Stage & Screen. FRANCE. In Paris today, the most performed playwright at the Comédie-Française is 17th century Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, dit MOLIÈRE (1622-1673).

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FEATURE image: Portrait of Molière, c. 1658, Pierre Mignard (1612-1695), Château de Chantilly. Pierre Mignard is one of the major classic French portrait artists. When the artist crossed paths with Molière in Avignon in 1658, after having worked in Orange and Saint-Rémy, a great friendship started between the two men, until the death of Molière in 1673. The portrait of Molière in Chantilly probably dates from this Avignon meeting, as the writer appears to be under forty years old.

Pierre Mignard, self portrait, 1650.

Molière was born into a well-to-do family on January 15, 1622 at Rue St. Honoré in Paris and grew up near the Bastille at Rue Saint-Antoine. The greatest genius of the French theater was baptized at St. Eustache as Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. He adopted the stage name of Molière in the mid1640s after he founded his first theater troupe.

Nicolas Mignard (1606-1668). Molière (1622-1673) dans le rôle de César de la “Mort de Pompée”, tragédie de Corneille. Paris, musée Carnavalet.
Nicolas Mignard (1606-1668), self portrait, La Fondation Calvert Museum, Avignon. Mignard was a painter and older brother of Pierre Mignard.
St. Eustache in Paris was where Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, dit Molière, was baptized. PHOTO credit: “Around St. Eustache Paris 1e (40)” by Julie70 Joyoflife is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Known as the “Shakespeare of France,” Molière was a profound theater actor, writer and poet. His plays’ wit and characters are timeless, including Tartuffe (1664), Don Juan (1665), and The Misanthrope (1666).

In 2007 French film, “Molière,” Romain Duris is Molière and Laura Morante is Elmire

The fictional film is told in flashback to 1645. It is a conflation of different periods in Molière’s life into one earlier period. In 1645, 23-year-old bachelor Molière was bailed out of debtor’s prison. Molière was married and much older when his great, controversial play, Tartuffe, appeared in the mid1660s.

In the film, Molière poses as “Monsieur Tartuffe” (a priest) who serves as tutor for Orgon’s children. In history, older Molière played the part of the householder and trusting husband, Orgon, in his play, Tartuffe. In the film, a young Molière as Tartuffe, as in the play, falls in love with Elmire, Orgon’s neglected wife of the household.

In this scene Molière delivers a letter to Elmire from her secret admirer which, unknown to her, was written by the debonaire M. Tartuffe (Duris as young Molière).

Today any type of true romance can be heart-warming, but in the 17th century romance was viewed through the lens of means and ends, either of which could be scandalous.

Molière’s great plays Don/m Juan and Tartuffe were halted in their tracks by French religious and royal authorities who were concerned that their characters and plots could provoke popular scandal. In the mid1660s, the Archbishop of Paris condemned Molière’s work -– and the libertine Molière himself — and then turned to the highest state authority, the king, with whom the top bishop was privileged to be closely aligned, to carry out his sentence. For Molière, the Ancien Régime was alive and well: the American and French Revolutions a distant century in the future.

“But I ought to warn you, strictly between the pair of us, that in Don Juan my master you see the greatest scoundrel that ever walked on Earth. He is a madman, a dog, a devil, a Turk. He is a heretic who believes in neither Heaven, nor saint, nor God, nor the bogeyman. He lives the life of an absolute brute beast. He is an Epicurean hog, a regular Sardanapalus who is deaf to every Christian remonstrance, and looks on all that we others believe as nothing but old wives’ tales. You say he has married your mistress. He would have done far more than that to gratify his desires. He would have married you, and her dog and cat as well. It costs him nothing to marry. That is the best baited trap he has.” – Sganarelle, servant of Don Juan, played by Molière. From Don Juan (1665).

“Oh, you scoundrel! At last I see you as you really are. But, unhappily, the knowledge comes too late; and it can only serve to drive me to desperation. But, be sure, your villainy will not remain unpunished. The Heaven you mock will avenge me for your faithlessness.“ – Donna Elvira, wife of Don Juan, played by Madmoiselle du Parc. From Don Juan (1665).

“Constancy is only fit for idiots.” – Don Juan, played by La Grange. From Don Juan (1665).

 “You see him as a saint. … I see right through him. He’s a fraud.” – Dorine, played by Madeleine Béjart, Act 1, Scene 1. From Tartuffe (1664).

“It’s true – those whose private conduct is the worst,/Will mow each other down to be the first/To weave some tale of lust, and hearts broken/Out of a simple kiss that’s just a token/Between friends.” – Dorine, played by Madeleine Béjart, Act 1, Scene 1. From Tartuffe (1664).

“See, I revere/Everyone whose worship is sincere./Nothing is more noble or beautiful/Than fervor that is holy, not just dutiful.“ – Cléante, played by La Thorillière, Act I, Scene 4. From Tartuffe (1664).

 “What good would it do to dissent? A father’s power is great.” – Mariane, played by Mlle de Brie, Act 2, Scene 3. From Tartuffe (1664).

 “Don’t be deceived by hollow shows; / I’m far … from being what men suppose.“ – Tartuffe, played by Du Croisy, Act 3, Scene 6. From Tartuffe (1664).

“There’ll be no sins for which we must atone,/Because evil only exists when it’s known.” – Tartuffe, played by Du Croisy, Act 4, Scene 5. From Tartuffe (1664).

“Ah! Ah! You are a traitor and a liar!/Some holy man you are, to wreck my life, / Marry my daughter? Lust after my wife?” – Orgon, played by Molière, Act 4, Scene 7. From Tartuffe (1664).

“Damn all holy men! They’re filled with deceit!/I now renounce them all, down to the man.” – Orgon, played by Molière, Act 5, Scene 1. From Tartuffe (1664).

“All that we most revere, he uses/To cloak his plots and camouflage his ruses.” – Dorine, played by Madeleine Béjart, Act 5, Scene 7. From Tartuffe (1664).  

While “mixing it up” in politics has shown itself to be the Church’s normal path, it was Molière’s irreligious observations of such that proved a major theme in his wittiest dramas and brought him into trouble with the authorities. While a young King Louis XIV (1638-1715) approved orders that banned some of Molière’s farces, the royal personage was reluctant to do so. It had been the priests who were stung by Molière’s popular ridicule with its social risk of being overthrown by its witty truths. Yet the church’s well-connected desires to cancel Molière proved only partly successful in the mid-17th century and, afterwards, hardly at all.

King Louis XiV of France (1638-1715). The young king was reluctant to censor Molière (but did). PHOTO credit: “King Louis XIV, 1638-1715 / Roi Louis XIV, 1638-1715” by BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives is marked with CC BY 2.0.

Molière and His Times: Writers of 17th Century French Literature

The 17th century contained and continued the wealth of French literature in its many genres including these literati, among others, in poetry, novels, fairty tales, essays. philosophy, theology, and drama.

POETRY

François de Malherbe (1555-1628) by Robert Lefevre. Public Domain.
Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) by Hyacinthe Rigaud. Carnavalet Museum, Paris. Public Domain.
Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1636-1711) dit Boileau, 1678, by Jean-Baptiste Santerre. Public Domain.

NOVELS AND FAIRY TALES

Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655), c. 1654, by Zacharie Heince. Public Domain.
Charles Perrault (1628-1703), c. 1670, oil on canvas, 135.50 x 97.50 cm, by Charles Le Brun. Public Domain.

