Moderator: Mark Templet
Justice wrote:
This is what I would love to see in more True Orthodox churches. Funny enough, almost all the World Orthodox churches in my area have stained glass icons of Christ, the Theotokos, and saints.
Case in point, our parish has a bunch of stained-glass windows done as icons.
Lucky I've always loved stained glass. Sadly, you can only really find them in pre Vatican II Roman Catholic Churches and some World Orthodox churches.
I don't remember having seen ANY pictorial stained glass in an Orthodox Church anywhere. The image that Justice posted is therefore a surprise. There are plain stained glass windows of course, without iconic images.
The quality of the stained glass in Catholic Churches declined over the last decades. There are some exquisite examples in older parishes, often made by masters in Germany, Italy or other areas of Western Europe and carefully shipped over to "the New World". But with the modern architecture of Catholic Churches in the 60's onwards, the stained glass windows became not as pretty nor as pious as these older ones.
About that attempt to build the Haghia Sophia replica by the GOC-K monastery earlier in this thread, I was shocked that it was a construction problem which caused the cessation of work and eventual demo.
Let's all remember and learn from this sad example to put OVERLY large amounts of THICK rebar into walls, and everywhere needed. Also on concrete paths surrounding a Church, rebar adds strength.
[ There are varying thicknesses of rebar, so always choose the 5/8" rather than 1/2" or 3/8". Or larger diameters if available for reinforcing a big building like a Church, which may have to support domes and/ or snow load. ]
Barbara wrote:I don't remember having seen ANY pictorial stained glass in an Orthodox Church anywhere. The image that Justice posted is therefore a surprise. There are plain stained glass windows of course, without iconic images.
The quality of the stained glass in Catholic Churches declined over the last decades. There are some exquisite examples in older parishes, often made by masters in Germany, Italy or other areas of Western Europe and carefully shipped over to "the New World". But with the modern architecture of Catholic Churches in the 60's onwards, the stained glass windows became not as pretty nor as pious as these older ones.
About that attempt to build the Haghia Sophia replica by the GOC-K monastery earlier in this thread, I was shocked that it was a construction problem which caused the cessation of work and eventual demo.
Let's all remember and learn from this sad example to put OVERLY large amounts of THICK rebar into walls, and everywhere needed. Also on concrete paths surrounding a Church, rebar adds strength.
[ There are varying thicknesses of rebar, so always choose the 5/8" rather than 1/2" or 3/8". Or larger diameters if available for reinforcing a big building like a Church, which may have to support domes and/ or snow load. ]
I'm not sure if the World Orthodox churches are using stained glass to get closer to Roman Catholics or are simply reviving a forgotten tradition in the east. Though I have a strong feeling it's because of ecumenism.
I like that too, a lot, Justice.
To think it's getting time to prepare for St Nicholas' Day, which is not that far off.
Here is another one, from St Albans Cathedral in England, of the Protomartyr of Britain himself, looking fearless.
Is that a miniature Orthodox wooden outdoor shrine St Alban is holding ?-!
