Lawrence Saint
Encyclopedia
Lawrence Bradford Saint (January 30, 1885 – June 22, 1961) was an American
stained glass
artist
. His work is most notably featured in the Washington National Cathedral
where he served as the head of the stained glass department.
just outside of Pittsburgh
. His father, Joseph A. Saint, was also an artist who specialized in landscape painting and silhouette
cutting. Although never formally trained nor immensely successful commercially, Joseph was a talented artist and continued to paint until he was 86 years old.
When Lawrence was a young boy, the family moved to De Haven, Pennsylvania (now Allison Park) which was very rural in the late 19th century. Joseph enjoyed the countryside as it inspired him in painting landscapes. They soon moved again to the East End of Pittsburgh where Joseph worked in novelty advertising. At the age of 12, Lawrence sold newspapers. Then at 13, he left school and worked at a wallpaper
shop where he learned about color harmony. During his spare time at the shop he would make sketches of horses or people in the street.
In 1905, after a three year apprenticeship, Saint entered the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
to study portrait painting. His second year there, he entered the Cresson traveling scholarship, a contest that offered a $500 trip to Europe. After entering, Saint learned that he was required to submit a drawing of a nude woman. Due to his Christian convictions, Saint was ready to drop out of the contest. But a friend suggest he ask to have the drawing exchanged for another. The scholarship committee agreed, and Saint went on to win the scholarship.
That trip to Europe would be the first of 5, and was the first time he came face to face with Medieval stained glass. This began his fascination with stained glass which led him to in-depth study of styles and techniques.
His last year of art school, Saint worked at an Italian mission on the south side of Philadelphia. It was there that he met Katherine Wright Proctor, who later became his wife.
for the Catholic Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in East Liberty, Pittsburgh
. The window was a mosaic
depicting the signs of the Four Evangelists
.
Saint wanted to travel to Europe again in 1910. So, in order to take his fiancée along with him, they got married just before the trip. The simple ceremony was held at Katherine's house on June 10. The trip to Europe became their honeymoon, and it lasted just over a year. Katherine was a graduate of Wellesley College where she had studied art history, so she was very supportive and helpful to Lawrence in his work. Together they visited and studied many churches in England and France including Chartes Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral
, and Sainte Chapelle in Paris
. They would often climb up the sides of the buildings to get a closer look at the windows in order for Lawrence to make drawings of them.
Saint's drawings of stained glass windows were published by the Victoria and Albert Royal Museum
which included many of them in a book called Stained Glass of the Middle Ages in England and France.
Saint eventually discovered a process to make his own stained glass in his backyard studio. This was necessary since the finest quality glass was not available on the commercial market at the time.
At the height of Saint's career, he was working to produce several windows for the National Cathedral
in Washington, DC. His first assignment was the three parable windows in St. Mary's Chapel north of the choir. Each of the three windows depicted seven of Christ's parables. His next assignment was the four miracle windows in St. John's Chapel south of the choir. He also created the large rose window
in the northern transept, the three windows beneath it (Foretellers of Judgment), four other windows in the north transept, and three clerestory windows above the choir on the south wall (The Angel Windows.
Saint also served for seven years as the head of the Cathedral's Department of Stained Glass.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York
filmed an educational video in Saint's studio about stained glass.
Today, some of Saint's work can also be viewed at the Cleveland Museum of Art
in Cleveland
, Ohio
.
.
Saint was a Presbyterian who was well-known for his dedication to the Christian faith
. He was also a member of the Republican Party
.
He and his wife Katherine had eight children – seven boys and one girl. As parents, the Saints were described as being religiously strict, but generally permissive in other areas. Four of his children grew up to work in full-time Christian ministry. Phil was the only child of the family to follow his father as an artist. He used chalk drawings in connection with his preaching ministry. Saint's only daughter, Rachel, was a missionary to Peru
and later to Ecuador
where she was instrumental in reaching the Huaorani
tribe with the gospel. Nate
was a missionary
pilot
who also went to Ecuador
. In 1956, Nate was killed during Operation Auca
, an earlier attempt to reach the Huaorani
.
On June 22, 1961, Saint died of a heart attack at 76 years old. He is buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery
in Philadelphia.
The Miracle Windows (1931) – Washington National Cathedral, St. John's Chapel
Other work at Washington National Cathedral
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. His work is most notably featured in the Washington National Cathedral
Washington National Cathedral
The Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in...
where he served as the head of the stained glass department.
Early life
Lawrence Saint was born in 1885 in Sharpsburg, PennsylvaniaSharpsburg, Pennsylvania
Sharpsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, northeast of Pittsburgh, along the Allegheny River. In the past, it had a rolling mill, foundries, machine shops, and manufacturers of varnish, brick, glass, lumber products, wire, hair, felt, and lubricating oil. In 1900, 6,842 people...
just outside of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. His father, Joseph A. Saint, was also an artist who specialized in landscape painting and silhouette
Silhouette
A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the art form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades...
cutting. Although never formally trained nor immensely successful commercially, Joseph was a talented artist and continued to paint until he was 86 years old.