ESSAYS

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), posthumous portrait, 1691. PHOTO; “<div class=’fn’> <div style=’font-weight:bold;display:inline-block;’>Blaise Pascal (1623-1672)</div></div>” by unknown; a copy of the painting of François II Quesnel, which was made for Gérard Edelinck en 1691[réf. nécessaire]. is licensed under CC BY 3.0.
François de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680). Public Domain.
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696), posthumous portrait, 1775, attributed to Nicolas de Largillière. Public Domain.


PHILOSOPHY

Rene Descartes (1596-1650), c. 1648, by Jan Baptist Weenix (1621-16590, Utrecht Centraal Museum. Public Domain.

THEOLOGY

Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622). Seated portrait wih a copy of his work, “Introduction to the Devout Life,” oil on canvas, c.1790s, 77 cm x 99.5 cm, unknown artist. Public Domain.
François Fénelon (1651-1715) by Joseph Vivien. Public Domain.
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627-1704) by Hyacinthe Rigaud. Public Domain.

DRAMA

Pierre Corneille (1606-1684), 1647, by Charles Le Brun. Public Domain.
Jean Racine (1639-1699). Public Domain.
Jean Rotrou (1609-1650).
Paul Scarron (1610-166), c. 17th century, artist unknown, Musée de Tessé, Le Mans, France. French poet, dramatist, and novelist, born in Paris, Scarron was the first husband of Françoise d’Aubigné, who later became Madame de Maintenon and secretly married King Louis XIV of France. Public Domain.

Molière’s Comedy: Wit And Types

Molière wrote drama based on actual facts of society and human nature. Using ludicrous incidents, he headed straight to a moral purpose. His plays were very instructive and had all the makings of high comedy. Molière attracted his audience as a premier dramatist of wit.

His characters are not individuals but types which are intense. This comic form is mainly indigenous to France and contrasted to Italy’s dramatic form of tragedy.

The City of Paris Plays a Role

Paris is a theatrical city. Similar to today’s Beaubourg in fine weather, there were outdoor performances at the Pont Neuf and Place Dauphine. The Hotel de Bourgogne on Rue Etienne Marcel was used in the 16th century by the Confraternité de la Passion for passion plays. In the mid1620s when America was wilderness there were street parades of comedians in Paris to lure spectators into the theatre. Stock farce characters included Aurlupin (a mean-spirited school teacher), Gros Guillaume (dressed in a flour sack), and Captain Fracasse (breaking plates and things). At the permanent flea market of St. Germain de Prés, spectacles were put on stage. Goods were sold, some of it junk, because, as Daumier observed, “people are always fooled.”

Molière’s mother died when he was 10 years old and he was raised by a nurse maid. In his later plays there are often such maids and servant girls.

In Paris, three rival theatre groups coexisted: that of the Marais; that of the Hôtel de Bourgogne; and, that of the Palais-Royal, directed by Molière. After Molière’s death, the actors of the Marais joined Molière’s troupe of actors by royal order. This new troupe settles at the Hotel Guénégaud, rue Mazarine. Public domain.
La Thorillière (1626-1680). François de La Thorillière was Molière’s companion and kept the register of the company during the 1663-1664 and 1664-1665 seasons. He moved to the Hôtel de Bourgogne after Molière’s death. In 1680 La Thorillière, head of the troupe of the Hôtel de Bourgogne and the last rival in Paris of Molière’s former troupe, died. The King ordered these two troupes of French actors established in Paris to play together going forward. Public Domain.
La Grange (1635-1692). On August 25, 1680, the actors of La Thorillière’s Hotel de Bourgogne and Molière’s former troupe now led by La Grange’s Hotel Guénégaud gave their first joint performance. On October 21, 1680, an official royal letter signed at Versailles, established the unique troupe, composed of 27 actors and actresses chosen by the King for their excellence, to have a monopoly of performances in French so to “make performances of comedies more perfect.” The repertoire includes Corneille, Molière, Racine, Jean Rotrou, Paul Scarron, and others. Public Domain.

Molière Schools in Paris and Orléans; penniless for 15 years

Molière was a commuter student at the Collège de Clermont behind the Sorbonne. Founded in the 1560s by the Jesuits who had a tremendous hold on educating the young in this period, it was renamed Lycée Louis-le-Grand in the 1680s. Nobility and the well-to-do bourgeois schooled together though segregated by a so-called “golden barrier” of identity (an illiberal, reactionary practice). Molière received a strict, excellent education and was a Latinist. He went to Orléans to study law but didn’t pursue it. His father sent him to Narbonne to become a royal tapestry maker (the family business) but Molière was idealistic and chose to be in theater. Following his bliss, twenty-something Molière, around the time of the 2007 film included above, was virtually penniless for the next 15 years.

In the shadow of the queen of the sciences (theology), cultural authorities of church and state officially ordered the boycott of theater as immoral. But the people in Paris mostly ignored these bans and theater life thrived.

Lycée Louis-le-Grand, Paris. PHOTO: “File:Lycée Louis-le-Grand, Paris 5e 3.jpg” by Celette is marked with CC BY-SA 4.0.

Molière’s first theater production flops and he is bailed out of debtor’s prison by a street contractor

By the 17th century the Renaissance social fad of tennis had faded away and Molière rented empty courts for the theater. He joined Madeliene Béjart, four years older and from a family of actors, and established his first theater in June 1643 called Illustre Théâtre (“Illustrious Theater”). The first performances in the tennis court featuring the 22-year-old Molière and the others opened on January 1, 1644.

To build the theater, Molière fell into debt in 1644. The first performances were a complete flop and Molière was thrown into debtor’s prison for 3 days in July 1645. A paving contractor paid the bail to release the young actor/writer, a remarkable historical fact.

Madeleine Béjart (1618-72) playing Madelon in “Précieuses Ridicules” by Molière, oil paint on stone, French School, 17th century (after 1659,). Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Public Domain.

In Paris in the 1640s there were two official theatre troupes and Molière’s Illustre Théâtre was not one of them. The troupe did have a royal protector, the king’s brother. But no financial bailout was provided by Gaston d’Orléans (1608-1660) and Molière’s first theater had to be auctioned off with proceeds going to creditors.

Gaston d’Orléans (1608-1660) by Anthony Van Dyck, 1634. Musée Condé. Molière’s noble sponsor would not be held financially responsible for the bad luck of the young actor’s first theatre troupe in Paris.

In 1646 Molière and Mme. Béjart joined a troupe led by Charles Dufresne (1611-1684) and left for the provinces, specifically to Nantes and points south. Success as an actor was fleeting, and Molière was very close to returning to his father’s business as a tapestry maker. Molière, like his fellow actors, could not afford costumes and wore street clothes on stage. His was just one theatre troupe among the 1,000 or so in France. Others in the defunct Illustre Théâtre joined Molière in 1648. Dufresne handed over the direction of the troupe to Molière in 1650 who rechristened the troupe Comédiens de SAR le prince de Conti. The prince de Conti (1629-1666), fifth in line to be king, was Molière’s new patron and friend. At the domaine de la Grange des Prés at Pézenas in Languedoc, the actor-playwright discussed plays and theater with the prince.

Armand de Bourbon, prince de Conti (1629-1666). The prince in Languedoc was a patron and friend of Molière in the 1650s. Le musée du Vieux Nîmes.
Anne-Marie Martinozzi (1637-1672) was the wife of the prince de Conti. She was also the niece of Cardinal Mazarin, successor to Richelieu. Though there were interludes of life together at Pézenas with the prince, much of their marriage was lived apart. It is the princess who shows herself in love, writing her husband numerous letters. Château de Versailles.

In the 1650s, Molière’s troupe became moderately successful performing all over southern Mediterranean France. Though Molière kept a notebook to record his ideas and character types these personal items have been lost.

