Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: Holy Name Church

Studio Name: Detroit Stained Glass Works, The

City: Birmingham

Window Shape: 6 (gothic arched, more than 2 vertical sections)

Date of Window: 1955

Subject/Title of Window: The Virgin Mary With Christ Child

Brief Description of Subject: The focal point of this facade window is a mandorla that contains the crowned Christ Child (Christ the King) with sceptre (authority) and a crowned Virgin Mary (Queen of Heaven). The artist has placed the Christ child higher than Mary to indicate his greater stature. They are accompanied by six angels in various poses.

At the top left of the scene is the all seeing eye of the Father sending his Divine light below. At the top right of the scene is a descending dove, a symbol of the Holy Spirit. With the Christ Child, these make up the Trinity.

Below the scene are Christian symbols. Left to right:

Butterfly. A symbol of the Resurrection from its life cycle mirroring that of Christ --- Caterpillar (human life), cocoon (dies and is buried), and comes out of the cocoon as a butterfly (Resurrection).

Marigold. This flower in early Christianity was given the name Mary's Gold to honor the Virgin Mary. In English, this name eventually transformed into "marigold."

Chalice. A cup, usually lined with gold, that holds the Blood of Christ during Mass.

Ciborium. Cup like vessel with a lid that is used to store consecrated hosts.

Anchor Cross. A symbol for the hope for eternal life through our faith in Christ. This is based on Hebrews 6:18-19,"We may have the strongest comfort ... to hold fast the hope set before us. Which we have as an anchor of the soul."

Peacock. A symbol for immortality. This symbolism comes from an ancient legend that the flesh of a peacock does not decay. 

This window was designed by Margaret Bouchez Cavanaugh when she worked at the Detroit Stained Glass Works.

Condition of Window: Good

Height: 30'

Width: 21'

Type of Glass and Technique: Antique or Cathedral Glass

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