T-minus three months until my next scheduled lecture at Christ the King Cathedral in Atlanta.
It's been a couple years since I last delved into the play-by-play (or lead-frame-by-lead-frame) of the Jewels of the Cathedral. And while I'm certain I'll find my rhythm once I jump in, I'm feeling a bit hesitant.
LBH. Isaiah doesn't look like he's going to take anything less than transcendental writing.
(If anyone has any magical fairy dust that bestows inspiration and elevates insight, I could use some.)
Because I don't want to just list the illustrated themes, providing a bored docent's checklist tour from top to bottom of each sparkling lancet. I want to bring them to life.
Stained glass windows are an enigma. They sit high above the viewer, fashioned with the intention of illuminating their story, and yet too far away to really see. (Confession: I just got my first pair of eyeglasses a few months ago. I'm feeling self-conscious about my somewhat compromised long-distance vision.)
Over decades, for the average viewer, they sadly deteriorate from wondrous feats of artisanship and theology to...wallpaper. And Sunday after Sunday, even as the stories they tell are recited from the pulpit, nobody looks up to see the custom-made illustrations that paint the air around them.
As evidenced here: Angels always memorize their music before performances. #professionals
So I'm excited to pull up the images on my laptop, a few of which are really (really) high res, and can be seen up close in perfect detail. I'm excited to see what Henry Willet and Monsignor Cassidy finally (and after much deliberation) struck upon as the right themes for depiction. I'm excited to play hide-and-seek with the hidden themes and ideas of these magnificent windows.
I'll get to focus in on just the four sets of windows in the Sanctuary. Eight lancets and four roses crafted in a style different than the nave windows, with fewer lead tracings and larger figures. And I'll get to touch on the striking humanity that dictated what ended up in our magnificent windows.
There seems to be a little fan-boying among the younger angels, when in the presence of Archangels.
The thing is, I'm a little intimidated by all this. How to write a lecture that provides the historical back-story, the human context, the theological framework, the artistic interpretation, and all in a way that makes people want to listen? And more than that - to look up?
Perhaps I need to find out if the Patron Saint of Liturgical Art Lecturers is depicted somewhere in the windows?
Wish me luck....