Portrait of Molière, c. 1658 , Pierre Mignard (1612-1695), Château de Chantilly.

The prince de Conti, Languedoc governor, was the king’s cousin, and, upon marrying Anne-Marie Martinozzi (1637-1672) in 1654, an in-law of sorts to Cardinal Mazarin (Anne-Marie was Mazarin’s niece). The prince de Conti, however, lived with his mistress at Pézenas among Molière’s free-spirited actors. In 1655 the prince, being engaged in military campaigns in Spain and experiencing failing health, had a religious awakening. He discarded the mistress, returned to his wife and banished the theatre. Molière had, overnight, been cancelled.

Allowance of theater in society based on moral grounds would continue to evolve as audiences continued to enjoy its entertainment value. Finding a need and filling it, Molière sold drama as morality and used witty plot and dialogue that slayed his subject close to the bone.

Armande Béjart (1645-1700).Armande Béjart was in Molière’s troupe in 1653 under the name of Mademoiselle Menou and played child roles. Married to Molière in 1662, she was the inspiration for all his heroines: the Princess of Élide, Charlotte, Célimène, Lucinde, Elmire, Alcmène, Élise, Angélique, Lucile, Hyacinthe, Henriette. Armande and Molière’s daughter, Madeleine-Esprit, survived but their two sons did not. When Molière died in 1673, Armande encouraged the troupe, led by La Grange. In 1677 Armande remarried a man not in the theater named Guérin d’Etriché and they had a son. She became Mademoiselle Guérin on stage in the troupe brought together by Louis XIV in 1680 and retired in 1694.

After being cancelled by the prince de Conti who became an implacable enemy of the theater until his death in 1666, the reputation of Molière’s traveling troupe was being critically appreciated at the highest levels. In 1658, the king’s brother, 18-year-old Philippe d’Orléans, le Monsieur (1640-1701), arranged an audition for Molière and his troupe in Paris. The result was that King Louis XIV approved the Troupe de Monsieur to share the royal theater, the Petit-Bourbon. Molière immediately premiered there on November 2, 1658. The troupe soon had to build up its cast and repertoire to meet the Paris audience’s expectations and Molière looked to provide them with original comedies. This was notably aided by the addition, in 1659, of 24-year-old La Grange, who would play young romantic lead roles.

Philippe d’Orléans (1640-1701). Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux. Le Monsieur, the king’s younger brother, wears an ostentatiously beautiful bow-tie. Pierre Mignard, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux. Public Domain.

Also in 1659, having acquired the king’s favor, Molière set about to write the first of his great works: Précieuses Ridicules. In 1662 he married Madeleine Béjart’s younger sister (possibly daughter), Armande. The king was godfather to their child as Molière now performed at the Palais Royal for the king and the royal family. In the next years, Molière wrote plays about marriage, jealousy, and adultery, including The Imaginary Cuckold in 1660; Don Garcie de Navarre and The School for Husbands in 1661; and, a great success, The School for Wives in 1662. Opening in December 1662, by the end of May 1663, audiences filled the theatre to watch The School for Wives, a play whose scheming plot is more straightforward than its characters, in over 60 performances. It was afterward attacked by critics who expressed outrage for its sexual references and irreligiosity, but also, possibly, envy for its newness and blatant success. A flurry of artful broadsides between Molière and the King’s Actors at The Hôtel de Bourgogne followed in pamphlets and on their respective stages.

“People of quality know everything without ever having learned anything.” (Les gens de qualité savent tout sans avoir jamais rien appris.) – Mascarille, played by Molière, Act 1, Scene 8. From Précieuses Ridicules (1659).

“A man’s not simple to take a simple wife. Your wife, no doubt, is a wise, virtuous woman. But brightness, as a rule, is a bad omen. And I know men who’ve undergone much pain because they married girls with too much brain. I want no intellectual, if you please.” – Arnolphe, Act 1, Scene 1. From School For Wives (1662).

“It must be confessed that love is a skillful instructor. It teaches us to be what we never were before. By its lessons a complete change in our manners is often the work of a moment. It overcomes obstacles in our very nature, and its sudden effects seem like miracles. It makes misers liberal in an instant, cowards become heroes, and, dear gentlemen, it turns the most inexperienced mind into a nimble wit, as it gives understanding to the most simple.” – Horace, Act 3, Scene 4. From School For Wives (1662).

Artist’s imaginary depiction of Lully’s Armide, Salle du Palais-Royal, 1761, by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin (1724-1780), Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687): Italian-born French composer to “The Sun King” King Louis XIV, and collaborator with Molière on comédies-ballets whcih culminated in 1670 with Le bourgeois gentilhomme.

In 1664 famous French composer J.B.- Lully (1632-1687) began a series of 13 comedy-ballets with Molière including La Princesse d’Élide (1664); Le Mariage forcé (1664), L’Amour médecin, (1665), George Dandin ou le mari confondu (1668), Monsieur de Pourceaugnac (1669), Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (1670), and Psyché (1671). Their collaboration, which was sometimes stormy, ended in 1671. Lully was born as G.B. Lulli in Florence, Italy. He was brought from Florence to Paris in 1646 by the Duc de Guise and placed in the service of La Grande Mademoiselle, Mlle. De Montpensier (1627-1693), the duke’s niece, at her court in the Tuileries. She despised Cdl. Mazarin and was involved in the Fronde (1648-1653) which was defeated by Louis XIV. Following Mlle de Montpensier’s exile to her château at Saint-Fargeau in Burgundy, Lully, who had been learning the best of French and Italian music, was released from her service and in 1653 was made Louis XIV’s court composer (“compositeur de la music instrumentale”) where he was in charge of the king’s personal violin orchestra. An innovative composer, Lully employed his skills and talents to ballet, theater, and opera while ascending the ranks at court. In 1661 Lully became “surintendant de la music et compositeur de la musique de la chambre” which gave Lully, not yet 30 years old, greater responsibilities for the king’s music.

Full-length portrait engraving of Jean-Baptiste Lully by Henri Bonnart (1642-1711).

In 1662 Lully became a naturalized Frenchman, married Madeleine Lambert, and was appointed “maître de la musique de la famille royale.” In these early years, as he wrote operas and theatre music for Molière, the ostentatious Lully was envied by other musicians as his success at court continued unabated. In 1681, Lully was made sécretaire de Roi, an ennobling position, signed Monsieur de Lully, escuyer, conseiller, Secrétaire du Roy, Maison, Couronne de France & de ses Finances, & Sur-Intendant de la Musique de sa Majesté. In the 1680’s, the last decade of his life, Lully turned to writing religious music. In January 1687, while beating time during a performance with his cane on the floor, Lully injured his foot which became infected and he died soon after. Lully is the epitome of the French royal composer having written almost everything to the taste and service of the king. Lully’s three sons – Louis, J.B. and Jean-Louis -also became court composers in the king’s service. Louis XIV died in 1715.

Philippe Quinault (1635-1688) in 1670. When Lully turned to opera he teamed up with Philippe Quinault as librettist. Of the 13 tragédies lyriques Lully wrote between 1673 and 1686 – a quintessentially French type of opera – he wrote 11 of them with Quinault.

