Window 22: Holy Orders.
Window 22: Holy Orders
The twenty-second window in the Creation and the New Creation series of windows at the church of Saints Leonard and Fergus, Dundee.
Taking centre stage in the row of five Autumn windows is Window 22: Holy Orders, flanked on both sides by parables from the Gospels.
This window belongs to the Seven Sacraments theme (forthcoming) that circles the church. Holy Orders is the sacrament of apostolic ministry during which a man (it is always a man in the Catholic Church) is ordained into a lifelong commitment to continue the mission given by Jesus Christ to his apostles and in this respect, relates back to the calling of the first apostles in Window 13: Saints Peter and Andrew. There are three degrees of Holy Orders: deacon, priest and bishop.
The sacrament of Holy Orders is a complement to the sacrament of Holy Matrimony because while marriage represents the love between a man and a woman, Holy Orders signifies a man’s complete dedication to serving the Church, in effect, acting as a spiritual ‘spouse’ to the Church itself (see Window 18: Holy Matrimony).
The main motif of the sacrament of Holy Orders in this window is Dad’s own take on what is traditionally called a tetramorph, a symbolic arrangement of four elements into one unit. In this window, as is often found in Christian art and iconography, the tetramorph comprises a group of four living creatures, each representing one of the four evangelists. Here, the exquisitely detailed paintings of the animals surround a central Bible embellished with the face of Christ, indicating that the creatures also embody the four facets of Christ.
The association of the four evangelists with four living creatures dates back to the second century and over the years, various interpretative schemes have been followed as to which animal represents which evangelist. The most common interpretation is that the man is Matthew, the lion Mark, the ox Luke and the eagle John. This is the scheme followed by Dad here. However, whereas Dad was originally going to portray the evangelists in the traditional manner, at Fr McInally’s request he selected specifically Scottish creatures to represent them.
To the left of the Bible is Matthew who, rather than being represented by a man, is symbolised by a proud Scottish Highland stag with a crucifix between his antlers. It is difficult to tell from the image, but there is a crucified Jesus on the cross. The stag was chosen to signify the man in the tetramorph for two reasons. First, the stag with a crucifix between its antlers is an emblem of St Hubert. The story goes that while out hunting, Hubert saw a stag
with a crucifix between its antlers and heard a voice telling him to turn to the Lord and lead a holy life. As a result, he converted to Christianity. Second,
The four evangelists symbolised by four living creatures, surrounding a Bible.
the stag represents Bishop William Andrew Hart (a hart being another word for a stag, an adult male red deer) who served in the Dunkeld diocese from 1955 to 1981 and who built the church itself. In 1972 he also ordained the much-loved Fr McInally, the parish priest of the church at the time Dad made these windows.
In place of the traditional lion, a Scottish wildcat sits regally atop the Bible, representing the evangelist Mark. The only time that Fr McInally visited Dad’s workshop in Birmingham was when Dad was painting the wildcat. The priest reckoned that it looked more like a tom cat, so Dad amended the design to make it look more powerful and wild, by giving it a thicker tail, stronger legs and a fiercer expression.
The crucfixion, after Paul Gauguin's The Yellow Christ.
Luke, instead of being represented by an ox, is symbolised by a Scottish Highland bull, with long horns and a shaggy coat. Here, the bull, to the right of the Bible, is prising open its pages with one of its horns.
Finally, at the bottom, and holding up the Bible on its back, is a golden eagle with a fish in its talons, representing John. John is traditionally symbolised by an eagle, flying heavenwards like the divine Word. With the golden eagle being native to Scotland, this majestic creature seemed an obvious choice to represent the evangelist John, and Dad drew his inspiration from a medieval image of an eagle with a fish in its talons. However, sometime after he had painted the eagle, he learned that fish is not a main part of the diets of golden eagles although they do sometimes eat them. When Dad mentioned this to Fr McInally, the priest told Dad that his bishop used to ask him ‘Have you caught any fish lately’, meaning, ‘Have you welcomed any converts lately?’ So whether or not golden eagles eat fish, the fact that this one does is entirely appropriate.
Above the four evangelists is a crucifix surrounded by a crown of thorns. The crucifixion was the ultimate sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross and is shown in this window because it represents the foundation of priestly vocation, highlighting the priest’s commitment to the teachings and mission of Jesus Christ. It also connects to Jesus’s resurrection which takes place three days after his death on the cross and the subject of the Window 2: The Resurrection. Here we see the circularity of the Christian story in that this window, the third last of the series, connects across the main entrance of
the church to the second window of the series, the end becoming the beginning.
The figure on the cross is based on Paul Gauguin’s painting of The Yellow Christ which he painted in 1889 in Pont-Aven, France. The crown of thorns surrounding the cross is based on the one they had behind the altar of the church when Dad made these windows. It has since been removed and the altar area remodelled. It is currently being stored at the back of the church and can be seen here.
Below the four evangelists is the third of three goldfinches in these windows. As discussed more fully in Window 9: The Almond Tree, the goldfinch is a symbol of Jesus’s Passion, the story of his arrest, trial, suffering, crucifixion, and death. The first one, in The Almond Tree window, is painted in an innocent, child-like way, as a way of prefiguring the next two goldfinches which are painted more realistically, to indicate the living man. The second one is a speckled juvenile goldfinch painted among stylised thistles (the food of the goldfinch and the symbol of Scotland) in Window 11: The Sun and the Planets. It is a juvenile to indicate a young Jesus.
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Legend states that, at Jesus’s crucifixion, a small bird flew down and plucked one of the thorns from the crown. Some of Jesus’s blood splashed onto the bird as it drew out the thorn, which is how the goldfinch got its red head. So the third goldfinch in the windows is a lifelike mature goldfinch, complete with red head, representing a Jesus who has fulfilled his destiny. It, too, appears on thistles, only this time it is attempting to balance on a thistle head, with its wings spread, echoing the crucified Christ above.
From this little bird at the bottom of the window, we go to a little bird right at the top of the transom, a skylark. The main characteristic of the skylark is being able to rise almost vertically up in the air where it hovers effortlessly, singing from a great height.
A fully mature goldfinch with wings outstretched echoing the Christ crucified above.
A skylark, symbol of the soul rising towards God in devotion.
In medieval times this bird
was often associated with spiritual themes because of its way of soaring high into the sky while singing. It was interpreted as a metaphor for the soul rising in devotion and prayer towards God. Dad put a skylark in this window as a little tongue in cheek dig at a style of priestliness that is too authoritarian, that preaches ‘down’ to the laity.
Surrounding the bird are intense oranges and golds, colours chosen to symbolise and celebrate the lovely warm hues of the many excellent Scottish whiskies. A strange combination you might think – warm whisky colours and a skylark representing overly authoritarian priesthood – but fortunately, the self-depreciating Fr McInally, a great lover of Scottish whisky himself, loved the joke!