Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: St. John Armenian Church

Studio Name: Loire (Gabriel) Studios

City: Southfield

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Date of Window: 1966

Subject/Title of Window: Decorative Type 17 panel A

Brief Description of Subject: Decorativel in nature, this panel is made up of images reminiscent of those found on illuminated manuscripts.
 
There are four different such designed panels. They were paired together to form two windows. The maker has designated these windows Type 17 and Type 18 and cloned them to make 4 windows of each type. Alternating types, these eight windows are spaced evenly at the juncture of the sides of this octagonal shaped Church (see floor plan for location). The arches supporting the dome were placed in front of these windows, purposely making viewing of a particular panel dependent on your location in the Church.
 
The description of the windows is taken from the book "History of Saint John's Armenian Church and the Armenian Apostolic Society" by Dennis R. Papazian:
 
"These pairs of tall faceted windows were designed with typically Armenian ornamental motifs, such as crosses, birds, fish, grain stalks, and flowers. They are glazed primarily in warm colors --- gold, straw, amber, yellow, orange, and red --- in order to flood the interior with a soft, warm hue, suggesting illumination by candlelight. The location of these windows was planned to produce a dramatic effect that would enhance the impact of the interior design. Never can one see all the windows at one time. As one walks around the nave, he perceives constantly changing vistas and different effects. When one stands in the exact center of the room, all these windows are hidden from view, but one is made subtly aware of their existence by the soft, warm-colored lighting reflected on the masonry walls."

Height: 28'

Width: 15"

Type of Glass and Technique: Slab or Faceted Glass (Dalle de Verre)

The MSGC is a constantly evolving database. Not all the data that has been collected by volunteers has been sorted and entered. Not every building has been completely documented.

All images in the Index are either born-digital photographs of windows or buildings or are scans of slides, prints, or other published sources. These images have been provided by volunteers and the quality of the material varies widely.

If you have any questions, additions or corrections, or think you can provide better images and are willing to share them, please contact donald20@msu.edu