1660’s: High point for Molière’s plays

The middle 1660s was a high point for Molière’s plays: Tartuffe; Festin de Pierre (Don Juan) and Le Misanthrope were all written in two or three years (1664-1666). These great comedies of genius, however, were not well received in their day as audiences continued to follow diktats of church and state who condemned the theater and this mocking satire of the authorities (themselves). In May 1664, Molière staged the first three acts of his developing Tartuffe at Versailles. Called The Hypocrite, the play was immediately banned by Louis XIV. When it opened again in 1667 as The Imposter, it was again immediately banned. Any future performance adventured excommunication with the threat extended to its audience. It was not until February 1669 that Louis XIV finally allowed the performance of Tartuffe in its complete five-act form where it instantly became the hottest ticket in Paris.

Molière: Last years

A now prosperous man wanting to continue to practice his theory of the stage as layman’s pulpit and yet retain his hard-earned social position, Molière in his final years turned to light and innocuous spectacles to teach and entertain French society. In 1665 Don Juan ran for 15 performances though it, too, was censored and its financial proceeds had to go to the Church.

“I expect you to be sincere and as an honourable man never to utter a single word that you don’t really mean.” – Alceste, played by Molière, Act 1, Scene 1. From The Misanthrope (1666).

“There’s a season for love and another for prudishness, and we may consciously choose the latter when the hey-day of our youth has passed—it may serve to conceal some of life’s disappointments.” – Célimène, played by Armande Béjart-Molière, Act 3, Scene 4. From The Misanthrope (1666).

“I’ll confront her in no uncertain terms with her villainy, confound her utterly, and then bring to you a heart entirely freed from her perfidious charms.” – Alceste, played by Molière, Act , Scene . From The Misanthrope (1666).

“The failings of human nature in this life give us opportunities for exercising our philosophy, which is the best use we can put our virtues to. If all men were righteous, all hearts true and frank and loyal, what purpose would most of our virtues serve?” – Philinte, played by La Grange, Act 5, Scene 1. From The Misanthrope (1666).

“You shall observe me push my weakness to its furthest limit and show how wrong it is to call any of us wise and demonstrate that there’s some touch of human frailty in every one of us.” – Alceste, played by Molière, Act 5, Scene 4. From The Misanthrope (1666).

Denied Catholic burial at his death in 1673, Molière is at rest in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris since 1817

A baptized Catholic, Molière died in 1673 at 51 years old. He was denied a religious burial because he was a theater actor. The Catholic Church impugned Molière’s work. Educated by the Jesuits, Molière never renounced his Catholicism, and was probably not an atheist. He was secretly buried in a Catholic cemetery in a section of unbaptized infants. In 1792, during the French Revolution, Molière’s remains were transferred to the museum of French Monuments. In 1817, Molière was placed in Père Lachaise Cemetery where he resides today.

Molière’s Tomb, Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, 1854, Etching in warm black on ivory laid paper, The Art Institute of Chicago.

Molière’s legacy

Though he disguises himself as a virtuous man, Tartuffe is a hypocrite. As the French and the world celebrate Molière’s 400th birth anniversary they can reflect on the relevance of Molière’s drama for today. Molière would have sufficient material today to write and perform another of his witty comedy and drama for the 21st century. Any ridicule of contemporary types of recognized hypocrites would likely face the menace of cancellation similar to what Molière faced in the 1660s. Yet as antagonized power and interest look to lower the curtain on such work, its actors on stage with its original music, brilliant costume and witty plot and dialogue would meet with the roaring laughter and hand clapping of audiences indicating their approval that the show must go on.

Comedy scenes according to Molière (Lustspielszenen nach Molière), wallpaper, c. 1825-1830, Deutsches Tapetenmuseum, Kassel, Germany. Photo credit: “lustspiel Moliere 1825” by janwillemsen is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
FURTHER READING:
https://www.gradesaver.com/tartuffe/study-guide/quotes in MLA Format Osborne, Kristen. Cedars, S.R. ed. “Tartuffe Quotes and Analysis”. GradeSaver, 8 January 2013 Web.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Moliere-French-dramatist#ref362537

https://www.comedie-francaise.fr/fr/la-troupe-a-travers-les-siecles

https://www.comedie-francaise.fr/fr/histoire-de-la-maison#

https://www.comedie-francaise.fr/fr/artiste/armande-bejart

https://www.sparknotes.com/drama/misanthrope/quotes/

Molière, Tartuffe and Other Plays, trans. Donald M. Frame, New York: Signet Classics, 2015.

Molière, The Misanthrope, trans. Henri van Laun (1876), New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1992.

The Misanthrope.pdf

http://theatre-classique.fr/pages/pdf/MOLIERE_PRECIEUSESRIDICULES.pdf

George Saintsbury, A Short History French Literature, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1901.

My Nature Photography: WINTER. (98 Photos).

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FEATURE Image: February 2018. Downers Grove, Illinois. 3.05 mb

December 2016. 8.49 mb
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Stage & Screen. 100 years of The Three Stooges (1922-2022).

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FEATURE IMAGE: Jerry (Curley) Howard, Moe Howard and Larry Fine are The Three Stooges. “The Three Stooges” by twm1340 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

The year 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of The Three Stooges in show business.

The Stooges began in 1922 as part of a vaudeville act called “Ted Healy and his Stooges.” It started with two stooges originally – brothers Moe and Shemp Howard. Larry Fine joined the act in 1925 or shortly thereafter. Their first Hollywood feature (with Ted Healy) was called Soup to Nuts in 1930. The Stooges worked with Healy until 1934. In that time Shemp broke off on his own to work for Warner Bros. Vitaphone and Jerry Howard, Moe’s younger brother, joined the act as Curley.

“The Big Idea (1934)” by twm1340 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Between 1934 and 1958 The Three Stooges made over 90 two-reel shorts featuring their ribald comedy. Starting in 1934 and until the end of the 1950s, The Three Stooges had 26 different opening credits.

In chronological order, all The Stooges’ opening credits from 1934 to 1958.

Moe and Larry appeared in all of them. Curley appeared in 19; Shemp, 6; and Joe, one.

In 1934 there were 4 updates; 6 in 1935; 1 each in 1936, 1937, and 1939; 2 in 1940; 1 in 1943; and 2 in 1945. The 9th (1935), 12th (1937), and 13th (1939) versions were significant brand updates for the Stooges’ opening credits.

In 1946 there were 2 updates – Curley’s last and Shemp’s first. In the postwar years there were less updates – one each in 1947, 1950, 1952, and 1953.

Moe’s brother, Curley, died in 1952 after a long illness. Shemp died suddenly from a heart attack in 1955. Though Curley and Shemp’s comedy styles are very different from one another, they are both equally very funny. Though similar in body type to Curley, Joe Besser brought his own unique comic personality to the act from 1956 to 1958. Joe Besser passed away in 1988.

Shemp. “The Official Stooges Flickr Photographer In Action” by Larry He’s So Fine is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
“Joe Besser as Stinky Davis – Abbott and Costello TV show 9367” by Brechtbug is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

In 1959 Columbia Pictures released Three Stooges shorts for the first time on television. TV broadcasts in the 1960’s brought a new generation of fans to the Stooges. In 1970 the Stooges were scheduled for a new TV sitcom series but Larry Fine had a paralyzing stroke.

Both Larry and Moe died in 1975. Eight years later, in 1983, The Three Stooges were inducted onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“Star Trek James Doohan, William Campbell squire of gothos, stooges Moe Howard Larry Fine” by Sal Ami is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

List of all opening credits with major brand updates in BOLD:

1934 1 2 3 4

1935 5 6 7 8 9 10

1936 11

1937 12

1939 13

1940 14 15

1943 16

1945 17 18

1946 19 (LAST CURLEY) 20 (Shemp)

1947 21

1950 22

1952 23

1953 24 25

1958 26 (Joe Besser)

“Hand prints in Leicester Square, London – Columbia Pictures – Torch Lady” by ell brown is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

text:

 

Olivia Newton-John’s Late-’70s Pop‑Rock Turn: A Little More Love from Totally Hot (1978).

