Photo – Peter Swanson
The Martyrdom of Saint Alban
1964 – The Little Sanctuary, Saint Albans School, Washington, DC
This last window in the series of windows is right in keeping, stylistically, with the first four. It has a similar glass structure, with heavy lead lines again forming the shape of a cross and the large, carefully selected pieces of glass. Rowan’s “orcs” are doing the dirty work here, and Rowan and Irene capture the execution in progress. The glass in the red background is stunning, and the blue flames carry our eyes heavenwards with Saint Alban’s spirit.
Iconography
The window depicts the beheading of Saint Alban, an event that is wrapped in story and myth. In Great Britain, Alban is honored as the first-recorded British Christian martyr. In Rowan and Irene’s window, at the moment of his death, Alban’s spirit rises up in a great blue flame and spreads over the land. The school brochure tells us that this window also has ties to an event of American national significance, “This window was designed immediately after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The class composed an inscription which says, The Class of 1964, Remembering the Martyrdom of St. Alban and the death of President Kennedy.”
Photo – Peter Swanson
Window Details
Window Details
Year Completed
1964
Artists
Rowan LeCompte
Irene Matz LeCompte
Fabricator
Melville Greenland
Location In Building
North Wall
To learn more about Rowan and stained glass vist our DVD store.
Dimensions
3 feet x 1.5 feet
Address
3101 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington, DC 20016
Produced By:
Global Visions & Associates, Inc.
www.globalviz.com
More Information
More information will be forthcoming as the site develops.