Stained Glass of the Blessed Mother in Denver

During May (the month of Mary), spend some time contemplating the events of the Blessed Mother’s life at the magnificent French-Gothic style Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, Colorado. The Cathedral is home to a series of Marian-themed stained glass windows of the renowned Royal Bavarian Art Institute of Munich founded by Franz Xavier (F. X.) Zettler. The 210-foot-high structure in downtown Denver was dedicated on October 27, 1912 and designated as a Minor Basilica on December 25, 1979 by St. Pope John Paul II. The Cathedral is said to house the most square-footage of leaded stained glass of any church in the U.S. READ MORE about the Cathedral Basilica and SEE PHOTOS OF THE WINDOWS at https://churchwonders.com/cathedral-basilica-of-the-immaculate-conception-denver-co/ 

The seventy-five magnificent windows in the Cathedral were created by over 50 craftsmen overseen by F. X. Zettler (1841-1916). The painted, pictorial windows decorate the façade, nave, clerestory, apse and transepts with lifelike scenes from the life of Jesus, Mary and the Saints. The largest and most spectacular windows are reserved for the Blessed Virgin Mary, patroness of the church under the title of the Immaculate Conception.

The windows display many Marian scenes such as those from the Joyful, Glorious and Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary which illustrate the events in the life of Jesus and Mary which form the focus of the mediative prayer using rosary beads. For example, the Coronation window over the east-side entrance door glows in gold as Our Lady is crowned by Jesus and The Father with the Holy Spirit overhead. A window of the Annunciation adorns the wall of the opposite side door with the Virgin dressed in the same blue as in the Coronation window along with a spectacular depiction of St. Gabriel the Archangel. The spectacular transept windows are too much to behold in a single glance and must be cherished section-by-section as each reportedly contains over twenty-thousand pieces of stained glass. The West Transept window shows Pope Pius IX defining the dogma of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, 1854. The East Transept window depicts the Third Ecumenical Council in Ephesus, held in 431, which proclaimed Mary as “Theotokos” (“Mother of God”). Other unique Marian windows include a touching scene of a devastated Mother returning home after the Crucifixion illustrating the most wrenching sorrow that she endured; and a depiction of Jesus and Mary at the Wedding Feast at Cana.

The windows of the Cathedral were designed by the Munich firm of F.X. Zettler and may have been sold to the Archdiocese of Denver through the Daprato Statuary Company who represented the Zettler firm starting around 1907. A young Zettler joined the now-famous stained glass firm of Franz Mayer & Company in 1863, started the initial stained glass department at the company in 1865, and eventually split off from Mayer, founding his own rival firm. Zettler’s firm practiced and enhanced the “Munich Style” of stained glass and the firm was designated as the “Royal Bavarian Art Institute for Stained Glass.” The Munich Style is a painted, pictorial style of stained glass using realistic three-dimensional figures, detailed background ornaments, and elaborate architectural canopies. One can easily see these features in the banks of windows at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. The Cathedral is generally open every day, and specific information can be obtained at https://www.denvercathedral.org/ 

Posted at https://churchwonders.com on 5-4-2024