Featured Windows, January-February 2010

Dimnent Memorial Chapel, Hope College

Building: Dimnent Memorial Chapel, Hope College

City: Holland

State: Michigan

Dimnent Memorial Chapel, Hope College, Holland, MI. Built 1927-29. William K. Johnston, Architect.

Dimnent Memorial Chapel, located on the campus of Hope College in Holland, MI, was built in 1927-1929, the fourth chapel constructed for student worship since the 1850s, when the college was founded by the Reformed Church of America. Designed by architect William K. Johnston of Chicago in a modified American Gothic style, it was constructed by Frank Dyke & Co. of Holland, MI, and dedicated on June 7, 1929, as Hope Memorial Chapel. In 1959 the gray Bedford stone chapel was renamed in honor of Dr. Edward D. Dimnent, fifth president of Hope College who had led the drive for its construction. Its two organs and 1150-seat capacity make the chapel an ideal site for concerts, convocations and community events.

The chapel’s stained glass windows, provided by the Hardy Payne Studio of Paterson, NJ, were installed when the building was constructed. According to the studio, the chief artist was G.A. Zucci, an Austrian from Venice, Italy, who was chosen because of his knowledge and skill in European cathedral window designs and his excellent draftsmanship and color work. They include a rose window over the west end balcony, an east end chancel window and six large windows on each side of the nave, as well as two narthex windows holding church seals and eight small windows that honor the YWCA and YMCA, student organizations that existed when the chapel was built. The windows were restored by the Hauser Art Glass Company of Winona, MN, in 2000.

Left: The Rose Window. G.A. Zucci, Hardy Payne Studio, Paterson, NJ. 1927-29. At the center of the large

Rose Window is the seal of Hope College with its symbol, an anchor, and its motto, Spera in Deo ("Hope in God"), taken from Psalm 42:5. The surrounding "petals" hold six different university seals to represent education, alternating with symbols of various academic fields. The outer row of windows tells the story of Christianity, from the Creation to the birth of Christ. Right: Detail of Rose Window: Adam tilling the earth.

Left: Detail of Rose Window: Mary with the infant Jesus. Right:Detail of Rose Window: King Solomon on his throne.

Left: The Chancel Window. G. A. Zucci, Hardy Payne Studio, Paterson, NJ. 1927-29. Four panels of the Chancel Window hold figures that represent events in the life of Jesus: shepherds that symbolize his birth, the young Jesus with Joseph and Mary at the Temple, and Jesus blessing the children. Right: Detail of Chancel Window.

One of twelve windows on the sides of the nave, with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Apostle Matthew. Each window features two Biblical figures, one at the top and the other below. The remaining panels of each window depict medallions and shields related to church history.

Left: Detail of a nave side window: The Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos. Right: Detail of a nave side window: Moses with the Ten Commandments.

Left: Detail of a nave side window: The Madonna and Christ Child. Right: Detail of a nave side window: The Apostle Thomas with a carpenter’s square, his symbol.

Dimnent Memorial Chapel at Hope College was registered in the Michigan Stained Glass Census by the Joint Archives of Holland, with photography courtesy Hope College Office of Public Relations.

Bibliography: Show Bibliography

Ferguson, George. Signs and Symbols in Christian Art. New York: Oxford University Press, 1961.

The Holy Bible, King James Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1999.

Hope College, Holland, MI. “Stained Glass Windows of Dimnent Memorial Chapel on the Campus of Hope College.” (2008) http://www.hope.edu/pr/stainedglass/about.html

Jones, Robert O. Biographical Index of Historic American Stained Glass Workers. Kansas City, MO: Stained Glass Association of America, 2002.

“Reflections on Dimnent Memorial Chapel, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.” Film presented by Dr. Elton Bruins and Frank Kraai. Produced by Hope College Video Services, Computing and Information Technology and Public and Community Relations, 2008.

“Stained Glass Windows of Dimnent Memorial Chapel on the Campus of Hope College.” Publication by Taylor Hughes, Scott Travis and Mary Boelkins Remenschneider, Office of Alumni and Parent Relations, Hope College, Holland, MI, 2009.

(MSGC 1994.0143)

Text by Betty MacDowell, Michigan Stained Glass Census, January , 2010.