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FEATURE IMAGE: Olivia Newton-John, November 24, 1978. “File:Aankomst zangeres Olivia Newton John op Schiphol Olivia Newton John in de persk, Bestanddeelnr 930-0132.jpg” by Bert Verhoeff / Anefo is marked with CC0 1.0.

In a recording career that spanned over five decades, the singer, actress, environmentalist and animal rights activist, won 4 Grammy Awards, had 5 no.1 hit singles and several Platinum-selling singles and albums.

In 1978 Olivia Newton-John starred in Grease which grossed over $150 million worldwide (more than $680 million in 2022 dollars). The movie musical produced three hit singles that year: You’re the One That I Want sung with John Travolta (no.1 – June 10), Hopelessly Devoted to You (no.3 – September 23) and Summer Nights (no. 5 – September 30). Newton-John also appeared in 1978 in the film Xanadu, whose soundtrack went Double Platinum. With Totally Hot released in November 1978, Newton-John had a top-ten album (no.7) and single, A Little More Love (no.4). As Totally Hot reinforced the singer’s new sexier image, it reached No. 4 on the Billboard Country Albums chart.

A Little More Love is a song recorded and released as a single in October 1978 by Olivia Newton-John. It was her follow-up to her latest hit single Summer Nights, released in August 1978, which reached no.5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single A Little More Love anticipated the release of Newton-John’s 10th studio album, Totally Hot, on November 21, 1978 where the song appeared as the lead track on side 2. .

A Little More Love became a worldwide top-ten hit single in 1979. Both the new album and single were another wildly successful collaboration for Olivia Newton-John and John Farrar, her record producer and songwriter, in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

John Farrar, 1972. Public Domain. “A Little More Love” was written and produced by John Farrar, Olivia Newton‑John’s longtime studio architect and closest musical collaborator. Farrar shaped many of her biggest hits, including “You’re the One That I Want” and “Hopelessly Devoted to You” from Grease, as well as her 1980 chart‑topper “Magic.”

A Little More Love peaked at no.4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1979 and Totally Hot became Newton-John’s first top-ten album (no.7) on the Billboard 200 chart since Have You Never Been Mellow in 1975.

In the course of 1979, when My Sharona by The Knack, Y.M.C.A. by Village People, Ring My Bell by Anita Wood, Too Much Heaven by the Bee Gees, and Heart Of Glass by Blondie were some of Billboard’s year-end top 20 singles, Olivia Newton-John’s A Little More Love ranked no. 17.

Across a recording career that stretched more than five decades, singer, actress, environmental advocate, and animal‑rights activist Olivia Newton‑John earned four Grammy Awards, five No. 1 singles, and a long run of Platinum‑selling albums and singles. Her breakthrough film moment came in 1978 with Grease, which grossed more than $150 million worldwide (over $770 million today) and generated three hit singles. That same year she appeared in Xanadu, whose soundtrack went Double Platinum.

With the release of her tenth studio album, Totally Hot, in November 1978—an album that cemented her shift to a bolder, more contemporary pop‑rock image—Newton‑John scored a Top 10 album (No. 7) and a Top 5 single, “A Little More Love” (No. 4), on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Country Albums charts. The single ultimately ranked as Billboard’s No. 17 song of 1979.

The official music video for “A Little More Love,” directed by Alan Metter, places Newton‑John in a late‑’70s club setting—small stage, neon lighting, and a mood that captures her transition in 1978 from country‑pop ingénue to sleek, leather‑edged pop‑rock performer. Singing into a prominent vintage studio microphone to a live audience, she channels the immediacy of a live television appearance, feeding that raw, on‑camera energy directly into the lens, and reflecting the clean, performance-driven promotional clips that director Metter specialized in for musicians during that era. The lineup miming along in the club‑stage video is the very same circle of West Coast A‑list session players who performed on the studio recording—an ensemble whose presence underscores just how tightly the video is tied to the record’s original sound.

LYRICS: Night is dragging her feet
I wait alone in the heat
I know, know that you’ll have your way
‘Til you have to go home
No is a word I can’t say

‘Cause it gets me nowhere to tell you no
And it gets me nowhere to make you go

Will a little more love make you stop depending?
Will a little more love bring a happy ending?
Will a little more love make it right?
Will a little more love make it right?

Where, where did my innocence go?
How, how was a young girl to know?
I’m trapped, trapped in the spell of your eyes
In the warmth of your arms, in the web of your lies

But it gets me nowhere to tell you no
And it gets me nowhere to make you go

Will a little more love make you stop depending?
Will a little more love bring a happy ending?
Will a little more love make it right?
Will a little more love make it right?

Gets me nowhere to tell you no
And it gets me nowhere to make you go

Will a little more love make you stop depending?
Will a little more love bring a happy ending?
Will a little more love make it right?
Will a little more love make it right? Hey

Gets me nowhere to tell you no
And it gets me nowhere to make you go

Will a little more love make you stop depending?
Will a little more love bring a happy ending?
Will a little more love make it right?
Will a little more love make it right?
Gets me nowhere to tell you no

Note: British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John died of cancer on Monday, August 8, 2022. Newton-John was 73 years old.

UNITED STATES. My Art Photography: BIAGIO GOVERNALI, Bronze Doors, Mysteries of the Rosary (2004)—Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago, IL.

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FEATURE IMAGE: Dedicated by Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. on October 11, 2004, the three sacred bronze doors – East, West, and Central – at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago, IL, are by Italian artist Biagio Governali, native of Corleone, Italy, and depict the mysteries of the Rosary. CENTRAL Bronze Door: Sorrowful Mysteries panel (detail), The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago. 12/2013 1.55 mb

INTRODUCTION.

Our Lady of Pompeii was originally established in Chicago in 1911 as an Italian national parish. The present church building at 1224 West Lexington Street in Chicago’s westside University Village/Little Italy neighborhood was constructed in 1923 and dedicated to Mary, Queen of the Rosary in 1924. The parish began under the Scalabrinian Missionaries, a religious institute founded in Italy in 1887 to aid and serve the Italian immigrants to America.

In 1994 Joseph Cardinal Bernardin proclaimed Our Lady of Pompeii church a Shrine, dedicated to honor Mary, the Mother of God and Queen of the Holy Rosary. Ten years later practically to the day, Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. dedicated the Shrine’s bronze doors. On that same October day in 2004, Bishop Carlo Liberati, Pontifical Delegate to the Shrine of The Blessed Virgin of The Holy Rosary in Pompeii, Italy, established “a most fervent and fraternal link of communion” between the shrine in Pompeii, Italy, and that of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago.

Inspired by the main gate (“Porta del Paradiso”) of the Baptistry of Florence made by Florentine goldsmith and sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455) between 1425 and 1452 and located in front of Florence’s cathedral, the bronze doors in Chicago were made by Biagio Governali, native of Corleone, Italy. The artist modeled each panel in wax which were then sent to Verona, Italy, to be cast in bronze and polished. These Veronese craftsmen came to Chicago on two occasions to mount and position the doors before they were dedicated and blessed by Cardinal George in 2004.

WEST Bronze Door: JOYFUL Mysteries.

