Dove and Fish

1963 – St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Washington, DC

This is one of two abstract windows that illuminate Saint Luke’s Church in Washington, DC. Like it companion across the nave, this window uses very thick glass, which reduces the amount of light that gets into the church. This window, however, is much brighter than the one across the nave, in large part because of the bits of bright yellow glass that permeate the window. In both windows Rowan and Irene have chipped the thick glass in order to create facets that scatter the light. Rowan was experimenting with this technique as early as 1942, and he and Dieter Goldkuhle used it to great effect in Washington National Cathedral’s famous “Creation” (west rose) window in 1976. That window has a shadow from a 15-foot overhanging recess, and Dieter said its faceted glass completely ignores the damping effect of this shadow and scatters light through the nave.

Iconography

While this is an abstract window, there are a few recognizable shapes within its mosaic of colorful glass. Near the top of the center lancet we clearly see a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, descending in a field of blue and green glass. This could also recall both the dove from the story of Noah, which brought an olive branch back to the ark after the great flood, and Jesus’ baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus “like a dove.” In the right lancet there are some circular shapes, possibly air bubbles in the water, above a fish. The fish is an ancient Christian symbol, and the New Testament is full of references to these creatures: Jesus helped the disciples to catch fish and invited them to become “fishers of men;” he also fed the multitudes with five loaves and two fishes, according to the Gospel story. Also, “ichthus,” the Greek word for “fish,” spells out the first letters of the Greek for “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior,” and the ichthus symbol was used as a secret sign for Christians during the early years of their persecution.

Though it is not obvious, the left lancet seems to include a robed figure, possibly preaching. Could this be Jesus, perhaps preaching the Sermon on the Mount, or calling his fisherman followers, or even ascending to Heaven? Hopefully more research will remove the clouds of mystery from this beautiful window.