Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

Click any image to enlarge.

MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: St. Joseph Catholic Church

Studio Name: France & Germany Imports

City: Bay City

Window Shape: 5 (gothic arched, 2 vertical sections)

Date of Window: 1906

Subject/Title of Window: The Marriage of Mary and Joseph

Brief Description of Subject: This window depicts the marriage of Mary and Joseph. The Holy Spirit shown as a dove hovers above the couple perhaps as a sign that the couple were brought together by God, but also perhaps symbolizing the Annunciation where Mary was “overshadowed by the Holy Spirit” and conceived Jesus. Joseph is shown holding a staff with lilies blooming from the top. Legend has it that when Mary was of marriageable age, all of the eligible young men in Nazareth brought their walking sticks to the temple to ask for her hand. The next morning one of the staffs had burst into bloom and that staff belonged to Joseph. That is why St. Joseph is often depicted holding a lily or lily staff.

Inscriptions: In Memoriam Societe de St. Joseph


Condition of Window: Good

Height: 13'0"

Width: 6'0"

Type of Glass and Technique: Opalescent Glass, Antique or Cathedral Glass, Enamel Paint, Lead Came, Vitreous Paint

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