Window Description:

The window with the crucifixion, located on the west wall, offers a unique and truly American version of the most important moment in Christian history. Prominently featured in the center of the window, Christ hangs dead upon the cross. His closed eyes, pale flesh and the surrounding dark clouds signify his passing. The Gospels of Matthew (Matt 27:45), Mark (15; 33 ) and Luke (24:44) tells us that darkness came over the entire earth from the sixth to the ninth hour when Christ died. To Christ's right is St. John, the beloved disciple, who remained with the Lord to the end and for this reason always figures in crucifixion scenes. The artist has depicted him gazing lovingly upon Christ and praying to him. On Christ's left is a woman draped in an American flag who can only be Lady Liberty. She replaces the Virgin Mary who traditionally stands opposite John at the foot of the cross. Perhaps to disassociate her from Mary, the artist has placed her on Christ's left, as Mary traditionally stands on his right. In the foreground of the window, below the cross, an American sailor and soldier kneel. The latter, known as a doughboy, holds low to the ground an American flag that unfurls on the steps leading to the cross. The soldier's laxity with the flag suggests that God is greater than country.

The presence of Lady Liberty and the military figures is explained by the words in the cartouche below, the only non-Biblical text in the windows, "In memory of our soldiers and sailors who fought and died in the World War for the fatherland." Another explanation for their presence is the common European practice of commemorating the deaths of soldiers killed in the war through commissions of stained glass windows for churches. The remembrance of fallen soldiers would have been especially relevant at St. John's in the late 1920s when the windows were ordered, as men from the Chapel community would have fought and died in the war. The quote at the top of the window "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13) echoes the theme of soldiers fallen in war. The juxtapostion of the image of the crucifixion with the two quotes suggests: as Christ gave his life for the salvation of the world, the service men who fought in the war gave their lives for their fellow Americans.

The theme of death is echoed in visual details found in the window. The stepped pedestal out of which the cross projects and the golden scrolls atop the steps, elements associated with grave markers, transform Calvary into a tomb. The roses that lie on the steps extend this allusion, as flowers are traditionally placed on graves. The dark clouds that hover behind Christ, as mentioned above, signify death.

The placement of the crucifixion next to the nativity must be purposeful. In this juxtaposition we have the birth and death of Christ, the two most crucial moments of his life. Together these windows serve as visual aids for devotion on the life of Christ.

--Paula Carns, M.S., Ph.D.