WEST Bronze Door. Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago. 12/2013 6.72 mb

The West Bronze Door, dedicated in 2004, depicts the five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii (1923), 1224 West Lexington Street in Chicago. Clockwise from top left, the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), the Visitation (Luke 1:39-56), the Nativity of Jesus (Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 1:18-2:23), the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:22-40) and Christ among the Doctors (Finding in the Temple) (Luke 2:41-52). The shrine is the oldest continuous Italian-American Catholic Church in Chicago and is today a place to pray for peace that embraces pilgrims of all faiths.

1. The Annunciation (top, left)

“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.” (Luke 1:26-27).

2. The Visitation (top, right)

“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”‘ (Luke 1:39-42).

3. The Nativity of Jesus (center)

“In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrolment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:1-7).

Upper portion of WEST Bronze Door depicting Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. The Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38); Visitation (Luke 1: 39-56), and Nativity (Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 1:18-2:23). The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago. 12/2013 4.42 mb

4. The Presentation in the Temple (bottom, left)

“And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”‘ (Luke 2:21-24).

5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple (bottom, right)

“Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it …
After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” (Luke 2:41-47).

The exterior doors of the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago visually narrate the twenty mysteries of the Rosary. These are the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous mysteries. The faithful can use each door panel as a meditation to pray each decade of the Rosary.

In Europe, most of the complete works of art that have survived undamaged and unrestored from the Middle Ages and Renaissance to today are bronze doors, most of which are in Italy.

Even when the Shrine doors are closed, the sanctuary calls to all passersby to look, ponder, and personally experience the Gospel that these doors present in its fine artwork of the mysteries of the Rosary.

CENTRAL Bronze Door: SORROWFUL and GLORIOUS Mysteries.

The exterior doors of the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago visually narrate the twenty mysteries of the Rosary – the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous mysteries. The faithful can use each door panel as a meditation to pray each decade of the Rosary.
In Europe, complete works of art that have survived undamaged and unrestored from the Middle Ages and Renaissance to today are bronze doors, with most in Italy.
The Shrine doors are closed but the sanctuary calls to passersby to look and ponder on the Gospel that these doors present on the mysteries of the Rosary.

Sorrowful Mysteries.

1. The Agony in the Garden (top, left)

“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go yonder and pray.’ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.’ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’” (Matthew 26:36-39).

2. The Scourging at the Pillar (top, right)

“Pilate released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified.” (Matthew 27:26).

3. The Crowning With Thorns (center, left)

“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’” (Matthew 27:27-29).

4. The Carrying of the Cross (center, right)

“And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).” (Mark 15:21-22).

5. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus with Mary and John (center)

“And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do’ …It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last” (Luke 23:33-46). 

Upper portion of Central Bronze Door of Sorrowful Mysteries (left panel) and Glorious Mysteries (right panel) of the Rosary.

Glorious Mysteries.

1. The Resurrection of Jesus (center)

“But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.  5They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? 6He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.” 8And they remembered his words. 9 Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others. 10The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles, 11but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened.” (Luke 24: 1-12).

2. The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven (top, left)

“So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.” (Mark 16:19).

3. The Holy Spirit comes upon Mary and the Apostles (top, right)

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts of the Apostles 2:1-4).

4. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven (bottom, left)

“Henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me.” (Luke 1:48-49).

5. The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven (bottom, right)

“And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” (Revelation12:1).

CENTRAL Bronze Door -Sorrowful Mysteries panel (detail), The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago. 12/2013 1.55 mb

At the bottom of the Sorrowful Mysteries bronze door, the angels hold a tablet emblazoned with Latin text that contains statements on the rosary by two post-Vatican II modern popes. A translation of the text reveals the importance of the rosary to Pope Paul VI (1897-1978) and John Paul II (1920-2005), both canonized saints. Pope Paul VI: “Without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul.” Pope John Paul II: “To meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary is to look into the face of Christ.”

EAST Bronze Door: LUMINOUS Mysteries.

EAST Bronze Door (complete exterior), Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago. 12/2013 6.89 mb

Pope Saint John Paul II (1920-2005) established the Luminous Mysteries near the end of his almost 27-year pontificate in 2002. About the entire rosary itself the pope said, “To meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary is to look into the face of Christ.”

According to The Catholic Encyclopedia (“The Rosary,” Herbert Thurston and Andrew Shipman, volume 13, Robert Appleton Company), the structure of the rosary including its 15 mysteries (five each for Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious) had been officially unchanged for 500 years – from the 16th to 20th centuries.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II instituted the five Luminous Mysteries. In his Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, published on October 16, 2002, the pope marked out 4 broad areas as reasons to pray the rosary:

1. The rosary aids in contemplating Christ with Mary;

2. The rosary aids in contemplating the mysteries of Mary;

3. The rosary is a way of assimilating the mystery of “It is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20); and,

4. The rosary is a way of praying for, and arriving at, peace in one’s life, family, neighborhood, and in the world.

In the same letter (Chapter 3), the pope observed that icons and other religious visual images can assist the human imagination to meditate and contemplate upon the mysteries of the Christian faith, particularly those of the rosary. Appealing to the Church’s traditional spirituality as well as that of St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) in The Spiritual Exercises, the pope’s exhortation to artistic representations as aiding mental prayer imbues Chicago’s great bronze portals depicting the mysteries of the rosary with the authenticity of standing at the threshold between time and eternity and the sacred and profane.

The pope acknowledged that although all the rosary’s 20 mysteries can be termed “luminous” – that is, pertaining to mysteries of light – the five new Luminous mysteries fill the gap between the infancy and hidden life of Christ (i.e., Joyful) and Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day (i.e., Sorrowful and Glorious).

The Luminous mysteries present five significant moments from Christ’s public ministry. Each of these mysteries, the pope writes, “is a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus.” (For more see- https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae.html).  

Luminous Mysteries

1. The Baptism in the Jordan (top, left)

“And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”‘ (Matthew 3:16-17).

2. The Wedding Feast of Cana (top, right)

“On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.”‘ (John 2:1-5).

5. The Institution of the Eucharist (center)

“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.”‘ (Matthew 26:26).

EAST Bronze Door (detail, top), The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago. Upper panels of East Bronze Door depict the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago’s Little Italy. The sculptor is Biagio Governali who was born in Palermo, Sicily, and is an award-winning artist active in Italy and internationally, participating in many art exhibitions. 12/2013 4 mb 12/2013 3.60 mb

3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God (bottom, left)

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15).

4. The Transfiguration (bottom, right)

“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light.” (Matthew 17:1-2).

EAST Bronze Door (detail, bottom), The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago.12/2013 3.48 mb

SOURCES:

Click to access Bronze-Doors.pdf

-retrieved April 5, 2026.

Gates of Paradise

photographs and text:

My Art Photography: Stained Glass, TYROL ART GLASS COMPANY OF INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA. Ascension of Jesus and Assumption of Mary into Heaven (1927), Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Naperville, Illinois. (21 Photos & Illustrations).

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Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Naperville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, in July 2021. Looking to the northeast from Central Park, the church building seats 1000 people and was dedicated in September 1927. In 2021 the parish marked its 175th anniversary. Founded in 1846, the parish is the oldest continuously operating Catholic parish in DuPage County. Down the decades its pastors (Frs. Rainaldi, Zuker, Wenker, Stenger, Lennon, Milota, and others) led Saints Peter and Paul adjacent to Naperville’s Historic District to where the parish with its school today serves 4,000 families. Photograph by author.

A magnificent church building sits on Ellsworth Street in Naperville, Illinois, close by the Historic District. With an orientation out of the darkness of the west into the light of the east, Saints Peter and Paul greets worshippers with two soaring steeples. The neo-Gothic red brick and limestone structure was commissioned in 1922 by the parish’s 350 families and dedicated five years later. Today the parish in Chicago’s western suburb serves 4.000 families and contains historically significant bright colored traditional European painted stained-glass windows from Innsbruck, Austria. In this archival photograph, the view of the church building from around the time of its dedication is looking towards the southeast.

