Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

Click any image to enlarge.

MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church

City: Livonia

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Subject/Title of Window: The Good Shepherd

Brief Description of Subject: This window, entitled "The Good Shepherd," was originally placed in the chancel of Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Detroit. The Church closed in 1977, and the window was gifted to Christ Our Savior. In its installation in the chancel of the new Church, it was mistakenly reversed so that one must view it in a mirror to see how it was designed.

In John 10:11 (ESV) Jesus uses the relationship of a shepherd to his flock as a metaphor for His relationship to mankind --- "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." Just as the good shepherd will lay down his life for his sheep so will Jesus lay down his life for our redemption. Depictions of Christ symbolized as the "Good Shepherd" find their basis in scriptures, which amomg others include Psalm 23 "The Lord is my Shepherd," and the "Parable of the Lost Sheep," which was given by Jesus in response to the Pharisees' question of why he associated with sinners and tax collectors.

This window uses Bernhard Plockhorst's 1878 painting entitled "The Good Shepherd," for its model. Christ, posed as a shepherd with an aura around his head, dominates the scene. Your eyes are drawn to the lamb in the arms of Jesus by the motherly glance upwards of the passant sheep and Christ lovingly looking down at it.

Condition of Window: Good

Height: ~14'6"

Width: 3'6"

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