The stained glass window, known as the “Ottawa Window” for the art world and the “Eastern Window” for the Congregation of Sts. Bartholomew is hidden in a prominent place, according to the Venerable David Clooney of the church. Dave Chan / The Globe and The Mail
There are many ways to describe the amazing stained glass window that stands above the altar of the Anglican Church of St. Bartholomew in Ottawa, a few steps from Rideau Hall. Rector Rev. David Clooney puts it this way: hidden from view.
He means this in a religious way: “Jesus is here, God is here – but we do not see him.”
However, hidden in a prominent place, it can be applied to the work itself, considered the crowning achievement of the Dublin-based stained glass artist who created it.
Shirley Ann Brown, a professor of art history at York University and a recognized expert on stained glass art, says the World War I-era window “is important in the world of stained glass for two reasons: as a work by artist Wilhelmina Geddes and because of his artistic style and qualities. ” The colored window depicts slain soldiers ascending to heaven and being greeted by saints, kings, famous soldiers – and even mythical figures.
Ms. Gedes herself is important because she was one of the first women to pursue a career in a male-dominated profession, with her pioneering work emerging around 1910. Her artistry, says Professor Brown, is personal and idiosyncratic – unlike anything seen in her contemporaries. “
The Anglican Church of St. Bartholomew in Ottawa is a few steps from the Rideau Hall site. David Clooney / Distribution
In a 1994 article in the Irish Arts Review, Prof. Brown said: in the history of stained glass in Canada.
It didn’t happen then, but Ms. Gedes’ window – her only known work in North America – is waiting 103 years to be recognized and can still happen. Speaking after a service on Remembrance Day last November, Irish Ambassador Immon McKee suggested the window – known as the “Ottawa Window” to the art world, the “East Window” to the Bartholomew Congregation – is not just a masterpiece of Irish art. It’s a symbol of Ireland’s extraordinary journey into the 20th century. “
Mr McKee and his wife, Mary, have already seen pictures of the window – “but nothing is being prepared for his presence, lit by the sun.” It’s stunning, such a dramatic story, it’s impossible to capture its beauty in reproductions. “
The church, known to locals as “St. Bart’s ”was founded in 1867, eight weeks after the proclamation of the Confederacy. According to Canadian historian Charlotte Gray, herself a member of the congregation, a city guide at the time described the stone building as “a small chaste structure without exterior decorations.” It was “anything but striking or attractive.”
The window – which took Mrs. Gedes four years to complete (1915-1919) – changed this grim dismissal the moment it was opened on November 9, 1919 by none other than 25-year-old Edward, Prince of Wales, the future king who will abdicate in 1936 after less than a year on the British throne.
Irish Ambassador Eamon McKee suggested that the window was not just a masterpiece of Irish art. It is a symbol of the extraordinary journey of Ireland in the 20th century.’David Clunie / Handout
There were, historical records, a “sigh” of about 200 loyal parishioners gathered for the ceremony. No one had ever seen anything like this huge, colorful, and extremely busy stained glass window.
The Rev. Francis Henry Bruin, Rector at the opening, sent a note of thanks to Mrs. Gedes, noting that his wife, Amea, “said that it did not matter now whether the sermon was boring; there is so much to think about the window. I myself like to constantly discover some new details; “Too many details” is a criticism that I cannot accept, and after all I live more or less by the window and I should be a judge on this issue. I find that the window grows on me and I love it more all the time.
“The glass itself is in great shape,” Canon Clunie told the window for more than a century. This is not the case with the framework and structural support. The church hopes to raise $ 250,000 for a restoration that will begin this summer. Ireland has already set aside $ 40,000 for the project. Former Governor-General David Johnston and his wife Sharon were regular worshipers while in Rideau Hall, and Mr. Johnston is the honorary chairman of the fundraising campaign.
Many governors-general, not all Anglicans, attended the small church service. The Mitchener family, Roland and Nora, were so attached to him that their ashes were embedded in a wall.
This focus on restoration led, not surprisingly, to an exploration of the original idea behind the window and Ms. Gedes’ efforts to complete it – a journey full of disagreements, disputes and changes of direction.
