kneeling woman holding a sleeping baby, and two children seated next to her on the ground, all of whom look upward toward

384 Sussman, Fact into Figure, p. 51; William Holman Hunt describes these as ‘extraneous facts.’

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Jesus. The figures are placed in an idyllic setting with natural foliage surrounding them.

A tree fills the upper portion of the windows while a distant mountain range with

buildings fills the horizon line, softly painted in tints of violet.

The figural types and their arrangement in the window strongly recall those

portrayed in Overbeck’s popular painting Christ Blessing the Children (Fig. 69). In both

scenes the figures assume a sweet, Raphaelesque appearance through their facial

expressions and postures. The figures are clothed in similar garments that gracefully

drape their bodies, the gathering of the fabrics creating soft folds. Overbeck portrays

Jesus as a compassionate father-figure whom the children adore. His controlled but

expressive movement as He instructs and Blesses the children reveals Overbeck’s ability

to convey the essence of tenderness and compassion. The trust and devotion of the

children is apparent through their reverent and solemn attention to Him. The Mayer artist

has achieved a comparable emotional essence by using similar personal characterizations

as seen in the figure of Jesus as well as the reverent adoration of the children.

The painting’s symmetrical arrangement of the figures around Jesus contributes to

the tranquil and peaceful quality of the composition. The figures surrounding Jesus

create a circular movement around Him, while the standing figures on either side create a

balance of visual weight. Although the same strict symmetry is not possible due to the

narrow width of the single lancet window, a similar pictorial organization is present.

Jesus stands upon a rounded hillock while the mothers and their children are placed in a circular arrangement around Him, all directing their gaze toward Christ. Interestingly, a low grassy hillock is included in Overbeck’s version, located in the center of the painting upon which two children rest.

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Several specific figural poses in the painting could possibly have served as inspiration for the Mayer designer. In the painting, a standing woman on the right, dressed in a yellow gown and white headdress, gestures toward her blonde child who gazes up toward Jesus. A similar child in the window stands on the hillock looking toward Jesus, while his mother, who also wears a full headdress, rests her hand on the child’s shoulder. In the center of each work a child sits with his back to the viewer, wearing a similarly fashioned gown, his left foot tucked under the right leg. In the window the boy holds a round object which resembles the round object held by the child wearing a white tunic in the painting, who is standing to the right of the seated boy.

In both compositions the mountains in the background are painted with pale tints in order to create the illusion of distance and contribute to the three-dimensional quality of the natural setting. The window scene that portrays a naturalistic landscape in which the figures are placed is characteristic of Nazarene painting, and creates an idealized pastoral scene which heightens the tranquil and composed nature of the figures.

The Visitation

This study suggests a second stained-glass window at the Church of the

Immaculate Conception, The Visitation (Fig. 12, IC-3), as evidence that the work of

Johann Friedrich Overbeck was used by the Mayer artists as a visual source for his window designs. Having just arrived from their journey, Mary and Joseph are positioned in the left area of the composition while Elizabeth and Zachary, located in the right area of the window, greet them with gestures of great piousness and reverence. Mary and

Elizabeth figure prominently in the scene and are vividly portrayed in the immediate foreground, while the two male figures are partially obscured as they stand behind the women. The right edge of the window is filled with the stone façade of the house that

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extends upward, topped by the partially visible diagonal edge of the roof where two doves perch.

Upon comparison of Overbeck’s painting The Visitation completed in 1867 (Fig.

78) with the window scene of the same subject, strong similarities are instantly

discovered. Both scenes include Mary and Elizabeth centered in full profile with their

arms and hands positioned with close likeness. Additionally, in both examples Joseph is

partially seen standing in the lower left of the picture plane behind Mary, carrying an

identical staff, while Zachary is partially visible standing in the doorway of the house.

The unusualness of including Joseph and Zachary in a Visitation scene, since they are not

mentioned in the scriptural account, causes this parallel to be especially noted.

A similar architectural setting in both works is found in the diagonal direction of

the cornice which juts outward in the upper right corner, as well as the neutral tones of

the building which allows the contouring of the figures to appear bold and clear. The

motif of a white dove, found perched on the corner of the porch column’s capital in the

painting is also present in the window where two doves are resting on corner of the

rooftop. The artists have chosen different elements to fill the space immediately behind

the figures: a balustrade is found in the painting while a hedge of flowering green foliage

is used in the window. However, these objects serve the same compositional function in

creating a division of space. These objects serve as a partition between the immediate

foreground containing the detailed and brightly colored figures, and the distant

background which due to its light coloration, appears to recede into the far distance.

An earlier Visitation scene by Dürer, c. 1504, could also have served as a visual

resource for the Mayer artist. In Dürer’s woodcut, The Annunciation (Fig. 79), taken

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from The Life of the Virgin series, Zachary stands partially hidden in the doorway of his home, his advanced age indicated by his balding head and long beard. The front of the

building is drawn with a pronounced downward diagonal direction. A similar treatment

of Zachary and his home is found in the glass design, as well as Overbeck’s painted

version. When comparing the woodcut and the window scene, several significant

compositional similarities become apparent. The far right area of Dürer’s print possesses

a strong vertical direction created through a variety of trees, serving to balance the

powerful verticality of Zachary’s house located to the left of the composition. This is

true of the window’s design as well, with a very similar treatment of the foliage

especially noted. In both examples, two different types of trees are portrayed standing

along the outer edge of the compositions: the outer trees are thin and tall with rounded

clumps of leaves, while the inner spruce tree is shorter. Furthermore, in both the woodcut

and the window a lower hedge of bushes serves as a boundary to emphasize the figures in

the immediate foreground.

The Virgin and Elizabeth are similarly placed within the composition, occupying

the central foreground area. Both Dürer and the Mayer artist have carefully positioned these two figures in front of an extensive, diminishing landscape which is noticeably lighter than the remaining areas of the composition. An element that is especially similar in both images is the clustering of almost exactly drawn buildings in the far distance, perched atop a mountain. The strong linear quality of Dürer’s work which has been discussed earlier in this study results in the carving of powerful horizontal lines to designate the upper sky area, thus creating a noticeable contrast with the much lighter mountain range below. Likewise, the Mayer artist has similarly applied horizontal pieces

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of glass in various shades of blue for the sky portion, thus creating a darker contrast against the much lighter hills below.

The Finding in the Temple

The narrative scene depicting The Finding in the Temple (Fig. 14 window IC-5) concentrates attention upon the figure of Christ as a young child, who is standing in the center of a non-descriptive interior space. He is dressed in a white long-sleeved tunic tied at the waist that is richly decorated with gold embroidery, and His right arm rests upon a podium while the left arm gestures to His audience. He is surrounded by five Jewish scholars who are intensely gazing upon the young boy with baffled expressions, displaying wonder and amazement at the words they are hearing. These men represent a variety of ages and are draped in an assortment of colorful fabrics and headdresses.

This study suggests that the Mayer artist who designed The Finding in the Temple followed closely the work of Heinrich Hofmann (1824-1911), a German artist whose religious paintings were widely received by various Christian congregations during the nineteenth-century.385 Although strongly influenced by the Nazarene style, he never

became an official member. Hofmann’s paintings were widely distributed and

tremendously popular, many of which were subsequently adapted in stained-glass.386

385 Thieme und Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon, p. 260; Johann Michael Ferdinand Heinrich Hofmann attended the academies at Dusseldorf and Antwerp, followed by study in Holland and Paris. He was one of numerous German artists who flocked to Italy during the nineteenth-century, and worked in Rome from 1854-8. During his stay in Rome he was influenced by Peter Cornelius, a fellow German artists who had joined the Nazarenes in 1811. See also, Lucius Grisbach, “German Painters in Rome,” Apollo, vol. 102 (Dec, 1995), pp. 462-465.

386 Helene Weis, “Those Old, Familiar Faces,” Stained Glass, vol. 86 (Fall, 1991), p. 206, 218. The author notes that the National Ornamental Glass Manufacturers Association of the United States and Canada (the predecessor of the Stained Glass Association of

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One particular painting completed by Hofmann in 1882, Christ in the Temple

(Fig. 80), was exceptionally popular and by the 1920s was pervasive in religious visual

culture.387 A young idealized Jesus is the focus of the painting whose spiritual presence

is enhanced by His body being bathed in bright light. He and the five Jewish scholars fill

the composition, thus leaving little space for the interior of the room that is enveloped in

darkness. A very close similarity is found between the figures in the painting and those

in the window, indicating that Hofmann’s work served as a direct model for the Mayer artist. The facial features, posture, and costume of Jesus are closely imitated, as are the three men located in the right area of the composition and the standing figure in the left area. However, a noticeable difference that characterizes the Munich style of Franz

Mayer and Company is the dressing of the figures in luxurious fabrics as well as the sumptuous interior furnishings.

Another version of the same narrative scene by Hofmann was used by the Mayer artists as well when designing the cartoon for the Finding in the Temple. This lithograph

(Fig. 81) possesses strong similarities with the painting and window as well, such as the figure of Christ, the two gentlemen standing in the upper right area of the composition and the one occupying the far left area. One additional figure that Hofmann has included in the lithograph but not in the painting is the large scholar located in the lower right foreground. He sits in a wide chair with his back turned to the viewer, wearing a distinctive hat and costume; a piece of fabric is laid across his left shoulder, and his left arm juts outward. The placement and posture of this figure makes him especially

America) produced in 1913, and again in 1924, catalogues of copyright-free designs to be used by all members which included work by Hofmann.

387 McDannell, Material Christianity, p. 240.

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noticeable and serves to visually lead the viewer into the picture and toward Christ. The

Mayer artist has incorporated this figure into the window scene, and he serves the same

compositional purpose as well. However, the figure has been reversed and placed in the lower left foreground, but is still replete with similar characteristics and details.

The Sermon on the Mount

A second window at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, the Sermon on the

Mount (Fig. 21; window IC-12), also reflects a strong affinity with the work of Heinrich

Hofmann. Jesus sits prominently upon a ledge in the right section of the window,

gesturing expressively to a great crowd of people who surround him while listening to

His teachings. The separation of Jesus compositionally from the remaining figures in the

crowd helps in differentiating the Divine nature of Christ from the observers, and also

visually assists the viewer in recognizing the narrative that is being enacted. Behind the

figures an extensive landscape recedes into the distance, providing a convincing realism

to the narrative scene.

The compositional layout of the window may have originated from a print by

Hofmann of the same subject, The Sermon the Mount (Fig. 82), since close affinities can

be detected between the two. Hofmann has set up a dichotomy between Christ and the

throngs of people by placing the standing Christ in the left area of the picture plane, while

the crowds surrounding Him are placed in the right area of the composition.

Additionally, Christ’s larger size and higher elevation, as well as His gesturing over the

audience, assists in separating Him from the people. These same characteristics are

realized in the window as well where Christ vividly stands apart form the masses.

