The Virgin Mary as the Window of Heaven: Reception of the Bible in Marian Stained Glass from Luke-Acts, Dublin, 1850–1932

Abstract

This thesis analyses stained-glass windows in Dublin depicting Biblical episodes featuring the Virgin Mary which are uniquely described in the Lucan corpus. This amounts to a total of eight different scenes: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Circumcision, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, the Finding of Jesus in the Temple, the Ascension, and the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This study will consider windows made for Dublin in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, comparing in particular interpretation of these scenes in Catholic and Church of Ireland stained glass. In total this study examines 113 examples of these scenes, found in eighty-two windows from forty-four churches. The period in which these windows were created was one of dramatic political and religious change in Ireland, from the beginnings of stained glass as a popular medium in Ireland in the 1850s until the early 1930s, when, following the establishment of the Irish Free State, Catholicism achieved a pre-eminence which makes it less fruitful to compare Catholic and Church of Ireland stained glass because of the decline in Church of Ireland examples. Mary is both a prolific and highly revealing subject for the purpose of this study, given both the widespread depictions of her in Christian art and the diverse choices made in portraying her, which allow us insight into understandings of the Bible and interests of artists, patrons, and congregations, showing various ways in which they engaged with their faith. This project will explore how these portrayals are expressions of religion and theological ideas, and how artistic tradition is used in these scenes, many of which were frequently depicted. This is analysed by examining the iconography, treating each subject in turn, and discussing the different representational strategies used to depict these scenes. This will also enable discussion of the relative popularity of the scenes. Examining these windows as examples of biblical reception, this thesis will explore these visualisations of the texts from the Lucan corpus and consider how closely they follow Luke's account and why and how they have departed from the text. A key aspect of this investigation will be to assess how these windows have utilised and incorporated scriptural quotations as part of the imagery. Additional influences from the literary and artistic tradition will also be investigated, as we seek to explore how these windows construct their meaning through multiple avenues, including the physical location of the window within a building and its relationship with other elements of church decoration. In doing so, this study makes use of two important theories, the hermeneutic aesthetics of Hans-Georg Gadamer and the visual exegesis of Paolo Berdini. These offer us powerful tools for engaging with the issue of text and image, and the processes of visualisation in the creation of images as an act of biblical reception. Finally, this study will illuminate the divergent approaches taken in the creation of windows for Catholic and Church of Ireland places of worship. By delving into these distinctive traditions, we aim to shed light on the nuanced ways in which religious and artistic choices manifest within the visual narrative of these Marian episodes in Dublin's stained-glass windows.