Mrs. Gedes titled her work Welcoming a slain warrior by soldiers, saints, champions and angels. Historian Ms. Gray says the work was created during “muscular Christianity, where men fought and women cried.” Indeed, there are many references to battles in the work, as well as many mourners who cry, most of them women.
Ms. Gedes titled the stained glass window “Welcoming a Killed Warrior by Soldiers, Saints, Champions and Angels.” David Clooney / Distribution
The window began during the Great War and ended shortly after it ended. Mrs. Gedes worked in Dublin during the Irish riots against self-government, a period that the poet Yates described as “terrible beauty.”
The Duke of Connault, Prince Arthur, was Governor-General of Canada from 1911 to 1916. When the war broke out in 1914, members of his staff began enrolling and sending them abroad to fight for Britain, with several they are fighting for the newly formed Princess Patricia of Canada’s light infantry, which was named after the governor-general’s popular daughter. By the end of the war, 10 staff members had fallen to never return to Rideau Hall.
The Duke and Princess Louise had close friends who lost a son at the beginning of the war. An invitation to come to Canada was extended to Sir John Leslie and Lady Leonie. The Connaught family believed that their visit abroad would help Leslie mourn the loss of their son Norman, who was killed in battle in the fall of 1914.
Since Lady Connault had already improved much in the small church — candles, carpets, a curtain for the dazzling window above the altar — it is believed that this visit led to the assumption that, with the help of Lady Leslie, they commissioned a stained glass window as a memorial to the lost staff members.
Lady Leslie, who was very involved in the British art scene, offered the contract to her friend Sarah Percer, founder of an innovative stained glass studio in Dublin known as An Tur Gloine (Glass Tower). Mrs. Percer commissioned the 32-year-old Mrs. Gedes, then a relatively unknown artist from Belfast.
The creation of the window was a painful and long process, as Prof. Brown describes in his article, and Mrs. Gedes was forced to send her ideas to Mrs. Percer in Dublin, who would then pass them on to Lady Leslie and Princess Patricia. who also joined, for comment. There was a lot of disagreement. In a letter, Ms. Gedes wondered if Canadians would understand her innovative and eccentric art.
Ms. Gedes has never received the praise she deserves for such work, but nonetheless, struggling with depression and poverty, she continued to create stained glass creations until her death in 1955 at the age of 68. Dave Chan / The Globe and Mail
They argued about the presence of St. Michael, which Ms. Gedes said made the window look too close to the Last Judgment. She objected to putting Jeanne d’Arc. “I don’t want ladies in it,” she said in a letter, “because it’s meant to be militant.” She lost this argument, so she decided to portray Jeanne on horseback heading to the Battle of Orleans in 1429. She added King Arthur and his knights, mythical figures to the religious scene. She wanted saints instead of centurions. She placed the angel of healing, Raphael; The Angel of the Annunciation and Resurrection, Gabriel; as well as the Angel of Death and the Angel of Peace. She added the Roman soldier Longinus, who is believed to have pierced the land of the crucified Christ to make sure he was dead.
When Ms Gedes said she wanted the dead soldiers to soar into the sky on flying horses, it was dismissed as “too operational”.
She wanted the dead warriors to be hailed as men, not as the resurrected dead. As Professor Brown noted in her article, Ms. Gedes “created a new male prototype for stained glass – modern-looking figures, shaved, classic young men, serious and thoughtful.” She did it.
Eventually, the four women agreed on the overall design, and Ms. Gedes was told to get started. She will receive a commission of £ 500. Prof. Brown estimates that the work today will cost about $ 200,000 to complete.
Princess Louise, alas, never managed to see the window she had ordered. The Connauts returned to England in 1916 and died before it could be completed. The Duke saw him in London before being sent to Canada.
Mrs. Gedes never received the praise that was certainly due for such work. She struggled with depression and poverty, but continued to create stained glass creations. She died in London in 1955 at the age of 68.
The Anglican Church has done almost nothing to promote and display its window. “I don’t think the clergy wanted that to be emphasized,” said Canon Clooney. “Most clergy do not like this window. They see it as too militaristic to glorify war. “
In her image, Mrs. ….
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