A close analysis of the positioning of certain figures in the immediate foreground

of the painting reveals: a seated shepherd in the lower left corner, his arms resting upon

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his crossed legs along with his staff; directly to the left of the shepherd, a young man sits looking at Jesus with clasped hands; to his right is a young boy whose hand is placed upon the shoulder of a young woman standing nearby; further behind a mother holds her sleeping baby. Upon examination of those foreground figures it appears that the Mayer artist has created a like translation of those found in the Hofmann painting. Thus, this study suggests that the Mayer artist borrowed general compositional elements as well as specific figural types from Hofmann’s Sermon on the Mount when designing the cartoon for the stained-glass window.

The Raising of the Widow’s Son The Raising of Lazarus

This last example showing the influence of Heinrich Hofmann on the Mayer artist entails two adjacent windows located in the north nave. Both scenes portray Jesus miraculously resurrecting the dead to new life. In the Raising of the Widow’s Son (Fig.

19; window IC-10) Jesus stands at the foot of the young man’s bed, while the apostles and a crowd watch the event unfolding before them. While raising His right hand into the air, Jesus grasps the hand of the widow’s son as he raises himself from his bed. The young man is straining his head upward toward Jesus. His mother kneels and gestures expressively as she witnesses the miracle of her son returning to life. Jesus appears again in the following window portraying the Raising of Lazarus (Fig. 20; window IC-11), and commands attention with His meaningful gestures as He raises Lazarus from his tomb.

The two sisters of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha kneel before the tomb as they witness the miraculous event. The sibling located in the immediate foreground is especially expressive, her arms outstretched with great emotion toward her brother Lazarus.

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Two examples by Hofmann, Jesus Raising the Widow’s Son from Nain (Fig. 83),

and the Raising of the Daughtter of Jairus (Fig. 84), share similar compositional stylistic

elements with the window scene. In both examples, while Jesus performs the miraculous

feat of raising the dead, He gestures expressively while simultaneously touching the person. To express the intensity of the astonishing event, figures are placed in the lower

left corners of each picture for the purpose of lending drama to the scene through their

animated postures. In Jesus Raising the Widow’s Son from Nain (Fig. 83), Jesus

commands a calm and comforting presence as His left arm embraces the kneeling mother

by his side, and gently touches the uplifted hand of the son. The remaining witnesses

positioned around the three central figures reveal their astonishment through their varied

and expressive gestures. Although a more intimate scene is created in the Raising of the

Daughter of Jairus (Fig. 84) by the figures being limited to only four, Jesus is again portrayed with a subdued grace as He gestures upward while grasping the hand of the young girl. Her parents kneel piously at the foot of the bed as they express astonishment

at their daughter’s awakening.

When comparing the Raising of the Widow’s Son (Fig. 19; window IC-10) with

the same narrative scene by Hofmann (Fig. 83), a similar treatment is found in the

handling of the son’s posture. His head is looking upward, held in a profile position and

covered with a headdress. As he reaches his hand upward, only his fingers are gently

held by Christ. This particular positioning of Christ’s hand is also found in the Raising of

the Daughter of Jairus (Fig. 84), a stylistic trait of Hofmann’s adopted by the Mayer

artist. Additionally, the physical attributes used by the Mayer artist to visually describe

Jesus, such as His long, curly hair and full beard, closely resemble those traits assigned to

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Jesus in the examples by Hofmann as well. Furthermore, a similar stylistic handling of

the drapery is found within all of these examples. The characters are surrounded in full, sweeping fabrics that are finely modeled to conform to their bodies.

In both of the paintings by Hofmann and the stained-glass windows, a feeling of humbleness and simplicity characterize the figures as well as their surroundings, and contributes to the spiritual nature of each scene. Reflecting a strong Nazarene influence, the manners and gestures of the figures are controlled and subdued, and carefully placed

within the composition to create a balanced and harmonious arrangement. In addition to

the integration of stylistic elements of the Italian Renaissance, an important hallmark of

the Nazarenes was an emphasis on line resulting in a clear and strong composition.388

The simplicity and boldness of these works is enhanced by the clarity of line that defines and models each object and figure within the work of art. These strong compositional and stylistic parallels that are shared in the examples discussed suggest that the Mayer artist incorporated these elements from Hofmann’s paintings into his designs for the windows at the Church of the Immaculate Conception Church.

The Sacrifice of Abraham The Holy Family in the Workshop The Crucifixion

Using intense color in landscape as an avenue to stir the emotions, thus resulting in an exalted religious experience, is used by the Mayer designer in the Church of the

Immaculate Conception. In the 31 windows that constitute the program of stained-glass, only 3 subjects include a similar treatment of the background: The Sacrifice of Abraham

(Fig. 23; window IC-23), The Holy Family in the Workshop (Fig. 15; window IC-6), and

388 Andrews, The Nazarenes, p. 19.

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The Crucifixion (Fig. 28; window IC-20). The intense yellow, orange, red, and crimson

colors that fill the backgrounds in these key windows is a deliberate attempt by the Mayer

designer to use color as an agent for evoking an emotional response from the viewer, as

well as charging these scenes with Christian value and importance.

These three windows exemplify the overt use of color to emphasize the

typological symbolism that in the theological sense of the term, means the use of a type as a symbol of something future and distant.389 Typological interpretations of scripture

formed a popular subject of nineteenth-century sermons, and any person during the reign

of Victoria was likely to recognize these allusions, the most common types being those

that prefigured Christ.

The Sacrifice of Abraham (Fig. 23; window IC-23) symbolizes the ritual Law of

Moses under the old covenant, where Abraham substitutes a ram instead of his son. This scene is an example of the use of typological symbolism, for the event serves to prefigure the death of Christ which institutes the new covenant, thus fulfilling the old sacrificial agreement. This dramatic event is enacted before a blazing sky of color, filled with streaks of reds, oranges, and yellows.

This symbolic parallel is also present in The Holy Family in the Workshop (Fig.

15; window IC-6), and is more clearly brought to our attention due to the use of color.

As the spectator becomes aware of the extensive sacrificial symbolism that is presented

in the foreground, the bloody sky takes on heightened meaning and further establishes a

contemplative quality to the overall scene. This portion of the window succeeds in

enhancing the spectator’s appreciation of what at first appears to be an intimate portrayal

389 George Landow, William Holman Hunt and Typological Symbolism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979), p. 7.

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of the Holy Family, but upon further study reveals a deeply emotional and stirring

premonition of the Crucifixion, explicitly referred to in the cross that Christ holds.

The prefiguration and anticipation of Christ’s sacrifice that is symbolized in these

two windows is fulfilled in the large axial window of the apse, the Crucifixion (Fig. 28;

window IC-20). The figure of Christ is accented against a large expanse of crimson sky, the dramatic coloring providing not only a deeper awareness of the Crucifixion, but the

realization of the new covenant that supersedes the sacrifices of the old covenant.

As evidenced by these specific windows at the Church of the Immaculate

Conception, this paper proposes an additional contemporary German influence detected

in the work of the Mayer designer, that being the religious symbolism inherent in the

landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840). Reflecting the religiosity and

nationalism of his time, Friedrich’s landscapes are imbued with a spiritual and devotional

significance as well as patriotic sentiment and love for the fatherland. Unlike the work of

the Nazarenes, his paintings are never of Biblical subjects as such, for the emphasis is always upon the landscape rather than its human inhabitants. Scenes of ruined Gothic churches, cemeteries, and desolated landscapes create an emotive symbolism which is deeply spiritual, and creates a sense of awe in front of nature. Friedrich’s landscapes symbolize the living religion of nature which for him, as for Wackenroder, was the hieroglyphic language of God.390

Friedrich rarely made a compositional study or painted a picture that based its entirety on a sketch. The composition took place in his imagination, where he would

390 Hugh Honour, Romanticism (New York: Harper & Row, 1979), p. 77.

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assemble various studies to form the overall plan.391 He advised a painter to shut his

eyes, so that the picture is first seen with the spiritual eye. Only then could a picture be perceived, and not devised.392

The idea of the artist creating from a personal inner vision is apparent when

viewing Friedrich’s landscapes. He broke with traditional eighteenth-century formulas

for constructing a landscape where carefully measured planes lead the eye gradually into

the far distance. Although rendered with a meticulous truth to nature, often his

landscapes are without a foreground or middle ground, leaving the viewer with an

ambiguous feeling of proximity and distance as if suspended in mid-air. Unlike Raphael

who was seeking to ‘improve’ nature by making it adhere more closely to an abstract

ideal, Friedrich was searching to discover images that would trigger associations through

which the spectator would find himself transformed in mood.393

The emotional use of color to produce awe-inspiring backgrounds was one device

Friedrich used, as exemplified in The Crucifix in the Mountains, also known as the

Tetschen Altarpiece (Fig. 85). The powerful imagery of the isolated Crucifix is elevated

by the dramatic reds and oranges that fill the immense area that the sky occupies. The

layering of various warm shades across the sky enhances the drama being portrayed, and

assists in projecting the spiritual idea which Friedrich formulates through color.

Just as the dramatic quality of Friedrich’s powerful painting, The Crucifix in the

Mountains, is greatly elevated by the striking treatment of the sky, a similar effect is

391Vaughan, German Romantic Painting, p. 70.

392 Holt, From the Classicists to the Impressionists, p. 85.

393 Vaughan, German Romantic Painting, p. 70.

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achieved in The Crucifixion window (Fig. 28; window IC-20). The dramatic reds and oranges that Friedrich uses to enhance the spiritual quality of his religious landscapes are also successfully used by the Mayer designer.

It is interesting to note that the amount of space that the sky occupies in all of the landscape scenes at Immaculate Conception Church is greatest in this window. The dramatic colors as well as its larger size encourage contemplation and assist the spectator’s participation in a spiritual encounter. Just as is experienced in the paintings of

Friedrich, this direct confrontation of nature becomes a way in which the viewer can recognize the divinity of the Creator. With the assistance of color, the Crucifixion window, which is the primary focus of the altar, is more intensely perceived and deeply experienced by the viewer.

The Virgin Mary in Glory

The last specific example from the program of windows at the Church of the

Immaculate Conception is the large eight petalled rose window located at the top of the lancet depicting the Choir of Angels (Fig. 35, IC-25A), that portrays a half-length portrait

of the young Virgin Mary in Glory (Fig. 36, IC-25B). Mary is wearing a white gown and

blue mantle which flutters around her body, and a white nimbus filled with stars, while

her long brown hair streams outward. Her idealized face looks upward as she crosses her

breast with her hands. A golden aureole radiats outward behind her with alternating

straight and wavy rays, and fills the central space of the rose that is bordered with a

purple garland, filled with white and yellow stars. The outward direction of the rays is

continued into the petals of the rose that contain straight yellow and orange beams.

Visual elements from the rose window seem to be based upon a design similar to

a Nuremberg altarpiece, The Virgin on the Crescent Moon (Figure 86). All that remains

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of the center of the shrine are the carved figures that in terms of style, typify Nuremberg

sculpture at the end of the fifteenth-century.394 The Virgin is frontally seated above a

crescent moon and surrounded by a carved wreath composed of alternating white and red roses, supported by fifteen angels with golden wings and wearing golden robes. She is dressed in a golden, blue-lined mantle and a golden robe. A white veil is tied around her head, and her long wavy hair frames her face and shoulders. Her outspread arms are missing, as well as the infant Jesus who originally sat on her lap.

