As a housewarming gift, Jenny shipped me a piece of Dad’s glass art. When I unwrapped it, I wept. I am so happy to have another piece to hang in the windows here.
When Dad was learning the techniques of glass painting, he copied the church windows of medieval glass masters. Here’s what he wrote about this one on his website in November 2003:
“This is a painted and fired replication of an old church window that was donated by the Winemakers Guild to the church. How much wine did they drink in the 14th and 15th centuries?”
I commented on the post, “Lots! That keg was probably destined for becoming the blood of Christ, though. Maybe the church rituals were more generous back then?”
The medieval wine industry definitely had riches to spend. The “Winemaker’s Guild window” in Chartres Cathedral is huge – the roundel Dad copied is the center part of The Life of St. Lubin in bay 45 of the cathedral. It was created in 1205–1215 and has been restored twice.
Saint Lubin (also known as Leobinus) was Bishop of Chartres from 544 until his death in 557. The wine sellers and innkeepers of Chartres consider him their patron saint. So the windows depicting his youth as a shepherd, his eduction by monks and other key points of his life are accompanied by images of wine being made and in the center of it all, the big roundel of the wine cask being transported.
Chartres Cathedral’s windows of cobalt and deep red glass are famous, but when Dad did his study, he left them out and focused on the line work. He painted a few selective colors, but kept the piece mainly empty.
And in those blank spaces, I saw an opportunity to collaborate. By adding more color to the piece, I studied his study. It was a chance to see into his artist’s mind.
I learned where he deviated from the original as I brushed on my acrylic colors. Were the differences intentional? Maybe errors in transcription? I think if they were mistakes, Dad accepted them. He was a history buff and knew that when monks copied early written texts their errors became encoded in the writing for centuries. Now his adjustments to the art are encoded in our work for as long as it hangs at 555.
Without a deep red to color the background, I only added blue, white and golden browns, but I think the result is good in both reflected and refracted light. Jenny said it was “lively” and I agree.
From weeping to smiling, this glass work has run me through a range of emotions.
