Assumption RC Church - Table of Contents

East nave windows - Assumption RC Church
435 Amherst Street, Buffalo, NY 14207

The studios that produced the  stained glass windows in the church, including the nave windows illustrated here, are unknown due to flooding that destroyed many church records. Henry Swiatek, Jr. opines that the nave windows are European, probably German. 

All the windows are two-panel windows with rounded arches united by a semicircle. All the windows are in the pictorial Renaissance style of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. They are heavily painted in enamel on glass and are rich in color with large realistic figures heavily painted in rich and dark colors.  The Renaissance style window is three-dimensional, an effect aided by the landscape in the background.

Illustrations below are of windows starting near the front of the church (altar).  The theme is Saints , in contrast to the west nave where Biblical Scenes of Jesus are featured.

Illustrations below:   The Apearance of the Blessed Virgin Holding Jesus ..... St. George Slays the Dragon ..... St. Cecilia  .....  St. Anthony of Padua ..... The Vision of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich(?) .....  St. Casimir  ..... St. Adalbert .....  St. Michael the Archangel .....  King David .....  St. Stanislaus


East nave
Note
Swiatek Studios scaffolding. Photo taken in February 2011.

The Apearance of the Blessed Virgin Holding Jesus


Stencil border designs at top and around the stained glass window are not original to the church.  They were designed by Brett Swiatek as part of the 2010-11 renovationThe patterns are based on the sgraffito murals in the sanctuary.

The same renovation included gilding the capitals.


"The architectural canopies in the space above the figures are a favorite device used by the German Studios to fill large windows. This device was first introduced in the fourteenth century when German cathedrals began to soar and windows became taller and narrower." – Nola Huse Tutag, Discovering Stained Glass in Detroit, Wayne State University Press, 1987, p. 93



Stencil border design is not original to the church.  It was designed by Brett Swiatek as part of the 2010-11 renovation.  The pattern is based on the sgraffito murals in the sanctuary.

The columns framing the stained glass windows were faux wood painted during the renovation.








St. George Slays the Dragon















St. Cecilia


The angel appearing to the saint holds a crown of roses and lilies.  Note that Cecilia is playing the organ, the way she is typically depicted.



The tongue of fire on the angel's head recalls Pentecost.


St. Anthony of Padua Holding Infant Jesus


Note Station of the Cross at right of stained glass window.



St. Anthony of Padua  ............  Lilies





The Vision of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich(?)






Angels



INRI ..... Stigmata






Mary and Jesus Appearing to King Casimir















St. Adalbert















Archangel Michael Defeats Satan










Archangel Michael driving Satan from Heaven


David Fells Goliath


Center window: David Fells Goliath
Window at right is detailed above.









Bishop Stanislaus of Krakow martyred by Polish King Bolesław II the Bold















Special thanks to  Rev. Richard Jedrzejewski, Pastor, for his cooperation
and to Henry and Brett Swiatek of Swiatek Studios for their assistance.

Photos and their arrangement © 2011 Chuck LaChiusa
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