The fifteenth-century marked the full flowering of the cult of the rosary,395 and prayers were offered to Mary like a wreath of roses. The carved roses of the wreath are suggested in the round floral border that surrounds Mary in the window. The presence of angels which support the carved wreath are also associated with the choir of angels directly below the rose window. The particular aureole around Mary is found in German fifteenth-century images of the Virgin in Glory. The aureole, composed of alternating golden straight and wavy lines, is symbolic of the description based on Revelation 12:1

“a great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun.” The close likeness between the two aureoles suggests that an image similar to that found in the Nuremberg altarpiece served as a visual source for the Mayer designer.

Similarities in the personal characterization of Mary, such as the Virgin’s long, wavy hair and crossed hands across her breast, have already been noted in variations of

The Annunciation scene by Dürer in stained-glass (Fig. 67) and woodcut (Fig. 74), as

394 Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg, p. 164.

395 Ibid., p. 164.

177 well as The Annunciation window scene located in the transept (Fig. 10; window IC-1A).

A difference that separates the Virgin in the rose window from the other depictions mentioned, as well as the Nuremberg altarpiece, is her graceful contrapposto and the upward tilting of her head. The elegant turning of the head which counters the direction of the twisting torso recalls the portrait of St. Catherine (Fig. 87), c. 1508, by Raphael.

The pious and heavenly gaze of St. Catherine, with her right hand softly resting upon her breast is a Raphaelesque convention suggested in the similar pose of the Virgin in the rose window. The placement of the Virgin above the lancet filled with a choir of angels creates the illusion of her appearing in a heavenly sphere, her expression filled with purity and innocence, befitting the patroness of the Church of the Immaculate

Conception.

Conclusion

This chapter has provided examples that suggest possible visual sources used by the master Mayer designer for the fabrication of the stained-glass program in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Jacksonville. An assorted collection of prints were available to the staff of Mayer artists that included examples by historical masters such as

Martin Schongauer, Albrecht Dürer, and Raphael, as well as contemporary masters such as the Nazarenes, the Pre-Raphaelites, and the German artists Heinrich Hofmann and

Casper David Friedrich. From these visual sources specific stylistic and compositional elements were derived that were integrated into the designs for the stained-glass windows in the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

CHAPTER 9 STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF SPECIFIC WINDOWS IN THE SACRED HEART CHURCH

Introduction

This chapter consists of a visual examination of 8 of 18 windows at the Sacred

Heart Church. Using a similar methodology as in the previous chapter, individual windows are compared with specific historical and contemporary works of art for the purpose of suggesting possible compositional and stylistic sources used by the Mayer designer of the windows at the Sacred Heart Church. Since both programs share comparable scenes from the life of Christ, the Mayer artists used similar stylistic and compositional sources. However, although a Christological program is depicted in the

Church of the Immaculate Conception, a differing iconographic program is portrayed in the Sacred Heart Church where equal emphasis is given to the depiction of events in the lives of particular saints. This results in the use of differing stylistic and compositional sources, and therefore yields a unique iconographic program.

The Finding in the Temple

In the window depicting The Finding in the Temple (Fig. 61; window SH-13),

Jesus, along with seven Jewish scholars and his mother and father, are informally assembled in an interior space. The adolescent Jesus stands in front of an elaborately carved golden throne, looking and gesturing upward as He speaks to those informally gathered around. A strong contrast is created by the placement of Jesus, barefoot and wearing only a plain white tunic, within a rich physical surrounding filled with an

179 180

assortment of figures dressed in a variety of colorful and luxurious fabrics. The Jewish

scholars react with amazement and wonder, some intently listening while others search

through written texts for understanding.

Heinrich Hofmann’s popular depiction of the subject of Christ in the Temple (Fig.

80) discussed in the previous chapter, served as a model not only for the window scene of

Christ teaching in the temple included in the Church of the Immaculate Conception (Fig.

14; window IC-5) but also for the window of the same subject in the Sacred Heart

Church. When comparing the painting to the window scene it is noticed that Jesus is portrayed with similar dress and gestures, standing in the center of the interior space

surrounded by the Jewish scholars. One figure, the bearded man standing to the left of

Christ, bears a similar physical countenance in both window scenes. However, a

substantial different composition is created in the Sacred Heart window by the inclusion

of seven Jewish men instead of five, and their more informal arrangement around Jesus.

Such a rendition refers more precisely to the use of Hofmann’s lithograph, Christ in the Temple (Fig. 81), as a specific source. The large seated figure in the lower right area of the lithograph clearly served as inspiration for the similar figure located in the lower left area of the window. Although wearing a different headpiece, the figure assumes an identical posture and position within the composition that accents the visual path to the young Christ. The window design of the Finding in the Temple in the Sacred

Heart Church reflects the Mayer artist’s ability to create a fresh selection of figures with unique individualized details and poses, although stylistic and compositional elements were certainly based upon Hofmann’s lithographic and painted versions of the subject.

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Jesus Giving St. Peter the Keys to the Kingdom

This scene is one of three adjacent windows located in the north nave that portray

important episodes in the life of Christ, but also serve to emphasize the enormous importance of Peter in the leadership and establishment of the early Church in Jerusalem and Rome. After Simon recognized Jesus as the Christ, Jesus conferred on him the title of Peter, saying that upon this rock His church would be built.396 The Mayer artist has

followed a traditional rendering of Jesus Giving St. Peter the Keys to the Kingdom (Fig.

63; window SH-15). While gesturing authoritatively with his right hand, Jesus hands the

two keys of the kingdom, one silver and one gold, to Peter who is kneeling with arms

outstretched in an expression of acceptance. Apostles stand on either side of Jesus and

act as witnesses; their somber countenance and expressive reactions contribute to the

solemnness of the event, while two sheep observe quietly from the lower left corner of

the window.

It was not until the fifteenth-century and onward that the motif of Christ giving

the keys to Peter gained any importance in art.397 An influential and time-honored

Renaissance prototype portraying this event is the fresco Christ Giving the Keys to St.

Peter (Fig. 88), commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV as part of a program in the Sistine

Chapel. Completed in 1481 by Pietro Vannucci (c. 1445-1523), known today simply as

Perugino, the fresco, like the window scene, symbolically alludes to the spiritual and temporal powers vested in St. Peter. Perugino has extended a variety of figures along the

396 See Matthew 16:18

397 Gertrud Schiller, Iconography of Christian Art, v. 1 (Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic Society, Ltd., 1971), p. 156.

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frontal plane while focusing attention upon the two central figures of Christ and Peter.

Jesus stands in an elegant contrapposto stance while Peter kneels in submission before his

master, and accepts the two keys of the kingdom of heaven.

The iconographic and stylistic similitude between the two works indicates that the

Mayer artist selectively borrowed from Perugino’s painting in creating the window

cartoon. Although one composition portrays a deep recessive space filled with

architectural structures as opposed to one consisting of simply a shallow foreground

space, both examples portray Jesus and Peter centrally located; Jesus stands to the left of

the central axis, and Peter kneels to the right. The visible feet of Jesus reveal His

graceful contrapposto while the treatment of the drapery corresponds to the subtle

twisting of the body. Peter’s gray beard and balding head, and his costume of blue and

yellow clearly articulate his identity to the viewer, supported by the silver and gold keys.

Besides the figures of Christ and Peter, the Mayer artist also borrowed two additional

figures from Perugino’s work. In the window scene a young apostle stands to the right of

Christ holding a rotulas, while the apostle to His left rests his left hand frontally on his

mantle, outwardly extending his upturned right palm. The sources for these two figures

can be identified in Perugino’s version: the first figure stands holding a scroll directly

behind Peter, with the second example portrayed as the fourth figure standing behind

Christ.

Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter (Fig. 63; window SH-15) also reveals a second

source used by the Mayer designer, the Charge to St. Peter by Perugino’s student,

Raphael (Fig. 89). In his cartoons for tapestries illustrating the lives of the apostles

designed for the Sistine Chapel, Raphael combines the narrative of Christ giving Peter the

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keys of the kingdom of heaven with another popular theme, Christ’s charge to Peter.

Taken from the Gospel of John, Peter was asked three times whether he loved the Lord

and three times was charged to guard His flock.398 Raphael recalls Perugino’s painting illustrating the grand event when Peter recognized Jesus as the Christ, for Peter already

holds the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Likewise, Raphael follows Perugino’s iconography for Peter, thus making the apostle instantly recognizable. However, Raphael

has singled out the apostle by Christ’s powerful gesture that points simultaneously toward

Peter as well as the flock of sheep behind Him, as He commands Peter to “feed my sheep.” A direct reference is made to the charge of Peter by the inclusion of two sheep in the stained-glass window at Sacred Heart Church. Following the example set by

Raphael’s cartoon, the Mayer artist has intertwined symbolically the two Scriptural passages proclaiming the Pope to be the successor of Peter as well as the proclamation of the papacy itself.

The later Italian master Guido Reni (1575-1642) also continued the iconographical tradition established by Perugino and Raphael in his popular painting

Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter (Fig. 90).399 Like the two earlier examples, Reni’s

version of this event portrays Christ similarly posed, standing in the left area of the composition accompanied by apostles. Peter kneels in the foreground with his right arm extended toward Jesus as he accepts the gold and silver key, and his left arm gestures

398 John 21:15-17.

399 Giovanna degli Isposti, in Guido Reni 1575-1642, Susan L. Caroselli, editor (Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles county Museum of Art, 1988), p. 250; The painting was commissioned by Father Girolamo Gabrielli for the church of San Pietro in Valle, Fano. Dennis Mahon assigns the terminus post quem as 1626.

184 elegantly outward in reverence. One difference between Reni’s painting and those by the two earlier masters is the simplification of the overall composition. Reni has placed the figures not in a vast piazza or landscape but in the immediate foreground of a confined space. Additionally, the number of apostles has been greatly reduced to five, harmoniously placed on either side of Jesus.

The Mayer artist has also used these same compositional elements for his portrayal in the window that results in the two works sharing a common spirit.

Reproductions of Reni’s paintings were printed in massive quantities by the Roman

Catholic Church during the late nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries and were used to illustrate religious art such as calendars and prayer cards.400 The vast collection of master paintings available to the artists working for Franz Mayer and Company would probably have included works by Guido Reni, in addition to those by Perugino and Raphael. This possibility has been demonstrated by the similarities existing between their individual paintings depicting the giving of the keys to Peter and the window design created by the

Mayer artist.

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

The next window to be discussed, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Fig. 65; window SH-17), also features Peter and is located in the north nave. This evening scene portrays Christ kneeling on a rocky ledge in the garden of Gethsemane, His arms outstretched in submission as He gazes up at an angel. Because the angel is holding a

400 Scott Schaefer, in Guido Reni 1575-1642, p. 2.

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golden chalice, the painting is depicting the moment when Christ requests His Father to

“… remove this chalice from me; but not what I will, but what thou wilt.”401

This depiction follows the usual nineteenth-century pictorial stained-glass

representation in that Christ in prayer occupies the upper section of the composition, and

the sleeping apostles occupy as much as a third of the lower scene.402 Peter, James, and

John are huddled together across the lower zone of the painting, with Peter centered prominently along the vertical axis that is emphasized through the placing of his upright sword. This compositional arrangement has a long convention, as is indicated by the two versions of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane by Schongauer (Fig. 91) and Dürer (Fig.

