ALICE COONEY FRELINGHUYSEN: An elegant, life-sized figure of a woman dominates this “Welcome” Window. She wears a shimmering loose-fitting gown reminiscent of Hellenistic Greek drapery. Her expression is blissful. Her right hand is extended in welcome. With her left, she holds open a curtain, which reproduces a Chinese textile decorated with an embroidered pattern of peonies and a golden pheasant. The borders surrounding the central scene are more transparent, to let in more light. The garlands and ornament on an opalescent background recall art from the ancient Roman city of Pompeii.

This masterful window of 1909 is a late work by John La Farge. It looks amazingly like a painting. In 1902, the artist had written: “Window decoration is the art of painting in air with a material carrying colored light.” To achieve the rich colors, harmonious shading, and gradual transition of color you see here, La Farge used the opalescent glass he began to develop in the late 1870s. The new glass was called opalescent because it has the quality of the fire opal. It revolutionized the appearance of stained glass.

Describing the possibilities of opalescent glass in 1902, La Farge noted: “The infinite variety of modulations of tone in the opal glass allowed a degree of light and shade for each piece, which not only gives modeling but also increases depth sufficiently to allow the darker spaces to melt softly into the harsh lead line.”