On January 13, 2008, the main window of our historic church was re-dedicated. Entitled "Emmanuel's Land", but often referred to as the "Pilgrim's Progress Window", it was created by Frederic Crowninshield. His great-granddaughter, Gertrude Wilmers, whose generosity sparked our successful fundraising effort, addressed the parish. After the following pictures of the restored window is a history of its creation with a description of its composition, structure and restoration process.

photo by Matthew Griffing
"Then Pilgrim asked the name of the country. They said it was Emmanuel's Land."

During 2007/8, the Emmanuel community came together to raise $150,000 to restore this beautiful window, which had suffered the ravages of time.

			The Emmanuel community considers this window to be its signature piece. With its theme of showing the way to Emmanuel's Land, or paradise, it symbolizes the spiritual journey that is central to the church's mission. Building on the theme of our banner: "Welcome wherever you are on your spiritual journey", it symbolizes guidance for seekers of truth and light. The subject of the window is unusual for a church in that it does not depict a religious figure or Biblical scene. The scene is taken from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come, a literary work that has shaped American religious culture since the seventeenth century. The edifice visible in the midground is the Palace Beautiful, which the artist based on a building in the park of Villa Torlonia in Frascati (outside Rome). Sections around the palace are dark because their detail is obsured by soot and buckling of the lead cames. The potted lemons and oleander evoke an Italian paradise. The mountain in the distance may have been based on one of the Berkshires, where the Crowinshields had a summer house.
	Emmanuel's Land Window before Restoration

	The characters depicted represent the four virtues: Discretion, Prudence, Piety and Charity. They are guiding a Christian (a.k.a. the Pilgrim) on a pilgrimage through their allegorical world. The inscription reads: The Pilgrim asked the name of the country: They said it was Emmanuel's Land. The restored center panel shows the potted lemon trees behind the figures with light transmitted through the cleaned glass.
			Piety Shows Pilgrim Emmanuel's Land

Restoration Process

The excess space in the lead cames is filled with putty, which dries, stiffens, and falls out over time and causes the panels to buckle. Also, the lead may stretch due to temperature changes and wind pressures, which move the window slightly. In the case of our window, bowing was most noticeable in the center, in the panels with the most lead. The buckling in and out resulted in the glass literally jutting out of the cames, creating the bright holes visible as specks of light. While this process of deterioration takes a long time, experts cannot predict when a window will fail. Several years ago, in order to restrain the glass, piano wire was installed across the face of the two worst panels. In 2005, the window was removed by Serpentino Studios in order to prevent a catastrophe. By 2008, thanks to major gifts from Gertrude Wilmers and the Mygatt family, we raised about $150,000 to pay for the restoration. On January 13, 2008, our retiring priest-in-charge, the Rev. Maureen Kemesa, officiatied at the re-dedication of the resplendent window.

References

• David Carlson, "Emmanuel's Land off the Bow", Voices, June 2005.
• Gertrude Wilmers, "An American Artist in Italy: Frederic Crowninshield and His "Seconda Patria", pp. 37-52, in Spellbound by Rome: The Anglo-American Community in Rome (1890-1914), ed. Peter Rockwell. Rome: Palombi Editori, 2005.