92), both of which devote the lower half of the picture to the sleeping apostles. It is to this long-established tradition that the Mayer artists turned to receive inspiration.

Schongauer has placed the kneeling Christ in the upper left quadrant of the picture plane looking upward to the angel before Him, and has clustered the three sleeping

apostles tightly together in the lower section. Peter, identified by his sword, is stretched

across the lower area of the composition. Schongauer has implied a strong vertical axis that includes two horizontal planes; this serves to formally unify the composition symmetrically. The strong vertical division of the work created through the large

domineering rocky ledge also sets up a physical and psychological barrier between Christ

and his surroundings, as well as His apostles. These same compositional fundamentals are present in the Mayer design and serve a similar visual function. However, only those elements essential to the specific moment relayed in the scriptural account are included, a

401 Mark 14:36

402 Farnsworth et al., Stained Glass in Philadelphia, p. 157.

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feature that is characteristic of the religious designs created by the Mayer artists. The delineation of the many extraneous elements that have been included by Schongauer allows the viewers to not only more readily identify the window scene, but also enhances the emotional and dramatic impact of the narrative depicted.

When initially viewing Dürer’s woodcut illustrating the same subject, the differences from his predecessor’s version are apparent. Dürer has placed the kneeling

Christ on a rocky ledge in the center of the composition but facing the opposite direction, with the rocky ledge vertically rising above Him. A larger angel holding the chalice hovers before Christ, while the three apostles are placed at the bottom of the composition, one in the lower left corner and two in the lower right. However, a similarity exists with the Schongauer engraving as well as the window design in the dividing of Dürer’s composition into two horizontal zones; Christ occupies the upper realm and the apostles the lower.

This long-held compositional tradition exemplified by the examples of the two

German artists is retained and utilized by the Mayer designer of the window portraying

Jesus Praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. One specific borrowing from Dürer’s woodcut is the gate-like structure located to the right of Christ in the middleground.

Through this gate Judas can be identified leading the Roman soldiers toward Christ for the arrest. Although the Mayer artist has eliminated much of the extraneous details in the window design, the gate leading into the garden has been retained and is located in approximately the same area of the window as in the woodcut. A characteristic central to the Munich style is the visual concentration placed on presenting the biblical figures in the immediate foreground of the composition, large and life-like to augment the textual

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narrative and the tenets of faith. However, the Mayer artists has retained this small detail

that supports the suggestion that Dürer’s print was used as a visual source for his window design.

In both of the examples by Schongauer and Dürer, the apostle Peter is easily identified by the prominent display of his sword. The Mayer artist has also included this iconography, but has assigned a more exalted position to Peter within the composition by centering him at midpoint within the window space, thus allowing him to be located at eyelevel with the viewer. Peter’s pronounced placement within this window is congruent in the program of windows at Sacred Heart Church. As previously discussed in the description of the stained-glass program in chapter 6, this window is one of three adjacent windows in the north nave that serves to emphasize the elevated status and authority of

Peter among the apostles, and to stress the importance played by Peter in the establishment of the early history of the Church.

A possible visual source for Peter’s unique pose is found in Raphael’s School of

Athens (Fig. 93) located in the Stanza della Segnatura, one of several decorative projects he completed in the Vatican Palace from 1514-1517.403 This fresco portrays an ideal

assembly of ancient sages with Plato and Aristotle at the center, framed by a large arch.

Representing the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus as well as the contemporary artist

Michelangelo, the seated figure in the lower left foreground sits in isolation, seemingly

self-absorbed and oblivious to the flurry of activity of his surroundings. He rests his left

403 Raphael’s first commission at the Vatican was to decorate the Stanza della Segnatura, a room that was almost certainly designed as the library of Pope Julius II and finished in 1512. The walls were decorated with four compositions: the Disputa; the Parnassus; the School of Athens; and scenes of Pope Gregory IX and Justinian I.

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arm upon the stone surface while his hand supports his down-held head. While holding a

pen in his right hand that rests upon the flat surface, he extends his crossed legs frontally

outward. This figure closely resembles St. Peter in the window design due to the

identical pose assumed by both characters. However, the pose is reversed so that the right arm of Peter rests on the surface and his left hand holds not a pen, but a sword. Yet

the close likeness is undeniable: the positioning of Peter’s hand against his face, his

slumping posture, and his crossed legs strongly suggest the borrowing of Raphael’s

famous portrayal of Michelangelo in the School of Athens as the model for St. Peter in the

stained-glass design of Jesus Praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The Ascension

The majestic narrative, The Ascension (Fig. 55; window (SH-6) extends across the

three lights located in the south transept, resulting in a symmetrical distribution of the

large number of biblical characters. Seven apostles occupy the lower sections of the

smaller flanking windows, and are portrayed looking inward and upward toward the

central ascending Christ. An angel is placed in the upper areas of each of these windows,

looking and gesturing dramatically toward Christ as their bodies move in an opposite

direction toward the outer edges. The artist has prominently portrayed the Virgin Mary

in the lower area of the larger central light through her symmetrical placement as well as

encompassing her in light. Four apostles are evenly positioned around her: two figures

kneel in the foreground whose backs are turned to the viewer, while the remaining two

stand further behind facing the viewer. Although a positive identification of the apostles is debatable, the kneeling figure on the right is Peter who is recognized by his similar representations in other windows in the program. The upper half of this central window

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contains the figure of Christ surrounded by a cloud as he seemingly rises into the heavens, standing in classic contrapposto with both arms extended upward while gazing down upon those below. He is enveloped in a radiance of light whose source is the blazing aureole above His head, the symbol of divinity.

A possible compositional source for the lower half of the composition portraying the assembling of the apostles is the Assumption or Coronation of the Virgin, from The

Life of the Virgin series, c. 1510 by Albrecht Dürer (Fig. 94). The lower section of the

woodcut consists of the eleven apostles symmetrically placed in a circle around the

empty tomb of the Virgin Mary. The men look upward while gesturing in a variety of

expressive poses, thus visually serving to lead the viewer’s attention away from the

earthly realm below to the heavenly realm above.

Dürer has created an area of emphasis in the lower composition partly through a

strong contrasting of light and dark. The two apostles in the immediate foreground

flanking the empty grave of the Virgin, as well as the coffin itself have been sparingly

carved to reflect strong highlights, thus creating a marked lighter central area in contrast

to the darker surrounding areas. The fringe of clouds above is also lighter in value, as is

the Trinity and the Virgin Mary. Through a vertical alignment of these lighter areas the artist has created a sense of the mystery of the event that is unfolding, the ascent of the

Virgin from the terrestrial to the heavenly realm. The Mayer artist has achieved a similar result in the design of The Ascension window by coloring the same compositional areas with lighter areas of tone. A vertical axis of radiant light emanates from the figure of

Christ directly downward to those figures placed below, the Virgin and the two apostles who kneel beside her.

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Attention to the two apostles in the immediate foreground of the window is

achieved partly through their lighter tones, but also by their unique postures in relation to

the surrounding apostles. These two figures have been placed looking into the

composition, resulting in their backs being turned toward the viewer. The specific poses

of these figures is also noted: the left apostle kneels with hands clasped in a gesture of prayer, while Peter kneels with arms extended outward and his bare feet exposed. The

voluminous draperies which gather around the figures also contribute to attracting the

viewer’s attention.

A similar treatment of these two apostles can be found in the Assumption and

Coronation of the Virgin by Dürer. Easily identified by their like placement within the

composition, they kneel flanking the corners of the Virgin’s grave in the immediate foreground. Although their faces are also partially hidden due to their backs turned

toward the viewer, they assume similar poses. As in the window, the figure on the left

has hands clasped in a gesture of prayer, while Peter kneels with the soles of his bare feet

exposed and his arms extended frontward.

Dürer’s compositional formula for the Virgin’s coronation dates to approximately

the same time period as his design for the central panel of The Heller Altarpice,404 or The

Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin, completed in 1509 (Fig. 95). Commissioned by Jacob Heller in 1507, the painting integrates several similar compositional elements as

404 Giulia Bartrum, Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy: The Graphic Work of a Renaissance Artist (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002), p. 164; Only part of the Heller Altarpiece has survived in its entirety. The central panel with the Assumption and the Coronation of the Virgin was acquired in 1614 by the Duke Maximilian of Bavaria and taken to Munich where it was destroyed by fire in 1729. The duke commissioned a copy of the panel by Jacob Harrich which is presently found in the Historisches Museum, Frankfurt, along with the original outer wings.

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in the woodcut of the same subject. A separation of the physical and heavenly planes is

accomplished through the placement of the figures within upper and lower zones. The

area below contains a comparable number of figures evenly distributed around the central

tomb, all of whom look upward toward the figure of the Virgin. Of special interest to the

study of The Ascension window is the apostle kneeling in the foreground at the right

corner of the grave. As was noticed in the window as well as in the woodcut, he kneels

with his back turned to the viewer, arms extended, and bare feet exposed. However, a

noticeable feature of the figure is the loose and baggy mantle that contrasts vividly with

the underlying tunic. Although a different type of mantle is included in the woodcut, the

voluminous material draped around the shoulders of Peter is strikingly similar in both the

painting and the window. Considering this similarity along with the like treatment of the

bare feet, as well as the overall posture and positioning of the figure within the

composition, this study suggests that the Mayer artist perhaps drew from both the printed

and painted version of the Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin by Dürer as visual

sources.

This study also suggests that an additional visual source by the Italian master

Raphael, The Transfiguration (Fig. 96), was used by the Mayer designer for the depiction

of the risen Christ in the upper half of the Ascension window. Although this altarpiece

was left unfinished at the time of Raphael’s death in 1520, the dynamic “realism” of The

Transfiguration had a decisive impact on future generations of artists and the

development of the classical ideal in the following century.405 Raphael’s Transfiguration

405 Pierluigi de Vecchi, Raphael (New York, NY: Abbeville Press Publishers, 2002), p. 342; The Transfiguration was commissioned towards the end of 1516 by Cardinal Giulio de’Medici for the Cathedral of Narbonne, where he was then bishop, p. 333.

192 was the most popular of all religious paintings adapted for stained-glass in the first half of the nineteenth-century.406 In the upper zone, Christ is bathed in an aureole of light as he levitates over Mount Tabor, flanked by the figures of the prophets Moses and Elijah. The three apostles – Peter, James, and John – are blinded by the radiance from above and attempt to cover themselves from the light.

The intensity of the light is heightened by the pale white garments worn by Christ and the prophets, their figures contrasting against the even lighter sky behind them.

