The narthex

It was decided that the narthex windows, also known as the entry to the church, would depict the Assumption of Mary on one side, and the Resurrection on the other. High above in the sanctuary, St. Michael and St. Gabriel would stand guard on each side of the descending dove. All of these windows can be seen from the front of the church.





Again, the process began with scale color drawings, that were then enlarged to full-size by hand into black and white "cartoons".









These were then traced to create a pattern to cut apart, and then traced onto the glass for cutting. Notice that the borders of all the windows are the same, creating a cohesive design element throughout the church.






Next the pieces are painted with special glass painters' stains and enamels in the traditional European way used for several thousand years. They are then placed in a kiln and fired to fuse the paint to the glass at temperatures up to 1350 degrees. We'll show more details about the actual glass painting process in a future post.