The Franz Mayer Windows: Holy Family’s stained glass
Franz Mayer
19th Century Artist Franz Mayer founded a stained glass studio in Munich, Germany. His distinctive style earned worldwide acclaim.
The Mayer studio completed a set of stained glass windows that tells the story of the life of Jesus Christ and the founding of the Church. Pilgrims and art lovers traveled to Munich to see the remarkable set of windows. They praised the colors, the posing of the characters, the detailed faces, hands, and feet.
From Munich to Tulsa
The Mayer studio produced many copies of the windows for churches around the world including the cathedrals in Denver, Colorado and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa purchased their windows from the Daprato Company and were licensed through the Royal Bavarian Art Institute.
Before the second World War, the windows were moved to a church in Dresden as church leaders grew concerned that the Munich church may become damaged. Unfortunately, military operations in Dresden saw the windows destroyed.
The Main Windows
The ten largest windows recount ten moments in the life of Christ from his birth through the ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit. Note that whether indoor or outdoor, the people depicted in the windows are all standing on a stage of sorts. Most of the Mayer windows use the “stage” as a way to add a third dimension to the windows.
The Nativity of the Lord
The newborn Christ Child sits on his mother’s lap as Saint Joseph stands protectively over them. The three shepherds are to the right. The three Magi are to the left. Kind Herod is on the far left, wearing gold robes and gold shoes with his arms crossed and looking over at Jesus.
The Holy Family at Work
This window depicts the Holy Family working in Saint Joseph’s carpentry shop. As Saint Mary sews a garment in her lap, a young Jesus helps Saint Joseph. Note the cross at the feet of Jesus.
The Wedding Feast at Cana
Jesus performs his first miracle at the bidding of his mother. The wine steward kneels in the foreground tasting the water-turned-to-wine as the married couple sits at table in the background.
Judas’ Betrayal of Jesus
This windows depicts the moment in the Garden of Gethsemane when Judas kissed Jesus on the cheek, signaling the guards whom to arrest. One of the guards holds up a sign reading “S.P.Q.R.,” Latin for “Senatus Populusque Romanus (the Senate and People of Rome)” identifying the guards as Roman soldiers.
The Crucifixion
Inspired by Saint John’s Gospel, this window depicts Jesus on the cross with Saint Mary Magdalene, Saint Mary, and Saint John at the foot of the cross. The sigil on the cross bears the initials “I.N.R.I. (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.)” Jerusalem’s Temple is in the background.
The Resurrection
Clothed in brilliant white, Jesus stands in front of the tomb with angels on the left and Roman soldiers on the right.
Doubting Thomas
Saint Thomas touches the side of Jesus as he comes to believe in the Lord’s resurrection. Three apostles stand to the left.
Jesus Gives Peter the Keys to the Kingdom
Inspired by the Scripture “Whatever is bound on earth is bound in heaven; whatever is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven,” Jesus gives the metaphorical keys to the kingdom to Peter in an act that symbolizes the creation of the papacy and highlights the authority given by Christ to his Church.
The Ascension
Jesus ascends into heaven, clothed in garments nearly as brilliant as those he wore in the Resurrection window. Apostles look on from the right.
The Descent of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit, symbolized by a dove, emits rays of light as tongues of flame burn over the heads of Saint Mary and the Eleven. This is the only window that depicts the Eleven.
The Apse Windows
The red wall behind the high altar extends up to twelve windows that depict the Eleven Apostles plus Saint Matthias who was elected to replace Judas. These twelve saints were all contemporaries of Jesus and as such are closest to the tabernacle.
The Clerestory
In classical church architecture, the clerestory is a row of windows that runs high along the perimeter of the church. The clerestory windows are essential at illuminating large Romanesque or Gothic churches – especially in the age before electricity.
Holy Family’s clerestory windows depict the Communion of Saints. They are roughly in chronological order from Saints Paul, Mark, Barnabus, and Luke nearer the tabernacle all the way to more recent saints over the choir loft.
The Transepts
If a cruciform church looks like a cross from above, it is the transepts that are the arms of the cross. The largest two windows in the transepts depict the Lord’s birth and resurrection. The eight clerestory windows in the transepts depict pairs who interact with each other.
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The Forgiveness Windows
Holy Family’s confessionals are located in the transepts. The six lower windows of the transepts all have forgiveness as their theme.
Jesus Knocking on our door
In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.”
Jesus the Good Shepherd
Jesus tells us “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” in the Gospel of John (Chapter 10).
The Anointing at Bethany
Six days before Passover – and Christ’s passion and death – Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus’ feet with costly nard and dried them with her hair at a dinner, serving as a burial preparation. Judas Iscariot criticized the waste, but Jesus defended her act as a profound devotion.
The Prodigal Son
In this parable, the forgiving father rejoices at the opportunity to pardon his son when he proclaimed, “We must celebrate and rejoice, because [the prodigal son] was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”
This windows appear twice – at the center of either transept. It contains some of the only words found anywhere in Holy Family’s windows.
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