Christ extends His arms and hands upward while maintaining a contrapposto stance, turning His head slightly to the right as his body gently turns in the opposite direction. A similar treatment of Christ’s figure is depicted in the window design of The Ascension: an identical pose is assumed with arms outstretched and the palms of the hand extended outward. However, due to the difference of the narrative portrayed, Christ’s hands reveal the wounds of the Crucifixion, as do His feet. Additionally, although Christ wears a white tunic, a vibrant red mantle drapes His body and flutters around Him, a standard identifying element of His iconography that is repeated throughout the program. As was previously mentioned in the discussion of the Munich style, the Mayer artists depicted key characters within a stained-glass program using consistent iconography to assist the viewer’s recognition of the figures, and understanding of the depicted narrative.

In the painting of The Transfiguration, the centralized orb of blue and white light that illuminates the sky behind Christ, and the darker surrounding areas along the sides, is duplicated in the window design. The strong sense of absolute symmetry created by

406 Harrison, Victorian Stained Glass, p. 17.

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Raphael in the upper zone of the painting even extends to the inclusion of two trees

flanking the central figure of Christ. This compositional device is likewise repeated in

the Ascension window with green leaves of foliage bordering the two outer edges,

contributing to a formally balanced and harmonious composition. The close

compositional and stylistic qualities of the painting and the window design in the Sacred

Heart Church are especially realized when contrasted with The Transfiguration scene located in the Church of the Immaculate Conception (Fig. 22; window IC-13). Two completely different cartoons, designed by two different artists, are portrayed in each of the stained-glass programs in the two churches. The very close affinities of the upper section of The Ascension window in Sacred Heart Church and Raphael’s Transfiguration suggest the Mayer artist conceptually and compositionally borrowed from this revered painting of the Italian master.

The Resurrection

The counterpart to the grand Ascension window is The Resurrection, located across the nave in the north transept (Fig. 54; window SH-12). This window is also composed of three single lights portraying a narrative that extends from the large central window across both of the smaller flanking windows. Although the moment when Christ arises form the tomb is not recorded in any of the Gospels, it is part of the Apostles’

Creed and a basic tenet of Christian belief.407 For the design of this window the Mayer

artist created a cartoon composed of multiple figures that combines two scriptural

accounts taken from the Gospels that describe events related to the Resurrection.

407 Sill, A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art, p. 97.

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The first is taken from Matthew who describes an angel coming down from

heaven and rolling back the stone of the tomb; the guards were so afraid of him that “they

shook and became like dead men” (Matthew 28:2-4). The upper section of the central

window is filled with the triumphant Christ levitating above His empty tomb. The

lower part of His body is covered by a white gown; a sumptuous red mantle, secured

around His shoulders by a gold brooch, is draped around His body and flutters outward.

He prominently displays in His left hand the Resurrection staff, Cross, and banner,

symbolic of His victory over death, while He theatrically gestures upward with His right

hand. The lower one-third of the window is occupied by a glorious angel wearing a

shimmering yellow mantle, and two men who are easily identified as Roman soldiers by

their costumes. Located in the lower left section of the composition, the angel kneels

before the open entrance to the tomb while looking toward the two men; one is asleep

while the other cowers in fright as he covers his face. Two additional guards are featured

in the right flanking windows who are attempting to flee from the extraordinary event

before them, and move boldly outward in the opposite direction.

The second scriptural account that is incorporated into The Resurrection is taken

from Mark 16:1-6 that describes the three women who appeared at the tomb: Mary

Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. These three women appear in the

left flanking window, walking along a rocky path toward the tomb while carrying spices

to anoint Christ’s body. Dressed in a variety of colorful and patterned fabrics, they assume a mixture of pious poses while each holds an ornately decorated vessel.

This study suggests The Resurrection by Dürer, taken from The Large Passion and dated to 1510, due to the common general and specific stylistic and compositional

195 elements existing between the two figures of Christ in both of the Resurrection scenes.

Christ is miraculously suspended above His sarcophagus, His body dominating the central two-thirds of the composition. Because He is wearing only a mantle His upper torso is exposed, revealing the deep wound in His side. He holds the long Resurrection staff, Cross and banner in His left hand, and he raises His right hand in blessing as he looks upward toward the heavens. The Mayer artist has duplicated not only Dürer’s placement of the suspended Christ within the composition, but also His contrapposto stance and positioning of the head and arms. Likewise, Dürer’s characteristic heavy and angular treatment of the drapery, its particular movement around Christ’s body leaving the upper body exposed, as well as the manner of its fastening around Christ’s shoulders is also recognized in the version created by the Mayer artist. Additionally, Christ’s turning of His upper body toward the right, his partially open lips, the fluttering ends of the cloak and the banner all contribute to the sense of animation and movement that is such a strong characteristic of both Resurrection scenes.

An additional stylistic source pertinent to The Resurrection window can be discerned in the flanking window featuring the two Roman guards fleeing from the terrifying sight of the Resurrected Christ. The soldier located in the lower half of the window turns sharply away from the central window, projecting his right arm into he viewer’s space while his opposite leg bears the weight of his twisting body. While turning his head backward to look once again at the awesome spectacle unfolding at the tomb, the positioning of his pike visually reinforces the diagonal placement of his body, thus contributing to the great sense of haste that is physically represented in the outward movement of his skirt.

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The visual model used by the Mayer artist in drawing this Roman soldier was

borrowed from a design of Raphael’s conceived for a project covering the vaults of the

13 bays of the papal loggia in the Vatican Palace. Commissioned by Pope Leo X and

finished in 1519, the ceiling vaults were covered with frescoes representing scenes drawn

from the Old Testament and episodes from the life of Christ.408 A scene from the loggia

depicting the story of David and Goliath (Fig. 98) portrays the men of Israel and Judah embroiled in combat with the Philistines.409

The focus of the scene is the young hero, David, who is featured standing over the fallen enemy, Goliath, whom he is preparing to decapitate. Numerous men are engaged in lively combat and fill the remaining space of the composition. After seeing that his leader is being killed and that the battle is lost, a Philistine soldier turns and runs away.

Located in the immediate left foreground of the composition the figure moves away from the central action of the scene, his left arm positioned outward as his body pivots upon his firmly planted leg. When comparing this posture with that of the soldier depicted in

The Resurrection scene, the deliberate borrowing by the Mayer artist is quite obvious and demonstrates the certain use of Raphael’s design.410

Our discussion pertaining to the influence of the work of Raphael upon the Mayer

artist continues with a look once again at the central window of the Resurrection, with

attention directed toward the soldier located in the lower right area of the composition.

408 De Becchi, Raphael; The assistants who painted the loggia are on record as having received payment on June 11, 1519.

409 See I Samuel 17:1-50.

410 The same figural pose is also found in The Resurrection window at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Fig. 29, IC-15A.

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He kneels upon one knee, cowering in fright as he covers his face from the image of

Christ that confronts him. This distinctive pose can be recognized in another design by

Raphael from the papal loggia depicting Moses and the Burning Bush (Fig. 99). When

God revealed himself in flames of fire from within a bush, Moses was instructed to not

come any closer and “hid his face: for he durst not look at God.”411 Moses kneels upon

the ground and bends his body over as he covers his face from the sight of God. This

humbling posture was adapted by the Mayer artist to depict the soldier at the tomb, who also can not bear to look upon the face of the Resurrected Christ.

The Coronation of the Virgin Mary

The window located above the central portal of the west façade illustrates the

concluding Mystery of the Virgin, The Coronation of the Virgin Mary (Fig.66; window

SH-18), that although having no basis in scripture, is derived from an apocryphal text

attributed to Bishop Melito of Sardis.412 The Virgin’s Coronation took place just after her Assumption and included her crowning by the Trinity. Instantly recognizable by her blue gown and white mantle, Mary’s corporeal reception into the heavens and her

Coronation is magnificently illustrated. Her body appears weightless as she ascends into the clouds, her piety expressed through her lowered head and arms laid lightly across her breast. Placed centrally in the composition she attracts the gaze of the viewer as she receives a golden crown from the Trinity that creates a protective arch of divinity around her. Flanking figures of God the Father and God the Son turn inwardly toward the Virgin

411 Exodus 3:5-6.

412 Gaston Duchet-Suchaux and Michel Pastoureau, The Bible and the Saints (Paris: Flammarion, 1994), p. 99. This belief was supported by Gregory of Tours in the sixth century before becoming widely publicized in the Golden Legend by James of Voragine.

198 as they simultaneously suspend a golden crown above her head. Immediately above the crown, the white dove of the Holy Spirit hovers with outstretched wings. The space surrounding the Trinity in the upper portion of the window explodes in linear rays of divine light that radiate outward from a central point.

This study’s discussion of the influence of Dürer’s woodcuts in the design of specific narrative scenes in the program of stained-glass at Sacred Heart Church will continue with the return to a work previously mentioned in this chapter, the Assumption or Coronation of the Virgin Mary (Fig. 94). Unlike the earlier discussion of The

Ascension window (Fig. 55; window SH-6), attention is now placed only upon the figures contained in the upper portion of the woodcut. Dürer has centered the Virgin between images of Christ and God the Father who are in the process of endowing her with the honored position of Queen of Heaven, while directly above her golden crown the Holy

Spirit hovers, thus completing the symbolic representation of the Trinity.

Obvious differences between Dürer’s print and the window design are discernible: a crowned Christ is represented as the Man of Sorrows, holding the reed surmounted by a cross; and God the Father is also crowned, appearing as a monarch holding His orb of authority. However, there are specific elements from the composition of the woodcut that bear a strong similarity to the window design. A key stylistic trait noted in previously discussed examples of Dürer’s woodcuts is the use of strong linear lines radiating in an outward direction symbolizing the halo of divine light. A feature borrowed from Schongauer, Dürer used this iconography to identify members of the

Trinity, as in the example of the Assumption or Coronation of the Virgin. The heavenly assemblage are identified by surrounding circles of pure light, which as they move

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diagonally outward, gradually darken in tonal value. An identical linear quality is present

in the representation of the Trinity in the window design: brilliant orbs of light surround

the head of God the Father and God the Son, as well as the Holy Spirit, gradually turning into diagonal rays of light as they move outward away form the figures. Additionally,

Dürer’s conception of the Virgin is similarly represented in the stained-glass window, for she assumes a like posture and positioning within the composition.

St. Stanislaus Kostka

In addition to narrative scenes depicting events in the life of Christ the program of stained-glass at Sacred Heart Church also includes images of various saints in the history of the Church. As in the portrayal of episodes related to Christ’s life, the portrayal of each saint includes their traditional attributes that allows the viewer to easily comprehend the nature of the scene being presented. This characteristic is demonstrated in the first window encountered along the south nave illustrating St. Stanislaus Kostka (Fig. 49; window SH-1).

Taking place shortly before his death, St. Stanislaus is portrayed in the private domain of his chamber that is filled with finely carved furniture, and opulent floor and wall coverings. Kneeling beside his bed, he grasps a Crucifix from a nearby table while looking upward toward an apparition of his patron, St. Barbara, a late 3rd-century martyr.