BETWEEN 1870 AND 1930, ART GLASS OF GERMANY AND AUSTRIA COMES TO AMERICA, PARTICULARLY TO CHICAGO’S CHURCHES

The colorful stained-glass windows in Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Naperville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, were ordered, produced, and installed towards the end of a 60-year-long run for the predominance of German and Austrian-made stained glass found in heritage Chicagoland churches today.

With only a couple of exceptions, the stained glass in Naperville’s historically pioneer and, later, German Catholic parish church was created in the mid1920s in Innsbruck, Austria. Innsbruck at the time was one of the European centers of stained-glass making. It is about 100 miles south of Munich, Germany, the home base of two other popular and well-regarded stained-glass studios – that of Franz Mayer & Company and F.X Zettler Company. These art glass manufacturers notably filled many Chicagoland Catholic churches starting in the 1870s. After the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, a building and population boom commenced in the city and its surrounding communities that went on for over a century unabated. In addition, from the 1870s to the 1920s, Chicago became the most influential center of Catholic culture in the United States.1

It was a unique period of history for Catholic churches in America whose state-of-the-art church design usually included brightly colored art (stained) glass windows. These windows often displayed action-packed scenes from the Bible, including episodes from the life of Christ, His Blessed Mother, or a patron saint.

This continuous appeal over multiple generations for the purchases of vast orders of Munich and Austrian style glass in U.S. Catholic churches declined greatly starting in the 1930’s with the onset of the Great Depression. The European traditional glass market did not recover its former popularity making its stained-glass windows from 1870 to 1930 in Chicagoland churches – including Saints Peter and Paul Church in Naperville – increasingly rare and valuable to preserve and appreciate.

Stained glass made by Tyrol Art Glass Company of Innsbruck, Austria, and Franz Mayer and F.X. Zettler of Munich, Germany, was characterized by its traditional painted stained glass. This style fit into the traditional-style church architecture that Catholic parishes, such as Saints Peter and Paul in Naperville, and many others, built between 1870 and 1930. By the mid20th century these European traditional glass makers faced competition from the rise of American glass manufacturers such as Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) which extended to quality, price, and style. Tiffany stained glass which frequently incorporated natural scenery elements, contained intricately cut opaque and opalescent glass, overlaid with wide varieties in thickness. This product became better fitted into modern worship spaces which were often smaller. Such modern art and architectural trends worked to displace traditional glass made in Europe used for grandiose classically styled houses of worship that were from an earlier historical period.

In the late 19th century, Tyrol Art Glass Company of Innsbruck, Austria, with the Munich studios of Franz Mayer and F.X. Zettler, began to send representatives to sell their new patterns for churches in Chicago and around the United States. These three studios often worked together and their style is basically interchangeable. In Saints Peter and Paul Church – as well as many other churches with classically-styled  architecture – traditional painted stained glass was the stand-out choice, It is usually very colorful whose iconography often depicts highly recognizable religious, often biblical, scenes and religious symbolism. This is definitely the situation with the beautiful stained-glass windows of Saints Peter and Paul in Naperville, including the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven and the Assumption of Mary into Heaven windows.

HOW SAINTS PETER AND PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH GOT STARTED AND GREW IN NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS

Naperville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, was founded in 1831 – the oldest town in DuPage County.2 With its origins as a mixed settlement of Easterners and Hoosiers, Naperville’s strong religious character was established starting in the 1830s.3 Today it boasts a population of around 150,000 and is one of Illinois’s largest cities. The downtown area is bustling with shops and motor vehicle and foot traffic, yet Naperville’s 19th century origins can still be found in and around the DuPage River with its River Walk and its Historic District that maintain much of the suburb’s original charm and historic significance.

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Naperville was founded in 1846 and is the oldest continuously operating Catholic parish in DuPage County. The county was established in 1839 with Naperville originally as the county seat. This changed in 1867 when, by county referendum, Wheaton became the county seat which it remains today. Naperville’s first religious institutions were the East Branch Settlement, Congregationalist, Evangelical, and Baptist churches. These churches were all established in Naperville between 1833 and 1843.4

The Catholic parish was originally founded as a mission of the Joliet Catholic Church – Joliet, Illinois, about 20 miles to the south of Naperville is its Diocese headquarters today. In the 1840s, when Illinois was the edge of the frontier, a priest traveled the rigorous 20-mile journey – Naperville did not get a railroad for another 30 years (1864) – once a month to say mass in pioneers’ homes. The first church, named St. Raphael’s for Fr. Raphael Rainaldi, the first pastor, was a small frame structure with a lean-to across the street from today’s church building. In the 1840s the church served about 25 families – 175 years later it serves 4,000 families.5

The first official act at Saints Peter and Paul Church was a festive event – the wedding of Mr. Robert Le Beau to Miss Emily Beaubien, recorded on Tuesday, September 8, 1846. The parish also purchased an acre of land for a cemetery.

In 1852 the church was enlarged by a frame addition and Fr. Charles Zuker established a parish school in the lean-to with a lay headmaster. In 1855 the first school building was built. By 1864 the first frame church building was used for school purposes as the cornerstone was laid for a new stone church on the site of the present church building. By this time the parish was renamed to Saints Peter & Paul by Fr. Peter Fisher and the parish had grown to about 250 families. The stone had been obtained locally from the parish’s own quarry along the DuPage River. The new stone church building was dedicated in 1866 and the school now served around 100 students.6

Continual improvements were made to the parish church and grounds in the 1870s and 1880s so that by the start of the 1890s, following Naperville’s incorporation as a city, the parish launched significant building projects. In 1892, a year where it rained almost all that spring, a new brick school building for the parish’s 200 students was built that cost $30,000. Saints Peter and Paul also built a new rectory in anticipation of the new century.

c. 1874, looking west, the corner of Ellsworth Street and Benton Avenue. the complex of buildings of Saints Peter and Paul parish, Naperville, Illinois.

In the 1880’s Naperville, illinois, like much of the rest of the country, expanded its industrial base, grew its city services, such as the fire department and city hall, and established new utilities including the first public telephone service.

With its new wealth generated by industry, Naperville built some of its first impressive homes. Shops and stores were established to service them. While agrarian in flavor, by the end of the 1880’s and into the early 1890s Naperville was already a bustling, modern, forward-thinking city. In 1893 Naperville hosted its first “Bicycle Parade” – a big public affair whose purpose was to “show our citizens the increased interest lately in this comparatively new mode of locomotion.”

In the 1890s the area that included Saints Peter and Paul Church, other denominational churches, and Northwestern College (renamed North Central College in 1926) affiliated with the United Methodist Church, came to be known around town as “Piety Corners.”

With the appearance of the first cars in the 1900s, Naperville was well on its way to an era of accelerated expansion and growth that continues in the 21st century.7

Saints Peter and Paul’s old stone church is to the far right. In the background left is the belfry of the Main Building at North Western College built in 1870. North Western College was founded in 1861 as Plainfield College in Plainfield, Illinois. It was renamed to North Western College in 1864 and, with the enticement of 8 acres of donated land and $25,000 from Naperville, relocated to Naperville in 1870. In 1926 it was again renamed to today’s North Central College. For over 140 years the college has had a great deal of influence on the educational and cultural life of Naperville. In 2021, with an enrollment of 3,000 students and 700 employees, North Central College is one of Naperville’s top ten employers.8
c. 1904, view of Sts. Peter and Paul stone church building from the belfry of the College’s Main Building.

