Environmental Preservation

Photo – Peter Swanson

2003 – The Little Sanctuary, Saint Albans School, Washington, DC

Almost 50 years after Rowan made his first windows for this chapel, he returned to design two more, which were fabricated by his collaborator of many years, Dieter Goldkuhle. This is one of two windows that adorn the doors on either side of the altar. Like its companion on the south side of the altar, this window has large lead lines as well as large pieces of glass that create the scene. Both windows also have minimal crosshatching, but this window also has some fine detail. If you look at the bundle of wheat near the top, the tree that is being planted, and the flowers held by the woman near the bottom, you see lots of tiny detail. The border also has small, odd shapes with little dots and circles that create an unusual frame for the window.

Iconography

The central figures in the window are planting a tree, and the theme is environmental preservation. In an article from the school newspaper, Sandy Hill writes about these two windows on either side of the altar, “The two scenes represented in the windows express a collaboration of ideas between the Merchant family (the donors) and Mr. LeCompte and portray specific values important to the Saint Alban’s Community. This window shows the importance of the preservation of the environment. It draws on such symbols as bread, trees, and wheat to convey the beauty and bounty of nature. Humanity is the key in both windows.” The colors in the window are colors of nature, the earth, plants water and sky and they seem intertwined in a semiotic relationship. In his dedication speech for the windows, Headmaster Vance Wilson said, ‘The windows are related in the sense that they are both about the preservation of the human race – this window by taking care of the environment and that window by taking care of each other and working together.’”

Photo – Peter Swanson

Window Details

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