Because she is invoked by those who wish to make a good death, she is traditionally

depicted carrying a host and chalice.413 However, in the window design St. Barbara

extends her arms in a gesture of welcome toward St. Stanilaus, while an accompanying

413 Metford, Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend, p. 42.

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angel displays the articles for communion. Another attribute of St. Barbara, a tower

where she once was imprisoned, is carried by a second flanking angel.

As previously mentioned in this study, during the nineteenth-century, designs for

stained-glass were often adapted from original master works by Renaissance and Baroque

painters. Besides Raphael and Reni, another favorite was the Spanish devotional painter

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682).414 Murillo was popular with collectors in

England, especially in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries, and was well represented

in British collections.415

A visual likeness to the figure of St. Stanislaus is found in Murillo’s the Vision of

Friar Lauterio (Fig. 100), presently in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum,

Cambridge, and dated c. 1638-40. The subject of this work depicts the occasion when

Friar Lauterio prayed to St. Francis for assistance in his theological studies.416 The friar is located kneeling in the lower right corner of the painting, his left arm grasping

Aquinas’ Summa Theologica that rests on the rectangular table beside him. Leaning forward as he kneels upon the floor, Friar Lauterio looks upward toward the heavenly apparition that has appeared before him which consists of the Virgin Mary, St. Francis, and St. Thomas Aquinas.

414 Harrison, Victorian Glass, p. 17.

415 Elliw Waterhouse, “Murillo and Eighteenth-Century Painting Outside Spain,” in Bartolome Murillo 1617-1682 (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1983), p. 70.

416 Ibid, p. 154; St. Francis directed Friar Lauterio to consult St. Thomas’ Summa Theologica. After the apparition the friar turned to this text and discovered the explanation to his problems.

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Although the window scene and the painting share a similar type of narrative

scene in that each example depicts a saint experiencing a visionary apparition, quite

different stories are being illustrated. Yet strong similarities exist between the two male

saints. Both figures are placed in the lower right section of their composition and kneel

before a small table. Upon each small corner table an item integral to the meaning of the story is displayed: St. Stanislaus grasps a Crucifix, symbolic of his partaking of communion before his death; and Friar Lauterio holds the Summa Theologica, the text

from which he will receive inspiration. The men are similarly dressed and retain similar

postures and facial expressions as they lean toward the apparition. Because of the shared

stylistic and compositional traits associated with the two men depicted in the window and the painting, this study suggests that the designer of the window depicting St. Stanislaus

Kostka borrowed elements from Murillo’s painting, the Vision of Friar Lauterio.

St. Dominic Receiving the Rosary from the Virgin Mary

Another narrative scene depicting a mystical apparition in the life of a saint is located in the south nave and presents St. Dominic Receiving the Rosary from the Virgin

Mary (Fig. 53, SH-5). St. Dominic received papal sanctions in 1215 for the foundation of the new Order of Friars Preachers, or the Dominicans, that encouraged the use of the rosary as an aid to devotion. The subject of this window scene resides in the tradition of

St. Dominic’s vision of the Virgin during the early thirteenth-century crusade against the

Albigensian heretics. Mary appeared to Dominic on the eve of battle and presented him

with a chaplet of beads that he called “the crown of roses of Our Lady,” or simply the

rosary.417

417 D. Stephen Pepper, in Guido Reni, p. 162.

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St. Dominic kneels in the lower left corner of the window, looking upward as he

expresses awe and admiration at the mystical appearance of the Virgin Mary who is

accompanied by a retinue of angels. Wearing the crown of heaven, she regally sits upon

an arrangement of clouds as if a royal throne, holding the Christ child securely in her lap.

The Baby leans forward to give the rosary to St. Dominic below who manages to

prominently display the beads as he humbly accepts them.

The work of Murillo is again suggested as possibly serving as a visual model for

the compositional arrangement of this window. This painting is the earliest known work

by Murillo, the Virgin Presenting the Rosary to St. Dominic (Fig. 101), which was

completed c. 1638-40 and is currently located in the Archbishop’s Palace, Seville.418 St.

Dominic, wearing the traditional robe of the Dominicans, kneels as he accepts the string of beads from the Virgin who hovers before him, the Christ Child resting on her lap. A choir of angels singing and playing musical instruments surround the Virgin and Child, creating a celestial border separating the terrestrial and celestial realms.

Following a similar compositional arrangement as Murillo’s painting, the Mayer artist has created a like upward movement. This visual movement begins from the lower left area of the window, established by the diagonal placement of Dominic’s outstretched arms and tilted head, and leads to the Virgin and Child in the upper right corner. A number of similar details are found in both examples, including a book laying in front of

St. Dominic along with a variety of wild flowers; the depiction of the Virgin wearing a crown, symbolizing her role as Queen of Heaven; and an assortment of angel faces

418 Diego Angulo Iniguez, “Murillo: his Life and Work,” in Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, p.11.

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framed by wings filling the upper right area behind Mary. Murillo has filled the upper

half of the celestial world with golden yellow light symbolizing the presence of the

divine; the Mayer artist has attempted to retain this concept by filling part of the upper

area with rays of warm light that serve as a heavenly backdrop for Mary and the Child.

Conclusion

This stylistic analysis has revealed some of the visual sources used by the master

Mayer designer for the production of the program of stained-glass windows located in the

Sacred Heart Church. Some scenes depicting events in the life of Christ are present in

this program as well as that in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, thus revealing

the use of similar sources. These historical sources include examples by Martin

Schongauer, Albrecht Dürer, and Raphael, as well as contemporary German artists such as the Nazarenes and Heinrich Hofmann. Nevertheless, due to the differing iconographic program presented in the Sacred Heart Church, additional visual sources have been discovered that were used by the Mayer designer. These sources include master works created by Bartolomé Murillo and Guido Reni, Baroque artists whose paintings of saints in mystical transport served as objects of devotion for Catholics throughout the world.

CHAPTER 10 CONCLUSION

This study focused on two programs of stained-glass windows located in north and central Florida that were designed and manufactured by the stained-glass studio of Franz

Mayer and Company of Munich, Germany. These programs consist of original and complete collections of figural glass dating to the first decade of the twentieth-century, and are located in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Jacksonville and the

Sacred Heart Church in Tampa. The former church contains a set of 31 windows, the latter 18. Because these collections of glass had not been fully investigated in their cultural context, this study was conducted in order for the windows as well as Franz

Mayer and Company to be more fully identified and recognized in the local community as well as the larger academic realm of stained-glass studies.

I endeavored to provide a rationale for the company’s tremendous success, initially in Germany with later expansion into England and the United States, and considered various historical, theological, philosophical, and economic factors of the nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries. Consideration was also allotted to aesthetic trends of the cultural milieu that might have influenced and contributed to the development of the popular Munich style that characterizes the work of Franz Mayer and Company.

The sensational rise of Franz Mayer and Company as a leader in the field of stained-glass is intriguing. The establishment of Franz Mayer and Company in Munich in 1847 by Joseph Gabriel Mayer occurred when Europe was experiencing a general revival of religion and the liturgical arts. Exceptional business opportunities along with

204 205 the championing of the Gothic Revival style led to an explosion in church building, and the renewed interest in medieval art fostered a revival in the manufacture of stained-glass.

Due to the unprecedented demand for stained-glass in Germany, a Bavarian resurgence in glass-making emerged. It was out of this rich artistic revival in Munich that a number of prosperous and successful German stained-glass studios flourished, such as Franz Mayer and Company.

Victorian England provided exceptional business opportunities in stained-glass production due to the country experiencing a tremendous growth in population, urbanization, and personal wealth. The passage of the Church Building Act in 1818 initiated a national religious revival and massive new building program, along with the restorations of existing churches. A renewed interest in medieval art fostered by the

Gothic Revival was significant for the production of stained-glass, as was the Anglo-

Catholic revival in general. Establishing an office in London in 1865, Franz Mayer and

Company soon became the leading foreign exporter of windows into England by the last quarter of the century.

Business opportunities were even more lucrative in the United States where, by the end of the century, Franz Mayer and Company had rapidly flourished into a dominant stained-glass studio. This success was in large part due to the large numbers of Catholic immigrants entering the country. As was experienced in England, the surge in population was followed by an immediate explosion in church building. Responding to the demands of the American populace Franz Mayer and Company opened an office in New York City in 1888.

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Contributing to the company’s success with a largely Catholic audience were the numerous prestigious honors bestowed upon the company, and official endorsements by the Catholic Church in Rome. The confidence of patrons was promoted by such public ecclesiastical support, as well as the proven superior methods of production used by the company. Employing the best English stained-glass painters who helped forge their distinctive Munich style, Franz Mayer and Company produced a product of exceptional quality and beauty. Their gifted artists functioned as successors to a long European pictorial tradition, portraying realistic and believable figural types within three- dimensional settings. As is demonstrated by the prolific presence of Franz Mayer and

Company’s windows in American Catholic churches, the Munich style was especially popular with Roman Catholic patrons. The company’s stained-glass designs demonstrate the extensive knowledge and subtle understanding of Roman Catholic iconography and pictorial traditions that intellectually and emotionally satisfied the cultural traditions of their American patrons.

An understanding of the general stylistic characteristics of the Munich style that is reflected in the programs of stained-glass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart Church entails an awareness of particular historical, philosophical, and aesthetic influences of the nineteenth-century that came to bear upon the development of the Munich style by Franz Mayer and Company. The artistic revival of interest in medievalism that was common throughout Europe took a specific direction in

Germany, and became a symbol for nationalism and unification. A part of this general movement was to recapture Germany’s long-forgotten artistic heritage, including the resurrection of monumental stained-glass painting. Guided by the traditions of the Royal

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Bavarian Glass-Painting Studio, these glaziers looked to their Medieval and Renaissance

artistic heritage, as well as contemporary sources.

This revival in the arts that looked to the principles associated with the work of

Albrecht Dürer and Raphael Sanzio was a response that reflected contemporary

philosophical ideas. Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder and Friedrich Schlegel were key

literary figures that promoted an intense devotion to these two painters and highly praised

their artistic worth. German artists were encouraged to look to the past works of these

artists for religious and nationalistic inspiration, and to use these early masters as a

starting point in the establishment of a specifically Christian art. The pictorial realism

and idealism exhibited in numerous stained-glass windows in the churches of this study

reflect the German cultural roots of Dürer, and the influences of Raphael from the Italian

Renaissance. These well-known Renaissance works, as well as original Baroque and

contemporary nineteenth-century paintings, were adapted by the Mayer artists and used

as design sources.

The stained-glass programs in the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the

Sacred Heart Church serve as important contributions to the historic buildings in which

they are placed, and function as constructs of artistic and cultural expression of the late nineteenth-century. My methodology devoted attention to the historical establishment of

each church, and provided a description of the exterior and interior of each building in

order to provide the visual context necessary for a stylistic appreciation of the stained-

glass windows.

The programs of stained-glass in Jacksonville and Tampa portray not only the

theological traditions of the Church, but also reflect contemporary Catholic doctrine

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resulting from papal pronouncements and encyclicals. Increased devotion to the Virgin

Mary, Saint Joseph, and the Sacred Heart were especially encouraged through the

papacies of Pope Pius IX and Pope Leo III. Their papal pronouncements were

recognized and theologically understood by the artists working for Franz Mayer and

Company, as is evidenced by the prominent roles these subjects play in the iconography

of the two stained-glass programs.