When Lawrence was a young boy, the family moved to De Haven, Pennsylvania (now Allison Park) which was very rural in the late 19th century. Joseph enjoyed the countryside as it inspired him in painting landscapes. They soon moved again to the East End of Pittsburgh where Joseph worked in novelty advertising. At the age of 12, Lawrence sold newspapers. Then at 13, he left school and worked at a wallpaper
Wallpaper
Wallpaper is a kind of material used to cover and decorate the interior walls of homes, offices, and other buildings; it is one aspect of interior decoration. It is usually sold in rolls and is put onto a wall using wallpaper paste...
shop where he learned about color harmony. During his spare time at the shop he would make sketches of horses or people in the street.
Education
After seeing one of these sketches, a stained glass artist offered Saint a job as an apprentice in his studio. It was there that Saint learned to grind paint and trace patterns.In 1905, after a three year apprenticeship, Saint entered the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
to study portrait painting. His second year there, he entered the Cresson traveling scholarship, a contest that offered a $500 trip to Europe. After entering, Saint learned that he was required to submit a drawing of a nude woman. Due to his Christian convictions, Saint was ready to drop out of the contest. But a friend suggest he ask to have the drawing exchanged for another. The scholarship committee agreed, and Saint went on to win the scholarship.
That trip to Europe would be the first of 5, and was the first time he came face to face with Medieval stained glass. This began his fascination with stained glass which led him to in-depth study of styles and techniques.
His last year of art school, Saint worked at an Italian mission on the south side of Philadelphia. It was there that he met Katherine Wright Proctor, who later became his wife.
Work
Immediately after graduating from art school, Saint got a job with the H.F. Petgen Company in Pittsburgh. It was here that he designed his first stained glass window, a rose windowRose window
A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...
for the Catholic Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in East Liberty, Pittsburgh
East Liberty (Pittsburgh)
East Liberty is a culturally diverse neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's East End. It is bordered by Highland Park, Morningside, Stanton Heights, Garfield, Friendship, Shadyside and Larimer, and is represented on by Patrick Dowd...
. The window was a mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
depicting the signs of the Four Evangelists
Four Evangelists
In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...
.
Saint wanted to travel to Europe again in 1910. So, in order to take his fiancée along with him, they got married just before the trip. The simple ceremony was held at Katherine's house on June 10. The trip to Europe became their honeymoon, and it lasted just over a year. Katherine was a graduate of Wellesley College where she had studied art history, so she was very supportive and helpful to Lawrence in his work. Together they visited and studied many churches in England and France including Chartes Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
, and Sainte Chapelle in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. They would often climb up the sides of the buildings to get a closer look at the windows in order for Lawrence to make drawings of them.
Saint's drawings of stained glass windows were published by the Victoria and Albert Royal Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
which included many of them in a book called Stained Glass of the Middle Ages in England and France.
Saint eventually discovered a process to make his own stained glass in his backyard studio. This was necessary since the finest quality glass was not available on the commercial market at the time.
At the height of Saint's career, he was working to produce several windows for the National Cathedral
Washington National Cathedral
The Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in...
in Washington, DC. His first assignment was the three parable windows in St. Mary's Chapel north of the choir. Each of the three windows depicted seven of Christ's parables. His next assignment was the four miracle windows in St. John's Chapel south of the choir. He also created the large rose window
Rose window
A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...
in the northern transept, the three windows beneath it (Foretellers of Judgment), four other windows in the north transept, and three clerestory windows above the choir on the south wall (The Angel Windows.
Saint also served for seven years as the head of the Cathedral's Department of Stained Glass.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
filmed an educational video in Saint's studio about stained glass.
Today, some of Saint's work can also be viewed at the Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
in Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
.
Personal life
The Saint family lived in Huntingdon Valley, PennsylvaniaHuntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania
Huntingdon Valley is a village, as well as a suburban mailing address located in Lower Moreland Township, Upper Moreland and Abington Township all in Montgomery County, and in a small section of Upper Southampton Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania bordering the Fox Chase section of...
.
Saint was a Presbyterian who was well-known for his dedication to the Christian faith
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. He was also a member of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
.
He and his wife Katherine had eight children – seven boys and one girl. As parents, the Saints were described as being religiously strict, but generally permissive in other areas. Four of his children grew up to work in full-time Christian ministry. Phil was the only child of the family to follow his father as an artist. He used chalk drawings in connection with his preaching ministry. Saint's only daughter, Rachel, was a missionary to Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and later to Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
where she was instrumental in reaching the Huaorani
Huaorani
The Huaorani, Waorani or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are native Amerindians from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate name Auca is a pejorative exonym used by the neighboring Quechua Indians, and commonly adopted by...
tribe with the gospel. Nate
Nate Saint
Nathanael "Nate" Saint was an evangelical Christian missionary pilot to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Waodani people through efforts known as Operation Auca....
was a missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
who also went to Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
. In 1956, Nate was killed during Operation Auca
Operation Auca
Operation Auca was an attempt by five Evangelical Christian missionaries from the United States to bring the gospel to the Huaorani people of the rainforest of Ecuador...
, an earlier attempt to reach the Huaorani
Huaorani
The Huaorani, Waorani or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are native Amerindians from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate name Auca is a pejorative exonym used by the neighboring Quechua Indians, and commonly adopted by...
.
On June 22, 1961, Saint died of a heart attack at 76 years old. He is buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the second major garden or rural cemetery in the United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998, one of only a few cemeteries to receive the distinction....
in Philadelphia.
Gallery of Work
The Parable Windows (1929–30) – Washington National Cathedral, St. Mary's ChapelThe Miracle Windows (1931) – Washington National Cathedral, St. John's Chapel
Other work at Washington National Cathedral