Evening star., 1923-11-15
The North Window
ny LEILA MECHLIN

| cathedrals, the best of which date
back many centuries. Beautiful as Is
the architecture OF these cathedrals
much Of the loyeliness, even sanctity,
Of their interiors. would be lost II
| their light came through clear glass
instead OF being. as 1t were. strained
| through the glorious, many-colored
glass Of thhe medieval days and Of
the early Renaissance.
''The origin Of the making OF glass
| is SO remote" says Joseph G. Rey-
nolds. Jr.. himself a. designer and
,, maker OF stained glass windows.
that it is lost in the mist of leg
endary days, but the painting and the
making of stained glass windows is
comparatively new art, belonging
to. the Christian era. 1t developed
along with. and Is d part of, Gothic
architecture. until. under the patron
age OF the early church in the middle
ages, the art steadily reached a high
state Of perfection"
Undoubtedly part-of the purpose of
the, early windows was that of the
picture book, the purpose of teaching
handing down to the masses the
precious traditions of the Gospel-the
Bible stories; but with what con-
summate artistry the literary motive
found expression!
Mr.. Reynolds defines a stained glass
window as r. mosaic of pieces OF
colored glass, firmly held together in
their correct positions by strips of
grooyed metal called leads" This
! n.v~1g h.
work, but not. alas. in many in
stances. to American windows of col
ored glass produced between 1880
and 1910! The mosaic is made up of
little pieces of colored glass reQuir.
Ing leads to hold them In place.
Many OF our American windows have
little leading and are made much.
not of colored glass, but painted
glass, the result being transparencies,
rather than mosaics. And here the
difficulty comes of lack Of co-ordina-
building and the character of the
windows.
The finest windows of the old
world told their stories to those who
The painted windows Of our new
world have blazoned their meaning
at a glance, and have so stressed
the literary rather than the artistic.
x x
But in recent years a change has
come over this craft in America. Bet
ter glass is being, made here tnan
ever before, glass which in some in
stances Is comparable with the best
in the world, and designers have
come forward with conception of
the Gothic motive and an ability to
adapt 1t to the spirit Of modern times.
So. instead of painted windows, we
are getting in Our finest churches
and our cathedrals beautiful Ameri-
can-made windows. conforming to
Mr. Reynolds definition and vying with
the best Ok the old
And what an art IL Is. Who thai
has had the privilege VIII ever for
get the first impression of Sainte
Chapelle as It bursts upon ones
winding stair and stepping out
! through a dark hole in the corner
into the glory OF that interior flooded
with heavenly beauty by light
.. radiant glass? And the windows of
Chartres-how glorious they are. And
the windows of Rheims, which once
were and are no more. With what
skill and knowledge and patience
these medieval craftsmen wrought
and what.a heritage or,jny they have
| handed down to succeeding genera
tions,
s.:..* Z -Ar-~
In a delightful ESSAY entitled The
Tocsia of Revolt" recently published.
Brander Matthews. dealing with all
! the arts, stresses the Importance" of
craftsmanship, the need of the artists
of today-poets. painters, shall we
/ say. poster makers. designers of
stained glass and the like-of recog-
| nizing and understanding the 'state"
| of art, IN order that they may secure
| complete freedom from the tolls of
| technical bondng He points out very
aptly that the great masters in lit
| erature, music, sculpture and paint
! ing, who have led the revolts which
| have proated the world, have all
| passed through severe apprentice
| ship and thoroughly familiari2ed
[ themselves with the methods of the
paths: This confirms the statement
made by Mrs. Herbert Adams some
! time since in an article on modern
| ism, that there is no short cut to
! mastery achievement.
1 Prof. Matthe ews tells an amusing
4 story. of a man who declared that
! the academy. either in New York or
| ir Rome, had nothing to teach him.
/ that what he wanted was 20 develop
/ his own personality. unhampered by
Is not remarkable, perhaps. that that
mans name is still unknown TO fame.
| ;. X X !:
| A visitor to Washington during the
, past week., an artist from the middle
| west, seeking information Of a porter
at the Union station as to the
| sculptor of the Columbus fountain,
was informed that it was by "Mr.
| Taft" and that he did 1t while he
| was in the White House. When
doubt was expressed as to the ac-
| curacy of this statement the in
| former admitted that he might be
| wrong, but that certainly the Chief
| Justice showed a. great interest in
! the monument whenever he came
| into that neighborhood.
| dorado Taft, whose work this is,
has his studio in Chicago and is a
! writer and lecturer, as we'll as a
producer Of monumental works of
art. There is none more public
spirited than he, and few who have
and appreciation OF art among the
people generally. Among his most
notable works are the fountain of
| the Lakes" beautiful group which.
through the Ferguson Fund, has been
| erected adjacent to the Art Institute,
and the sumptuous Fountain of
Time" which has more lately been
put up on the old Midway in Chicago
| "a work essentially modern and al
legorically significant. For q num-
Der OF years Mr.. Taft has gathered
around him in his studio a group of
young ambitious sculptors serving as
his assistants, learning the technique
OF their art by practical experience,
and in many instances acquiring re-
mar able efficiency and producing,
| individually, notable works.
y x X x