Personal observations and interpretations were used to analyze the iconography of

each window program, with the inclusion of important thematic concepts that influenced

the organization and placement of the windows within the architectural setting. Lastly,

an iconographic and stylistic examination of specific stained-glass windows in each of

the two churches was conducted. Visual comparisons of historical and contemporary

works of art with specific windows allowed me to suggest possible compositional and

stylistic sources used by the Mayer designers.

Franz Mayer and Company maintained a large and varied collection of cartoons

derived from the works of great master paintings, ranging from the period of the

Renaissance through the nineteenth-century. These drawings served as visual resources

that were used by the Mayer artists in the creation of their figural compositions. My

study of the two programs of glass in Florida has revealed that the Mayer artists

borrowed design elements from not only from past master works of artists but also from a

variety of contemporary artists. After observing works of art produced by these artists, I

have been able to identify a number of specific examples that served as compositional

models for the design and creation of windows from the two groups of stained-glass

addressed in this study.

209

Both of the programs of glass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the

Sacred Heart Church were created in the Munich style, and thus share similar stylistic

sources. The idealized beauty characteristic of the graceful figures in Raphael’s classical

compositions permeates the stained-glass narrative scenes, and clearly served as a stylistic foundation for the Mayer artists. A more contemporary but extremely significant influence on the Munich style was the Nazarene school of painting. Convinced that the fundamental purpose of art was the teaching of moral precepts, these German artists combined Catholic sentiment with a Raphaelesque sweetness and clarity of color and line. The popular paintings of another contemporary artist, Heinrich Hofmann, were an additional stylistic source that reiterated the naturalistic but heavily idealized style of

Raphael. The Munich style created by the Mayer artists was based upon a common visual language shared by Raphael, the Nazarenes, and Heinrich Hofmann whose works were duplicated and adapted by the Mayer artists to recreate instructive and inspirational

Christian narratives.

The stained-glass program at the Church of the Immaculate Conception is strictly

Christological in content and presents scenes illustrating the childhood, public ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ. The chronological placement of each window in the architectural framework contributes to a logical and progressive literal “reading” of each window scene as the viewer moves throughout the space of the church. Additionally, the particular location of the windows in the physical surroundings of the church results in a powerful augmentation of the theological meaning intended for each scene that is reinforced through the liturgy. This is evident, for example, in the selection of the

Crucifixion scene as the central axial window in the apse, thus prominently visible

210

directly over the main altar. The conceptual as well as visual cohesiveness of the stained- glass program at the Church of the Immaculate Conception can be described as “ein

Gesamtkunstwerk von höchster Qualitiät”, a work of art of highest quality in its wholeness.

In the Christological programs of windows at the Church of the Immaculate

Conception, 10 windows have been identified that reflect the direct borrowing of compositional elements from specific works of art. The particular historical sources used for individual window designs include two prints each by Martin Schongauer and

Albrecht Dürer, and one painting by Raphael. More numerous German contemporary sources have been identified, consisting of four works by Heinrich Hofmann, two by

Johann Overbeck, and a single painting created by Caspar David Friedrich. Additionally, compositional elements from the work of two Pre-Raphaelite artists, John Millais and

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, were also used by the Mayer artists.

The Sacred Heart Church contains a program of stained-glass that reflects multiple

underlying themes and reflects the needs of its Jesuit administration. Specific

iconographic scenes speak directly to theological doctrine as well as the lives of certain saints and the history of the church itself. This results in many of the windows standing as separate entities, without a common narrative or conceptual relatedness. Therefore, the program of windows at Sacred Heart Church lacks the precise cohesiveness that was achieved at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, resulting in a less visually satisfying and harmonious arrangement of windows. The major differences between the two programs also reflect in part the aesthetic differences of the two master Mayer designers who oversaw and ultimately planned the finished entities.

211

Unlike the strictly Christological iconographic program of the Church of the

Immaculate Conception, the Sacred Heart Church integrates narrative scenes of important saints with those depicting events from the life of Christ. Therefore, not all of the visual sources discovered in the Jacksonville program are present in the Tampa collection.

None the less, within the Tampa program of stained-glass similar sources were used as

well as additional ones in the design of eight windows. The individual works of art that

were used as compositional models include three each completed by Dürer and Raphael,

a painting by the Italian Baroque artist Guido Reni and one by the Spanish Baroque artist

Bartolomé Murillo, and a composition by the contemporary artist Heinrich Hofmann.

This study has demonstrated that visual sources by similar artists were used for the

construction of both programs of stained-glass, and that the designer of each program

also drew from different artistic sources. This indicates that the Mayer designers

possessed different artistic visions and sensibilities, resulting in two divergent

iconographic and compositional programs. An additional important factor that

contributed to the differences inherent in each program was the specific desires of the

patron. Because the two designers constructed programs that melded with the individual

requests of the patrons and the needs of their respective congregations, a different

theological and iconographic program was emphasized. Therefore, this directly resulted

in the choosing of different cartoons and visual sources.

This study contributed a better understanding of the development of Franz Mayer

and Company in Munich, Germany, and the company’s rise to prominence as a leader in

the production of stained-glass. The initial expansion of the company into England and

its later presence in the United States quickly led to its supremacy over other Munich

212

studios to become the leading exporter of foreign glass into this country. Such

accelerated success was in part due to the development of the popular Munich that was further clarified through this study. Additionally, a better understanding of the working methods of the Mayer artists and their reliance upon master and contemporary works of

art has been presented.

My research has identified two significant programs of original stained-glass by

Franz Mayer and Company located in north and central Florida. For the first time, a

thorough iconographic and stylistic analysis was conducted for each program, and

reasons were suggested for the particular choices that resulted in the uniqueness of each

program. In order to present a more all-encompassing understanding of these stained-

glass collections, attention was given to various historical, philosophical, and aesthetic

influences that came to bear upon the particular development of these programs in both

churches. Due to the distinctiveness of each program, I strongly suggest that a single

master designer oversaw the production of each program that is reflective of the

designer’s personal aesthetic. This master designer chose the specific compositional

sources that were used for the creation of the windows, pulling from Renaissance,

Baroque, and contemporary sources. A conclusion drawn from the results of my visual

analysis indicates that the Mayer designers were influenced by the ideals of the revival in

the arts of nineteenth-century Germany. Their choices for compositional as well as

stylistic sources reflect a deliberate emphasis upon the works of past and contemporary

German artists, thus hoping to preserve the greatness of Germany’s mythical golden age

and its cultural achievements.

213

The results attained through this research are important to the study of stained-glass in north and central Florida as well as in the United States. It is hoped that my investigation of the programs of stained-glass in the Church of the Immaculate

Conception and the Sacred Heart Church will help preserve the Roman Catholic heritage of these two churches within their respective communities, and enable their stained-glass programs to be more fully appreciated not only locally, but also at the state and national level. The stained-glass of Franz Mayer and Company located in thousands of churches throughout this country constitutes an enormously important part of America’s artistic heritage, and provides significant cultural contributions to the broader field of stained- glass.

Further study is suggested of additional programs created by Franz Mayer and

Company in an attempt to discern similar and additional possible compositional and stylistic sources selected by the Mayer artists. Likewise, the study and analysis of other programs of stained-glass produced by the company would be helpful in determining the extent to which the Mayer artists maximized the utilization of past and contemporary

German artists. Two sets of figural windows by Franz Mayer located in Palm Beach and

West Palm Beach have been identified through an earlier study, although these programs have not been stylistically investigated. These two collections would provide an opportunity to further examine the possible visual sources used by the Mayer artists in the creation of these stained-glass programs located in southern Florida, and offer additional contributions to stained-glass studies.

214

Figure 1. Franz Mayer and Company advertisement, Sadlier’s Catholic Directory, Almanac and Ordo, 1894, p. 84 (Photo: author)

215

Figure 2; (IC-22) The Paschal Lamb (Photo: author)

Figure 3; (IC-24) The Wedding Feast at Cana (Photo: author)

216

Figure 4. Franz Mayer and Company catalog advertisement, c. 1910 (Photo: author)

Figure 5. Site plan, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, Florida. United States Department of the Interior, National Register of Historic Places, No. 92001695

217

Figure 6. Scaled ground plan, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, Florida. United States Department of the Interior, National Register of Historic Places, No. 92001695

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Figure 7. Exterior, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, Florida (Photo: author)

219

Figure 8. Interior, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, Florida (Photo: author)

220

Figure 9. Sketchplan, program of windows, ground floor, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, Florida (Xerox: author)

221

Figure 10; (IC-1A) The Annunciation (Photo: author)

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Figure 11; (IC-1B) The Adoration of the Shepherds (Photo: author)

223

Figure 12; (IC-3) The Visitation (Photo: author)

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Figure 13; (IC-4) The Presentation in the Temple (Photo: author)

225

Figure 14; (IC-5) The Finding in the Temple (Photo: author)

226

Figure 15; (IC-6) The Holy Family in the Workshop (Photo: author)

227

Figure 16; (IC-7) Jesus Instructing Nicodemus (Photo: author)

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Figure 17; (IC-8) The Baptism of Jesus (Photo: author)

229

Figure 18; (IC-9) Jesus Blessing the Children (Photo: author)

230

Figure 19; (IC-10) The Raising of the Widow’s Son (Photo: author)

231

Figure 20; (IC-11) The Raising of Lazarus (Photo: author)

232

Figure 21; (IC-12) The Sermon on the Mount (Photo: author)

233

Figure 22; (IC-13) The Transfiguration (Photo: author)

234

Figure 23; (C-23) The Sacrifice of Abraham (Photo: author)

235

Figure 24; (IC-17) The Sacrifice of Melchisedech (Photo: author)

236

Figure 25; (IC-18) The Manna in the Desert (Photo: author)

237

Figure 26; (IC-21) The Feeding of the Five Thousand (Photo: author)

238

Figure 27; (IC-19) The Last Supper (Photo: author)

239

Figure 28; (IC-20) The Crucifixion (Photo: author)

240

Figure 29; (IC-15A) The Resurrection (Photo: author)

241

Figure 30; (IC-15B) The Ascension (Photo: author)

242

Figure 31; (IC-16) The Pentecost (Photo: author)

Figure 32; (IC-2) St. Patrick in Ireland (Photo: author)

243

Figure 33; (IC-14) The Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (Photo: author)

244

Figure 34. Sketchplan, program of windows, clerestory, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, Florida (Xerox: author)

245

Figure 35; (IC-25A) The Choir of Angels (Photo: author)

Figure 36; (IC-25B) The Virgin Mary in Glory (Photo: author)

246

Figure 37; (IC-26A & B) Sts. Augustine and Gregory (Photo: author)

247

Figure 38; (IC 27A & B) Sts. John and Luke (Photo: author)

248

Figure 39; (IC-30A & B) Sts. Mark and Matthew (Photo: author)

