Judson Memorial Church

photo by Julie L. Sloan

WINDOW E3, “THE INFANT MARY”, BRYANT MEMORIAL

The window depicts the Virgin Mary as a young girl. She Stand in profile looking upward, her hands folded.

The inscription panel is missing. The La La Farge Catalogue Raisonné recorded it as as reading, “THE LORD / MY LIGHT AND / MY SALVATION / Psalm 27.1”. The dedicator inscriptions survive. The one on the left reads: ”BORN / AUG 17 1871”; the center reads: :”LILY HOLME / BRYANT”; and the right reads: “DIED / APRIL 30 1888”. The woman commemorated was seventeen years old at the time of her death.

Depictions of the Virgin as a young girl are not very common in Christian art, since the live of Mary is not part of the Bible. However, scenes of her presentation in the temple were sometimes depicted in the Renaissance. La Farge created a window dedicated to Chalres Follen McKim’s wife, Julie Appleton, in a window in Boston’s Trinity Church, based on a painting of the “Presentation of Mary” by Titian. The Judson “Infant Mary” is somewhat similar to the Titian figure, which is also in profile (although facing the other direction) and has a long braid down her back. The Titian figure is walking up stairs, however, and has one hand before her and another holding her dress, so the comparison is not consistent.

No sketches for the figure exist. However a sketch for the surrounding architectural niche for either this window or “The Infant Samuel, E2, is know, but its location is unknown.

Window E3 - The Infant Mary - Detail

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