Covenant With God’s People

1993 – Washington National Cathedral – Nave Clerestory 

This is another window in which Rowan was charged with mixing stories from the Old and New Testaments. The New Testament stories are in the right and left lancets and the Old Testament story is in the two center lancets.  What is quite striking however is how Rowan uses a rainbow of color in the background to blend the stories together.  On the left it begins with purple and red and then shifts to orange and yellow in the center-left, yellow and green in the center right and blue and purple in the far right. 

 Dieter Goldkuhle fabricated this window and he must have really enjoyed creating this virtual rainbow of colors.  In the clip below you can see a bit of Dieter selecting glass and he literally say this is what gives him his “kicks.”

Iconography

Joshua is the key figure from the Old Testament in this window and he is depicted in the center-left lancet.  The overall theme of the window is about how God made a covenant with his people and Joshua has placed a stone by an oak tree in the center-right lancet.  In the Biblical passage Joshua says that the stone has witnessed the making of this covenant and will be a witness to whether or not future generations abide by it.  The New Testament lesson begins in the left lancet with Judas betraying this covenant by betraying Jesus and this leads to Jesus carrying his cross to his crucifixion in the right lancet.  The Arc of the Covenant is in the multifoil at the top.

Year Completed

1993

Artists

Rowan LeCompte

Fabricator

Dieter Goldkuhle

Location In Building

North Clerestory Bay 3