In selecting glass, I’ve been very mindful of the masterful Tiffany window in the sanctuary and chose some of the same kind of opalescent glass (made with milky white to hold the light) for the background of the Apostles’ windows. The Tiffany designers here have used opalescent glass in the amber/green border and red background (B) to hold the light in tension until it breaks through the translucent jewels embedded in the medallions. I’m taking a page from Tiffany, then in using largely opalescent glass for the amber/green border and blue background (A) and then cathedral glass—a translucent glass designed to transmit light--for the Apostles and their symbols.
Opalescent glass was originally created for the purpose of naturalism, which has little place in traditional art where art is nature’s ape not in appearance but in operation, not in letter but in spirit. But here art is imitating the nature of the Incarnation, where Christ came in parable, comes in sacrament, and will come in glory—for now we see through a glass darkly.
