Evening star., 1936-10-24
By Leila Mechiu.

ON4tSOG CIV lloo DCCll OhClSu
~ to the National Gallery Of
~ Art. 1t consists of three works
4 \ in stained glass by the late
William Willet. Two of these are
small panels representing Dante and
Beatrice" but of chief Importance is
the third. medallion of the cruci-
fixion, "Consumatum Est" designed
and executed by Willet as the center
panel in the great sanctuary window
of the chapel of the United States
Military Academy at West Point The
commission for this window was won
by William Willet in an international
competition, held in 1910, in which
the leading glassmakers in this coun-
try and England participated. It was
on the evidence of this medallion,
now offered to the National Gallery
of Art, and his design in water color,
that the award was made. There is,
therefore, a certain association with
this work which gives added signifl-
canoe, but, laying that aside, it will be
found to have great artistic signifi-
canoe. .
We are accustomed to hearing of
the glory of the stained glass of Char
tres and Amiens and Saint Chappelle,
but comparatively few of us realize
that the glory of the glass Of the
chapel at West Point is, in truth,
comparable to these All of this glass
Is by William Willet and his wife,
Anne Lee Willet. Because of the
beauty and success of the sanctuary
window, commissions were given for
other windows, the only exception be-
ing the window in the facade, re-
served for some great event in the
future. This window, commemorate
ing those who lost their lives in the
World War, was executed by Mrs.
Willet, in large part, from designs by
her husband, after his death. 1t is
in perfect accord with the others.
Owing to the position of the chapel,
light streams without limit or obstruc-
ton through its windows on every
side. Willet conceived of stained
glass as painting with light, and his
windows turn this magnificent Gothic
edihce. designed by Bertram Good
due, into a place of indescribable
glory.
At the time that Willet began work.
ing in stained glass painted windows
had become the fashion, and large
expanses OF unleaded glass were used
From this he turned back to the ex-
ample of the Gothic glassmakers, and
conceived his windows as moSaics
rather than as paintings. But Willet
was no copyist-he did not reproduce
the crudities Of these medieval work.
ers, knowing that that would be a
mere affectation, and realizing that
such crudities were not deliberate.
He held, however, to the tradition
which they established and he strove
to express in his work their spirit,
and his own, of reverence. That he
attained this end. paragraph from
g letter written Mrs. Willet by Chap
lain Kinsolving few years ago, when
leaving West Point to become rector
Of Tritinity Church, Boston, amply
testifies. 1t reads:
II would be glad to think that I
could leave as much beauty to SO
many people as you and your late hus-
band have done for all those who
worship in this chapel Every morn
ing that I have held service and seen
Gods sunlight streaming through the
medium you made, bathing bay and
pillar, crevice and corner, pew and
chancel, with a thousand unbelievable
colors, I have thought much of you,
and more of God. You artists
succeed where We ministers so often
fail"
The effect on the visitor entering
this chapel is as overwhelming as is
that entering by way of the steep,
dark little staircase from the base
ment, Sainte Chapelle, in Paris. More
than this none can say.
OBVIOUSLY the stories which
these windows tell, that for which
they stand, may well be studied. They
have been most thoughtfully designed
and abound in pictorial illustration.
The designer knew biblical history
and the Gospels, and like the artists OF
medieval times his first purpose was
to make these known through the
universal language of art. He has in
dulged appropriately in symbolism,
but not to a puzzling degree; these
windows are an open book for those
to read who will; they are not mere
B ly for the scholar and the prelate but
for all who pass by; they make univer-
sal appeal.
Not all of the windows on the sides
Of the chapel at West Point are fin
ished. These are being given year
by year by the graduating classes.
The untitled spaces are in plain glass.
but colored and in such tones that
there is no break in the total en-
semble. The work that MIR. Wlllet