The Stained Glass Windows in Emmanuel Church

This section of the website is devoted to an adaptation of the illustrated book entitled "The Windows of Emmanuel" written by Charles Beaumont. The descriptions of the windows here are the same as those in the book. Changes have been made in the organization and layout of the material to adapt the book to use on the internet. The web guide (link on the bottom of this page) will help you view pictures of the windows and thae attendant descriptions. A few copies of the book are available in the Church office.

We begin with the title page and preface as they appeared in the original.

The Windows of Emmanuel

by Charles Beaumont

Photographs by Harry O. Yates, Jr.
Line drawings by Elizabeth T. Spencer
Production by Charlotte Leedy
Copy Editing by Nell Harris
Printing Preparation by John Vogt
Published by Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia
Times New Roman type. Printed by Guest Printing Company.

P R E F A C E

Stained glass windows tell stories, directly through picturing an event and indirectly through symbols and emblems. In addition to the obvious aesthetic motive, Gothic church builders used narrative stained glass windows to teach the non-reading majority of worshipers. Ironically we highly literate moderns tend to ignore all but the colorful presence of the windows, viewed mainly through our side vision. When I asked several parishioners of long and regular attendance about certain details of the windows, they frequently answered, "I don't believe I have ever noticed that before." And neither had I.

So: the words of this book are written to bring those who are interested back to an appreciation of the pictorial communication of some of these glories to God, the windows of Emmanuel.

The theoretical ideal of a stained glass window is a mosaic in which shards of various colors of nonopaque glass delineate form. From this purist point of view, the transom window in the South Transept might be said to be the best of these windows. The opposite technique, favored by the Victorians, is to stain a section of glass its predominant ground color and then to paint onto this glass its shapes and other colors. From this point of view the Nativity Window (North Aisle) might be considered the best.

Most medieval windows, in fact, are a combination of these two extremes, although certainly far less painted. Among the windows of Emmanuel, then, the Transfiguration Window (North Aisle) might be considered the best blend of the two extremes. But, to suggest taste is a foolish man's errand.

Charles Beaumont

You are invited to continue with guide that explains how to look at a window and read its description. Happy viewing!