Harvard art historian claims 147-year-old stained-glass window in Rhode Island church shows Jesus as a colored person
- A 147-year-old stained-glass window has been uncovered in a Rhode Island church that appears to show Jesus as a person of color
- The image is made of brown glass and was first discovered by Harvard art historian Hadley Arnold
- Arnold has invited art historians and experts to view the window, believed to be the first ever to depict Jesus as a person of color
A 147-year-old stained-glass window has been unearthed in a Rhode Island church that appears to depict Jesus as a colored person.
Harvard-trained art historian Hadley Arnold claims to have spotted the image — which is made of brown glass — in the 12-foot windows years after Warren’s Church of St. Mark was purchased.
The image had previously gone unnoticed as worshipers failed to realize it was meant to be Jesus.
It shows the Son of God speaking to two women – believed to be Mary and Martha – who are also depicted as colored.
A 147-year-old stained-glass window has been unearthed in a Rhode Island church that appears to depict Jesus as a colored person
Made in 1877, the window may be the first public work depicting Jesus as a colored person.
“In the Sharp window, we see some things that we think we may not have seen before,” Arnold told the Providence Journal.
Since then it has been visited by art historians, architectural historians and religious scholars.
Virginia Raguin – a professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts – was among the visitors.
“This is a radical statement about the fundamental equality of human beings, and today we are privileged to have that record,” she told the Providence Journal.
Many of the other windows in the church use milky white glass – suggesting the transition to brown was intentional.
Also, the windows are unusual as they depict biblical stories in detail.
Harvard-trained art historian Hadley Arnold claims to have spotted the image — which is made of brown glass — in the 12-foot windows years after Warren’s Church of St. Mark was purchased
One shows Mary and Martha—sisters of Lazarus—accommodating Jesus in their home.
The second picture shows Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman who is collecting water.
Back then, men and women were not allowed to talk in public.
Arnold referred to the piece as a “rebel window”.