All the stained glass windows in the original historical series are composed of two lancets and a "kite," or small opening at the top. Except for the Anunciation window, they are uniformly medallion in type, each lancet containing a traditional medieval (Gothic) medallion in which some momentous occurance in the unfolding story of Christianity is presented.
The backgrounds are grisaille, the style most commonly used in the early churches of England because they admit maximum light in the greyer climate of the British Isles. Grisaille backgrounds were chosen here not because of limited sunshine, but because this church, like most of the early historic churches of California, has a very dark, wood interior and needs all the light it can get.
The background diamonds are made up of tints of the traditional ecclesiastical colors, interlaced with bands of deep ruby, sapphire, emerald and topaz. These deeper tones are used in the borders of the lancets as well. The medallions are meticulously designed and executed in rich, traditional, ecclesiastical colors. All the windows are made of antique (hand blown) and cathedral stained glass appropriate to the individual designs, and are traced, matted and fired in accord with the best practices of the medieval craft.
Click on the window button to begin a tour of these magnificent works of art, featuring the wonderful photographs of parishioner John Nykamp.