International studio (23.1904)

The Stained Glass IVindows of IVilliani Willet

ecclesiastical adornment, designed for the first
window of the Third Presbyterian Church in
Pittsburg, one of the finest examples of Gothic
architecture in this country. It is entitled “The
Wise and Foolish Virgins.” The two main panels
depict the scene when the outcry is made: “Behold,
the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.”
At the right is the entrance to the palace where the
wedding feast is to be held. The five Wise Virgins
are in the act of ascending the marble steps with
slow and gracious carriage; their lamps are brightly
burning. The steps allow the figures to be effec-
tively grouped, without suggesting any haste
or crowding. The uppermost figure, typifying
“Faith,” holds her lamp high to encourage the
others; one arm is affectionately laid round the
shoulder of her nearest companion, “Joy,” who in
turn gently leads the stately Virgin “Peace,” whose
face is radiant with the inmost assurance that all
is well with her. The two figures nearer the foot
of the stairs typify “Pity” and “Surprise”; their
faces and attitudes drawing attention to their
unfortunate companions whose foolishness and
neglect have excluded them from the festivities.
In the left-hand panel, at the foot of the first
flight of stairs, stands one of the Foolish Virgins,
“Remorse,” leaning with bent head against the
marble balustrade. The lamp, with its last flicker-
ing gleam of light, hangs from her nerveless hand.
Despair seems to quiver in every line of this beauti-
ful figure. She is conscious that her exquisite
robe, the jewels that shine in her splendid tiara
will not give her admittance. She has failed in
her duty and the consciousness of her failure is
overwhelming. The only other one of her com-
panions shown in the composition is prostrate at
the top of the lower stairway descending to the
road, and thus leading the eye to a prospect of
graceful distant hills and a placid lake, the whole
bathed in the cool, soft radiance of the moonlit
atmosphere, which is wonderfully suggested in the
gradation of colour. The exquisite contours of the
faces, the admirable poise of the gracefully con-
trasting figures, the harmonious richness of the
Oriental draperies, flowing in pleasing and restful
lines, the gleam of the lighted lamps, the flashing
of the jeweled adornments of the Virgins, the
effective architectural setting and the landscape
background are all blended in a most satisfying
and homogeneous whole.
All the accessories of the window—the memorial
tablets below, with beautiful and yet perfectly
legible lettering, the bulb-like Eastern contours of
the glass filling the arch and the spandrels, are

perfectly harmonious, not only in themselves, but
also with the whole scheme. As an example of
the careful attention that has been paid to every
detail it may be mentioned that the curling vine-
tendrils that hang down over the heads of the
Virgins are done in delicate applications of lead
work. Moreover, the suggestion of moonlight is
intensified by the skilful plating over the landscape,
which is thus carried back into a satisfying per-
spective. The leading is remarkably ingenious;
unobtrusive and yet so constructed as to strengthen
lines when strength is required. There would
seem to be no valid reason why the inability of the
mediaeval glaziers to produce large pieces of glass
or uniform-sized leads should hamper the design
of a modern artist. The pictured window has
then all the elements of permanence. It is created
from the deepest thought of the artist, of materials
that have already stood the test of repeated firings.
It is genuine, sincere, dignified. It tells a story
with directness and solemn earnestness and it has
in its symphonic association of colours a rich and
never wearying beauty. It may be justly claimed
as the most notable window up to the present time
produced in America.
Mr. Willet has also embellished many of the
other windows in the church. There are eight in
the side; not picture windows, but strictly archi-
tectural. They are carried out in a Gothic tracery
design of exquisite delicacy. The colour treatment
is simple and restful, the predominating tones
being warm green, golden amber and brown,
relieved by cross pinnacles and cap pieces in clear
crystal broken to fit the required shape and glitter-
ing in the sunlight like dewdrops. Their brilliancy
never offends or dazzles the eye, but fills the church
with a calm and subdued light most satisfactory.
It is not alone in ecclesiastical decoration that
Mr. Willet has brought to bear his great skill in
the handling of colour and the disposition of leads.
He has decorated many private houses. One of
his most beautiful creations in this branch of the
art is a window in memorial of the young wife of
a wealthy gentleman. The picture depicts the
figure of a graceful girl descending a flight of steps
to a marble pool where float the evanescent blos-
soms of the water lily, typifying a brief and fra-
grant life. The whole composition in its grace and
beauty is wonderfully affecting and effective.
From these few instances out of the many hun-
dred already given to the world by Mr. Willet, it
may be realized that in his devotion to the effects
produced by genuine cathedral glass—antique glass,
as used in the cathedrals of Europe—the “pot-metal”

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