As a child I spent countless hours gazing in wonder at the stained glass depictions of Jesus and the saints in the church my family attended. A bit of that wonder faded when, as an adult, I discovered that most of those windows were standard mass produced designs found in churches all over the United States, but the apse windows remained special: custom made in Austria, they cost well over $100,000 when the church was built in the 1870s.
The point of this little ramble? I’m not easily impressed by stained glass. Well, I was impressed yesterday. A lunchtime stroll along Delaware Avenue led me to Trinity Episcopal, and the open front doors promised a cool diversion I was unable to resist. The building itself is fairly simple as Buffalo churches of that era go, but the stained glass windows are spectacular, both individually and as a collection. Unlike many churches, Trinity boasts windows from a wide variety of sources all over the world, with masters such as Louis Comfort Tiffany and John LaFarge especially well represented.
As the eye moves from window to window, the changing symbolism, technique, artistic styles and influences (Art Nouveau, Renaissance, even Japanese) somehow work together to create a whole that is more than the sum of its parts.
My photos don’t do justice to these exhilarating works of religious art… you need to see them for yourself. Trinity Episcopal Church is located at 371 Delaware Avenue, across from the Buffalo Club. An informative brochure describing the subject, history and technique of each window is available at the church for a $1 donation (money well spent) and organized window tours are offered as well. For more information contact 716-852-8314.
Click here to learn about the Trinity Church Rose Window project…