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photo by Julie L. Sloan

WINDOW W2, “MUSICAL ANGEL,” WOOD MEMORIAL

The second, or center, roundel on the west side depicts the bust of an angel playing a lute.  It is based on a detail from a mural in the Vatican Library by Melozzo da Forli.

The inscriptions are fully leaded, not painted.  That round the top half reads, “BEHOLD I SEND AN ANGEL BEFORE THEE / TO KEEP THEE IN THE WAY AND TO BRING / THEE IN THE PLACE WHICH I HAVE PREPARED”.  The source of the verse is not identified in the window, but is Exodus 23:20.  This and Window W4 are the only windows in the church with Old Testament verses.

The window is dedicated in the lower half, “1849 1900 / HELEN ELIZABETH WOOD”.  A 1904 American Art News article, cited by the La Farge Catalogue Raisonné, indicates that the commemorated woman was a soprano soloist in the Judson choir for 13 years.  An invitation from the church, found in the church archives, to subscribe to the window supports this description of the dedicatee.

There are no sketches for this window.

© 1995, Julie L. Sloan,  used with permission

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