Angels of Deliverance

1970 – Washington National Cathedral – Choir, North Clerestory

The clerestory windows around the choir are full of angels, and three of these windows are Rowan and Irene’s. All three contrast in style with the other artists’ traditional portraits of angel in this space. What is striking about this particular window is the angularity of the glass pieces. This is not a warm and fuzzy window; there are sharp angles everywhere. The reds sweep upward toward the central angel. This is a kinetic window that is almost vibrating with color and light. It is unique in that this energy permeates the entire window. Adding to the effect is Rowan’s crosshatching, which is everywhere, but imperceptible from a distance. If you are sitting in the choir gazing up to the clerestory, the window is sure to rouse your spirits. This was the last window that Rowan and Irene worked on together before her tragic death in 1970.

One interesting technical note here is that in the lower right hand corner, the sun illuminates the window from the inside. If you look down at the Details below (see “Right Lancet, Detail 4”), you can see how the window is attached to the stone of the cathedral. There are metal bars running across the frame that are embedded in the stone. The window has wires soldered into it, and these wires are twisted around the bars to hold it in place.

Iconography

We 21st-century humans may not take the whole concept of angels seriously, but the authors of the Bible certainly did. The writer of Hebrews refers to the heavenly Jerusalem with its “innumerable angels in festal gathering” (Hebrews 12:22). Hebrews 1:14 asks, “Are not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?”The Angel of Deliverance, with a serene face that shows great strength as well as compassion, fills the center lancet here and is seen gesturing to those in need in the left and right lancets. This angel clearly has enormous power as an agent of God.

In the left lancet, the angel delivers Daniel from the hungry lion. In Daniel 6:22, he acknowledges the angel’s help: “My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” The flame-like background here also suggests the deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace in Daniel 3:8-30. At the bottom of the same lancet, Lot reaches toward the angel as he escapes the flames of Sodom. In the right lancet is Abraham, shown below his innocent son Isaac, whom Sarah had borne him in his old age. God had commanded Abraham to kill Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice, and Abraham was prepared to obey. The window shows the moment at which Abraham has just dropped his knife at the voice of the Angel of Deliverance, and in the quatrefoil above the center lancet is the head of the ram that God provides for Abraham to use for a sacrifice in place of his only son, Isaac.