• John the Baptist

John the Baptist

Window Description

"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord.'"(Matt. 3: 1-12)

A rather curious image of St. John the Baptist preaching in the desert of Judea fills a small window in the choir loft at St. John's Catholic Chapel. In it, we see the saint standing on a rocky bluff in a deserted spot preaching. His mouth is closed but his raised hands suggests that he speaks the quote at the bottom of the window, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord.'"(Matt. 3: 1-12). The artist has interpreted the Biblical description of John's attire, which consisted of a garment "of camels' hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins" as a brown, unadorned robe fastened with a lavender-colored belt. Before the saint, on lower terrain, men and woman of all ages stand and listen intently to the holy discourse. An elderly man with a staff cradles his head in his hand, a gesture that might indicate shame for past sins, for the Gospel tells us that many came to John to confess their sins as well as be baptized by him. The well-dressed man in a blue robe, gold shawl, red cap and full beard in the crowd most likely represents the many Pharisees and Sadduces that attended John's baptisms. To them, the saint replied, "Ye brood of Vipers, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come." In the background Jesus "cometh... from Galilee to the Jordan, unto John, to be baptized by him" — a sign of his humanity. In response to Jesus' request, John tells his audience, "he that shall come after me, is mightier than I... he shall baptize you in the Hold Ghost and fire." Most narrative images show St. John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in the Jordan rather than the earlier moment depicted in this window.

The Gospel explains most elements of the window. Unusual, however, is the depiction of Jesus, who is diminutive, all white, fully surrounded by a halo of golden rays and floating above the crowd. How might we account for this odd appearance? A look at the art historical tradition of images of Jesus enveloped in a mandorla — the term for this sort of halo — in the context of the Gospel passage is instructive. In Christian art the mandorla represents divinity and is usually associated with images of the Transfigured Christ or Christ in Majesty. The color white for the body and clothes of Jesus also signifies a point in time after the Resurrection. Christian art, following the medieval tradition, often depicts corpses primarily colored in white. The figure of Jesus then is a visual reference to his divinity. As such, it reflects in an interesting way the final verses of the Gospel passage, which tell us that after Jesus was baptized, "and lo, the heavens were opened to him [John the Baptist]: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. And behold a voice from heaven saying, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'" God's words underscore what John already suspects: Jesus is the son of God and thus of divine nature. Rather than employ the customary iconographical scheme of John the Baptist, the Lamb of God and God the Father set against a landscape to denote the final verses of this Gospel passage, the stained glass artists simply uses the mandorla and color white. The result is that several narrative moments — John preaching, Jesus arriving for baptism and God claiming Jesus as his son — are economically condensed into one image and the two themes of the event are thus implied: the humanity and divinity of Jesus. Another theme is the linkage between Christ's public mission, which begins with his baptism, and his glorious resurrection and ascension, implied in the mandorla.

Another curiosity surrounding this window is its inclusion at St. John's. Why is it here? It is the only New Testament scene in the stained glass program that does not feature Jesus. No ready answer comes to mind. Neither the window's particular treatment of the event, nor its location in the choir loft suggest a definite answer. It is a mystery yet to be solved.