In April I went to DC and while there I visited the National Cathedral. I had been to the cathedral one other time to take family pictures in the Bishop's garden. This time I went inside and took a tour. It was wonderful.
The architecture, art and history are all fascinating. Today, I am going to talk about the stained glass in the cathedral.
Stained glass is a very old and beautiful art form.In religious buildings like cathedrals the artists would tell the stories of the bible with rich color and details.
One of the coolest things I learned during the tour is that because the National Cathedral is a Gothic building and has flying buttresses the walls could be thinner and the windows bigger and more elaborate.
The National Cathedral has three levels of windows as seen here.
There are 215 stained glass windows in the cathedral. They have been made at different times during the cathedral's 83 years (1907-1990) ofconstruction. They were also made in different styles. You can see the difference in these two windows.
In the National Cathedral the windows tell religious stories and stories of the nation and its people. The Space Window is the most recent window and it has a piece of moon rock brought back by the astronauts of Apollo 11 in 1969. All three of the astronauts; Neil A Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E (Buzz) Aldrin were at the cathedral when the window was dedicated in 1974.
This window definitely stands out with the deep colors and unique shapes and designs.
The oldest windows are in the Bethlehem Chapel. This section of the cathedral was completed in 1912.
Here is an interesting video of these windows.
Here are a couple more pictures of the stained glass windows in a chapel area.
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| War Memorial Chapel | High Alter |
There are 3 Rose windows in the National Cathedral.
The biggest and most prominent of the Rose windows is called the Creation Rose Window. It contains more than 10,000 pieces of glass and represents the creation found in Genesis.
The Creation Rose Window has both colored glass and painted glass.
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The other two rose windows are across from each other and can both be seen from the Canterbury Pulpit.
West facing Rose Window
East facing Rose window
The National Cathedral is stunning and well worth the time to visit and to go on a tour, even if just to see these gorgeous stained glass windows.
I have a goal to make a stained glass piece. When I wrote that I just looked and found a stained glass class this summer and registered. I am so excited!
Sources:
Pamphlet from National Cathedral
Apollo 11
National Cathedral Website
Great Youtube videos from the National Cathedral
Note: Take with my cell phone
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