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Window of the Month
Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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Window

Building Name: Cathedral of St. Paul

Studio Name: Willet Hauser Architectural Glass

City: Detroit

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Date of Window: 1943

Subject/Title of Window: Archangel Michael

Brief Description of Subject: The tower houses windows of angelic sentinels standing guard, teaching messages of action and leadership.

The four angels to the east are Archangels. First Michael, Prince of Angels, his function is personified by a symbolic figure at the base, as is the case with each Angel. The figure at Michael’s feet is Lucifer, fallen from Grace and being driven from Heaven.

As the windows were viewed from a great distance and height, it has been necessary to attenuate the figures, faces, and details in order to bring them down to the eye of the beholder as figures of normal proportions and character. The figures have been carried out with formal gestures that they may tell their story while retaining their decorative charm. It was this kind of treatment that was used so effectively in the medieval windows of the French Cathedrals.

Henry Lee Willet, Designer and Executor

These windows were donated by Mrs. Henry P. Williams in memory of her husband Henry Phillips Williams. They are the parents of G.Mennen Williams, the 41st Governor of the State of Michigan (1949-1961).

Archangel Michael
Archangel Michael
Archangels Michael/Gabriel
Archangels Michael/Gabriel
Archangel  Michael, Willet studio sketch
Archangel Michael, Willet studio sketch

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