249

Figure 40; (IC-31A & B) Sts. Jerome and Ambrose (Photo: author)

250

Figure 41; (IC-28A & B) Angels, eastern window (Photo: author)

251

Figure 42; (IC-29A & B) Angels, western window (Photo: author)

252

Figure 43. Site plan, Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida. Courtesy of Rowe Architects, Tampa, Florida

253

Figure 44. Scaled ground plan, Nicholas J. Clayton, St. Louis Church, Tampa, Florida. Courtesy of Alexander Architectural Archive, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas

254

Figure 45. Scaled ground plan, Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida. Courtesy of Rowe Architects, Tampa, Florida

255

Figure 46. Exterior, Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida (Photo: author)

256

Figure 47. Interior, Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida (Photo: author)

257

Figure 48. Sketchplan, program of windows, ground floor, Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Florida (Xerox: author)

258

Figure 49; (SH-1) St. Stanislaus Kostka (Photo: author)

259

Figure 50; (SH-2) St. Patrick in Ireland (Photo: author)

260

Figure 51; (SH-3) Sts. Anne and Joachim Presenting Mary in the Temple (Photo: author)

261

Figure 52; (SH-4) The Death of St. Joseph (Photo: author)

262

Figure 53; (SH-5) St. Dominic Receiving the Rosary from the Virgin Mary (Photo: author)

263

Figure 54; (SH-12) The Resurrection (Photo: author)

264

Figure 55; (SH-6) The Ascension (Photo: author)

265

Figure 56; (SH-10) The Annunciation (Photo: author)

266

Figure 57; (SH-8) The Adoration of the Shepherds (Photo: author)

267

Figure 58; (SH-9) The Revelation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (Photo: author)

268

Figure 59; (SH-7) St. Louis on Crusade (Photo: author)

269

Figure 60; (SH-11) St. Ignatius Taking First Vows (Photo: author)

270

Figure 61; (SH-13) The Finding in the Temple (Photo: author)

271

Figure 62; (SH-14) Jesus Blessing the Children (Photo: author)

272

Figure 63; (SH-15) Jesus Giving the Keys to St. Peter (Photo: author)

273

Figure. 64; (SH-16) Jesus Saving St. Peter from Drowning (Photo: author)

274

Figure 65; (SH-17) Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Photo: author)

275

Figure 66; (SH-18) The Coronation of the Virgin Mary (Photo: author)

276

Figure 67. After Albrecht Dürer, workshop of Veit Hirsvogel the Elder, The Annunciation, c. 1504-5, stained-glass. Nurermberg, Museen der Stadt Nürnberg, Museum Tucherschloss (Barbara Butts and Lee Hendrix, Paintings on Light, pl. 21)

277

Figure 68. Johann Friedrich Overbeck, Christ Blessing the Children, 1826, oil on canvas, Privathbesitz Berlin (Andreas Bluhm and Gerhard Gerkens, eds., Johann Friedrich Overbeck, pl. 24)

278

Figure 69. Jan van Eyck, Arnolfini’s Wedding Portrait, 1434, tempera and oil on panel,National Gallery, London (James Snyder, Northern Renaissance Art, pl. 18)

279

Figure 70. Raphael, The Mass of Bolsena, detail, 1512, fresco, Stanza d’Eliodoro,Vatican, Rome (Gian Lorenzo Mellini, Raffaello: le Stanze Vaticane, pl. 18)

280

Figure 71. Raphael, The Coronation of the Virgin (Oddi Altarpiece), 1503, oil on canvas, Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome (Konrad Oberhuber, Raphael: The Paintings, pl. 14)

281

Figure 72. Robert Martineau, The Last Day in the Old Home, 1861, oil on canvas, Tate Gallery, London (Christopher Wood, The Pre-Raphaelites, p. 72)

282

Figure 73. Martin Schgongauer, The Annunciation, c. 1480-85, engraving (Musée du Petit Palais, Martin Schongauer: Maitre de la Gravure Rhenane vers 1450- 1491, pl. 54)

283

Figure 74. Albrecht Dürer, The Annunciation (The Life of the Virgin), c. 1503, woodcut, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Walter L. Strauss, ed., Albrecht Dürer Wood- Cuts and Wood Blocks, pl. 74)

284

Figure 75. Martin Schongauer, The Adoration of the Magi, c. 1470-75, engraving (Musée du Petit Palais, Martin Schongauer: Maitre de la Gravure Rhenane vers 1450- 1491, pl. 10)

285

Figure 76. John Everett Millais, Christ in the House of His Parents, 1850, oil on canvas, Tate Gallery, London (Christopher Wood, The Pre-Raphaelites, p. 17)

286

Figure 77. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Girlhood of Mary Virgin, 1849, oil on canvas, Tate Gallery, London (Christopher Wood, The Pre-Raphaelites, p. 9)

287

Figure 78. Johann Friedrich Overbeck, The Visitation, 1867/68, oil on canvas, Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte der Hansestadt, Lübeck (Andreas Blühm und Gerhard Gerkens, eds., Johann Friedrich Overbeck, pl. 37)

288

Figure 79. Albrecht Dürer, The Visitation (The Life of the Virgin), c. 1504, woodcut (Walter L. Strauss, ed., Albrecht Dürer’s Woodcuts and Wood Blocks, pl. 91)

289

Figure 80. Heinrich Hofmann, Christ in the Temple, 1882, oil on canvas, Riverside Church, New York City, New York

290

Figure 81. Heinrich Hofmann, Christ in the Temple, c. 1880, lithograph (Heinrich Hofmann, Life of Christ)

291

Figure 82. Heinrich Hofmann, Sermon on the Mount, c. 1880, lithograph (Heinrich Hofmann, Life of Christ)

292

Figure 83. Heinrich Hofmann, Jesus Raising the Widow’s Son from Nain, c. 1880 (Martin Luther, Die Heilige Schrift für häusliche Erbauung und Belehrung: enthaltend das Alte und Neue Testament)

293

Figure 84. Heinrich Hofmann, The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus, c. 1880, lithograph (Heinrich Hofmann, Life of Christ)

294

Figure 85. Caspar David Friedrich, The Crucifix in the Mountain, 1807-8, oil on canvas, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden (Wieland Schmied, Caspar David Friedrich, pl. 5)

295

Figure 86. Anonymous, The Virgin on the Crescent Moon, c. 1490-95, linden wood, with Original polychromy and gilding, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg, pl. 37)

296

Figure 87. Raphael, St. Catherine of Alexandria, 1507, oil on panel, National Gallery, London (Konrad Oberhuber, Raphael: The Paintings, pl. 61)

297

Figure 88. Perugino, Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter, 1481, fresco, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome (Frederick Hartt and David G. Wilkins, History of Italian Renaissance Art, 5th ed., pl 14.14)

Figure 89. Raphael, Charge to St. Peter, 1514-15, black chalk and tempera on paper, mounted on canvas, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Konrad Ober- huber, Raphael: The Paintings, pl. 134)

298

Figure 90. Guido Reni, Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter, 1626, oil on canvas, Louvre Museum, Paris (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Guido Reni 1575-1642, pl. 39)

299

Figure 91. Martin Schongauer, Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, c. 1475-1480, Engraving (Musee du Petit Palais, Martin Schongauer: Maitre de la Gravure Rhenane vers 1450-1491, pl. 30)

300

Figure 92. Albrecht Dürer, Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane (The Large Passion), c. 1496-97, woodcut (Walter L. Strauss, ed., Albrecht Dürer Woodcuts and Wood Blocks, pl. 38)

301

Figure 93. Raphael, The School of Athens, detail, 1510, fresco, Stanze della Segnatura (Konrad Oberhuber, Raphael: The Paintings, pl.78)

302

Figure 94. Albrecht Dürer, The Assumption or Coronation of the Virgin (The Life of the Virgin), 1510, woodcut (Walter L. Strauss, ed., Albrecht Dürer Woodcuts and Wood Blocks, pl. 147)

303

Figure 95. Jobst Harrich after Albrecht Dürer, The Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin (The Heller Altarpiece), c. 1614, oil on panel, Frankfurt am Main, Historisches Museum (Fedja Anzelewsky, translated by Heide Grieve, Dürer: His Art and Life, pl. 129)

304

Figure 96. Raphael, The Transfiguration, c. 1516-20, oil on panel, Pinacoteca, Vatican, Rome (Konrad Oberhuber, Raphael: The Paintings, pl. 202)

305

Figure 97. Albrecht Dürer, The Resurrection (The Large Passion), 1510, woodcut (Walter L. Strauss, ed., Albrecht Dürer Woodcuts and Wood Blocks, pl. 151)

306

Figure 98. Raphael, David and Goliath (The Loggia), 1516-19, fresco, Vatican Palace, Rome (Rumer Godden, The Raphael Bible, p. 195)

307

Figure 99. Raphael, Moses and the Burning Bush (The Loggia), 1516-9, fresco, Vatican Palace, Rome (Rumer Godden, The Raphael Bible, p. 131)

308

Figure 100. Bartolomé Murillo, The Vision of Friar Lauterio, c. 1638-40, oil, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (Royal Academy of Arts, London, Bartolomé Murillo 1617-1682, pl. 2)

309

Figure 101. Bartolomé Murillo, The Virgin Presenting the Rosary to St. Dominic, c. 1638-40, oil, Archbishop’s Palace, Seville (Royal Academy of Arts, London, Bartolomé Murillo 1617-1682, pl. 1)

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Interviews and Correspondences

Cabrera, Larry, business manager, Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, FL.

Carbonnau, Elaine, church historian, Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, FL.

Clark, Patrick, stained-glass restorer, Rockaway Park, NY.

Dempsey, Fr. Terrence, S.J., professor of art history, St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO

Gallagher, Charles, archivist, Catholic Center, Diocese of St. Augustine, Jacksonville, FL.

Hawkings, Fr. Donald, S.J., archivist, New Orleans Province, New Orleans, LA.

Jäkel, Wilfried, Franz Mayer and Company, Munich, Germany.

Leon, Fr. Antonio, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, FL.

Mayer, Dr. Gabriel, president, Franz Mayer and Company, Munich, DEU.

Oliver, Dr. John, director, The Neri Center, Jacksonville, FL.

Osterle, Fr. Paul, S.J., Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, FL.

Picard, Jerry, church historian, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, FL.

Raguin, Virginia, director, Census of Stained-Glass Windows in America, Visual Arts Department, College of the Holy Cross, Worchester, MA.

Saour, Gouzine, Jacksonville, FL.

Sparrow, Nancy, curatorial asst., The Alexander Architectural Archive, Architecture and Planning Library, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.

Sullivan, Eric, architecture graduate, The University of Texas at Austin, TX.

Valentino, Fr. Frank, S.J., Jacksonville, FL.

Weis, Helene, librarian, Willet Studios, Philadelphia, PA.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Deborah S. Jamieson was born in Virginia and moved to northeast Florida as a small child. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1978 and a Master of

Education in 1986 from the University of North Florida. Deborah entered the doctoral program at the University of Florida in 2002, and graduated with a Ph.D. in Medieval Art

History in May 2005.

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