Stained glass window depicts Jesus Christ with

Akash Arjun

Global Courant 2023-05-14 09:01:49

WARREN, RI (AP) — A nearly 150-year-old stained glass window from a church depicting a dark-skinned Jesus Christ interacting with women in New Testament scenes has raised questions about race, Rhode Island’s role in the slave trade and the place of women in 19th-century New England society.

The window installed in 1878 in the long-closed St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Warren is the oldest known public example of stained glass depicting Christ as a person of color seen by an expert.

“This window is unique and highly unusual,” said Virginia Raguin, a humanities professor emeritus at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and an expert in the history of stained glass art. “I have never seen this iconography before that time.”

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“Is this rejection? Is this a congratulation? Is this a secret sign?” said Arnold.

Raguin and other experts confirmed that the skin tones – in black and brown paint on milky white glass that was baked in a kiln to fix the image – were original and intentional. The piece shows some signs of aging, but is still in very good condition, she said.

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