Photo – Peter Swanson

Carpenters

1955 –Church of the Nativity and Holy Comforter, Baltimore, MD

This is the fourth of four windows in the bell tower of The Church of the Nativity and Holy Comforter that depict events in the life of Christ.  All of the windows are the same size and are of similar character in their design.   Like the John the Baptist window next to it on the east wall of the tower, this is a very active window.  The design tells a little story that features Jesus twice in the window.  In the upper right he is looking into the carpenter shop, and down below he has picked up a saw and gotten to work.  The body of Joseph is almost lost in the busy background. This window, along with its neighbor, the John the Baptist window, has cooler blues, purples and greens as the dominant colors.

Iconography

The scene depicts Jesus, at the top of the window, peeking into Joseph’s workshop as Joseph carries away some lumber.  Down below, Jesus is hard at work learning his father’s trade, as would be expected of a firstborn son. Although we do not know exactly what Rowan and Ireneintended to convey symbolically in this window, there is a good possibility that Jesus appears twice to represent his two natures: as both divine (looking down from above) and human (living everyday life, sawing wood in obedience to his earthly father).

Year Completed

1955

Artists

Rowan LeCompte

Irene Matz LeCompte

Fabricator

Rowan LeCompte

Irene Matz LeCompte

Location In Building

Bell Tower East Wall