Angels of Revelation

1979 – Washington National Cathedral – Choir, North Clerestory

This is the last of the three angelic themed windows at the clerestory level of the choir that Rowan designed. Like the other two, it is a very modern design with angelic figures that could be found in a New Wave music festival. While the reds dominate and are contrasted with the light blues and whites, the purples and greens provide a balance to the composition. Benoit Gilsoul is credited with assisting Rowan on the window. Benoit is one of the many stained glass artists that came out of Mel Greenland’s studio. Gilsoul, who was born in Belgium, went on to gain some prominence in the stained glass world and died in 2000. This was a busy time for Rowan as he just came off creating the West Rose with Dieter Goldkuhle and was in the middle of creating the eighteen clerestory windows for the nave.

Iconography

The center lancet is dominated by fiery red glass depicting the burning bush that Moses encountered high on the mountain top. Moses is in the upper part of the right lancet, reeling from this encounter. In the left lancet we see an angel, sword drawn, confronting the controversial prophet Balaam. The Book of Numbers relates that Balaam was on his way to place a curse on Israel when an angel appeared to block his way, but at first only Balaam’s donkey could see the angel: “The Lord opened the donkey’s mouth,” (Numbers 22:28), and it rebuked the prophet; finally, “the Lordopened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lordstanding in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand.(22: 31). The angel then pointed out that the donkey’s recognition had saved Balaam’s life and instructed Balaam to speak only God’s words about the Hebrews (22:3–35). Spanning the bottom of the center and right lancets is a depiction of a third encounter with an Angel of Revelation, this time by the Israelite Gideon, in which the angel (at the bottom of the right lancet) commissions him to lead the armies of Israel against the Midianites, their recent conquerors, and promises to help Gideon defeat them (Judges 6:11-24).

Unlike the supernatural beings in Rowan’s other two angel windows, here the angels are portrayed as described in the Bible: without wings and having the general likeness of humans, with whom they are sometimes confused.