Sunday, May 17, 2009

Bigelow Chapel Stained Glass: Detail

Closeup view of part of the stained glass windows at Bigelow Chapel in Mt. Auburn Cemetery. As we learned yesterday from Tom Johnson, the stained glass underwent a 2.5 million dollar renovation in 2006.

This panel shows a mother with two small infants depicting the tragedy of infant mortality. Click to enlarge for more detail. To see an outside view of the Bigelow chapel, visit Quincy Daily Photo.

Originally installed in 1846, the hand-painted glass chancel window measures 21 1/2 feet high by 9 feet wide and is composed of 36 panels containing over 4,000 individual pieces of blown glass. It is considered one of the important early works produced by the Edinburgh based Scottish firm of Ballantine and Allen that also created the now lost windows for the Houses of Parliament in London. It is one of the few examples of that firm’s early work that survive today. It is truly magnificent to see in person.

Update and correction
Tom Johnson, Family Services Coordinator at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, informs me the amount quoted for the restoration of the stained glass window actually covers the entire restoration of the chapel which included the beautiful chancel window, chapel roofs, repointing the pinnacles, woodwork, handicap accessible bathroom, kitchen area and more. I apologize for the confusion.


______

This post is being brought to you by the magic of Blogger. I'm not really here, but traveling for a few days and unable to visit or respond to comments. Thanks for visiting.

12 comments:

Hilda said...

Even in your photo, it's already gorgeous. It must really be awesome in person!

VP said...

Great image, interesting post.

brattcat said...

Such rich color.

cieldequimper said...

Gorgeous and historically interesting.

Unknown said...

A beautiful shot of this stained window. The colors are great.

Cezar and Léia said...

This stained glass is fabulous!
Great post!
Léia

Lowell said...

Wow! Magnificent!

2sweetnsaxy said...

I love stained glass. That is really beautiful.

Tash said...

it is so very beautiful.
PS - love the old suitcase photo...very clever.

roberto said...

I love your website and post, but I wanted to tell you that you were given misinformation about the cost of the restoration of the stained glass window at Bigelow Chapel at Mount Auburn Cemetery. You posted that the restoration cost $2.5 million .....that is false. I know because I restored it. I have already contacted the people at Mount Auburn and asked to tell Mr. Johnson to contact you and/or post the correct cost of the restoration which is not even remotely close to the amount posted here.
Please see that the correct information is posted.
Anyway, I do really enjoy your site, pretty nice stuff.
Thank you,
Roberto
www.serpentinostainedglass.com

Clueless in Boston said...

Roberto is correct as Tom Johnson, Family Services Coordinator at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, informs me the amount quoted for the restoration of the stained glass window actually covers the entire restoration of the chapel which included the beautiful chancel window, chapel roofs, repointing the pinnacles, woodwork, handicap accessible bathroom, kitchen area and more. I apologize for the confusion.

Marie-Noyale said...

I don't know if it's really your suitcase but I like it very much
I went to the Brimfield antique fair last week and wish I would have found one like that!!