The Work of John LaFarge
John LaFarge designed the
seventeen stained glass windows in Judson Memorial Church, a project that illustrated the
artistic unity of all the windows to each other and to the structure as a whole. The
importance of stained glass windows to complement the complete architecture is evident on
the architects earliest plans. The opalescent glass windows "translate the
Italian Renaissance niche sculptures into pictorial stained glass" (Sloan 300-309).
LaFarge designed the colors and textures of the windows to imitate the effect of sculpted
marble and stone. Juliet Hanson, LaFarges assistant, painted images on thousands of
pieces of glass leaded together, and the effect is nearly photographic. LaFarge designed
one large rose window, three tondi, or circular, windows, a square window on the stairwell
leading to the sanctuary and twelve oblong windows at regular intervals along the interior
walls. |