In 1911 the school was badly damaged by fire. When a new school opened the next year, 250 students were enrolled.9

In the 1920’s Naperville boasted around 5,000 residents. In June 1922 (sources vary whether it was on June 4 or June 8) the old stone church quarried from the parish’s own quarry and dedicated in 1866 was destroyed by an arsonist’s fire. By this time, the parish’s 350 Naperville families were from mostly German-speaking countries in Europe. Naperville’s quarries had brought waves of German immigrants to the city since the 1850’s since they knew how to mine and cut stone. After the devastating 1922 fire, the parish chose to rebuild their church in a magnificent red brick traditional cruciform-shape. It was dedicated on Sunday, September 25, 1927. The half German, half Irish Cardinal-Archbishop of Chicago, George Mundelein (1872-1939), participated in the dedication ceremony. This remains the church building that exists today and which contains its lovely and historically significant stained glass from Innsbruck, Austria. In 1927 the cost of the church building was $407,785 – or about $6.5 million today.10

WHO WERE SAINTS PETER AND PAUL?

El Greco (1541-1641), Saint Peter in Tears, 1587-1596, oil on canvas, 109 cm (42.9 in) x 88 cm (34.6 in), Toledo, Spain.

St. Peter is the Rock, or “Cephas,” of Jesus Christ’s church. In Matthew 16 Jesus tells Simon, son of John, brother to Andrew the apostle and a married fisherman by trade: “I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16: 18-19). Peter denied Christ three times before the crucifixion that is described in all four New Testament Gospels.

After Jesus Christ’s Resurrection (Mark 16, Matthew 28, Luke 24, Acts 1, John 20 and 1 Corinthians 15) and Ascension into Heaven (Luke 24:50. Acts 1, John 3:13, John 6:62, John 20:17, Romans 8:34, Ephesians 1:19-20, Colossians 3:1, Philippians 2:9-11, 1 Timothy 3:16, and 1 Peter 3:21-22) and following the events of Pentecost (Acts 2), Peter led an important life as a Christian evangelist and Church leader.

Though St. Paul’s pastoral heritage in his 13 letters were highly influential for the early church where he writes on church structure, the theology of the Body of Christ, and the nature of the Holy Spirit, St. Peter also has an epistemological heritage which explores the People of God.11 These best-known apostles also both died in the 60s. For the rest of that critical first century of Christianity – until when John’s Gospel was written in the 90s – the churches had to go without two of its greatest authoritative figures who had seen the risen Jesus.

St. Peter was martyred by crucifixion in 64 A.D. in Rome. He requested he be crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross, as witness to the apostle’s prolonged sorrow over his denial of Christ. On the church calendar, St. Peter’s feasts are June 29 and February 22.


Rembrandt, The Apostle Paul, oil on canvas, 1633.

St. Paul is one of Church history’s most significant figures. As Saul of Tarsus, the scholar, rabbi, and Roman citizen, zealously persecuted the first Christians and was personally present at the stoning of the first Christian martyr, Stephen (Acts 7: 54-60). On the road to Damascus making “murderous threats” towards Christians (Acts 9:1), Paul encounters the risen Jesus. The passage reads: “Suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:4-6).

The jolting event changed Paul’s life and outlook. More than anyone else in the Church’s first years, Paul realized Christianity’s universal message. Paul’s letters to various Christian communities in Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome, show him to be a solicitous and sometimes stern and exhorting pastor who had a deeply personal spiritual experience of the Lord. About half of the books of the New Testament are Paul’s writings that  express his profound openness to humanity and its cultures which made him “Apostle of the Gentiles” and “Teacher of the Nations.”

Paul was martyred somewhere between 64 and 68 A. D. The circumstances of his death are not entirely known, although early Christian writers related that Paul was beheaded. St. Paul shares a feast with St. Peter on June 29.

THE WINDOWS

The Ascension of Jesus into Heaven.

North Transept, Ascension of Christ into Heaven, 1927, Tyrol Art Glass Company, Innsbruck, Austria. Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Naperville, Illinois.

The Ascension of Jesus is recounted twice in the New Testament  – and both times by Luke the Evangelist. One account is in his Gospel (Luke 24:50-53) and a second is in his Book of Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1: 6-12).

One significant difference in Acts is that Luke sets a time frame of 40 days (1;3) for Jesus’s sustained manifold appearances to the apostles after the Resurrection until His Ascension. The account in Acts also situates the apostles and Christian community into salvation history’s imagery of Israel’s covenant.12 Luke’s tradition would likely not have separated the Resurrection and Ascension events in time except that it was used to give clarity to a narrative purpose.13

The account of the Ascension in Acts 1:6-12 reads:

6 ”When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He answered them: “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9 When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.

10 While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.

11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”j

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. (New American Bible)

When Jesus rose from the dead it became clear to the disciples that he is the Messiah so it was not illogical that they would ask him in Acts when he will restore political self-rule to Israel. Since Luke was writing with future Christians in mind, Jesus‘s reply is indeterminate. Jesus tells them (Acts: 7-8) that the Second Coming (“parousia”) is not a question for them to be asking of God. Rather, it is important for them to bear witness to Him by ways of the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus will send to them and for whom they should wait. Lastly, as Jerusalem is the Holy City and the place of Jesus’s Paschal Mystery this is the place where the Christian church will start their mission that will reach to the ends of the earth.14

Another important detail Luke includes in Acts is that when Jesus is lifted up into heaven a cloud has intervened to take him from the apostles’ sight. Further, the Ascension takes place on Mount Olivet, which had eschatological (“end times”) meaning. After Jesus is lifted up two figures appear in dazzling garments signaling angels who also appeared at the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:9) and at the Resurrection (Luke 24:4-7). The cloud image Luke uses is also linked to end times (Luke 21:27) or parousia so that Jesus who is bodily taken up to heaven in the Ascension “will come (again) in the same way that you saw him going” (Acts1:11).

detail, Christ, Ascension window, Sts. Peter and Paul, Naperville, IL

In the Ascension of Christ into Heaven window, Christ is surrounded by a band of clouds and yet remains in a golden area representing the fiery light of God. Christ wears a multi-colored robe – red representing his death by crucifixion; purple representing his Divinity; and white representing martyrdom emblazoned with four-lobed crosses representing the four Gospels or the four corners of the earth.

Christ’s halo is elaborated in three parts. There are usually three Greek letters found in Christ’s cruciform halo that in translation spell out “He Who is” or “ I Am Who Am.” These are absent, however, in this stained-glass window’s cruciform halo.

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Hierarchy of angels

There are eight angels in the window representing the hierarchy of angels. The baby heads of the cherubim – the lowest tier of angels – are accompanied by seraphim, the highest order of angels. Their name “archangel” literally means “chief angel.” Traditionally these highest order of angels are warlike in appearance and bear a sword, This is especially the case with the iconography of St. Michael the Archangel who leads God’s angels in battle to cast Satan and his angels out of heaven as told in the New Testament Book of Revelation.

The seraphim in this stained-glass depiction, however, carry palm branches in place of swords. In the years following World War I when this stained glass was made, the Austrian art glass manufacturer may have sought to symbolize angelic power by ways of symbols of peace. The fact that the range of angels from lowest to highest is present in the window appears to signal the presence of the whole choir of angels present at the Ascension of Jesus into heaven.15

detail, angel, Ascension window, Sts. Peter and Paul, Naperville, IL.
detail, angel, Ascension window, Sts. Peter and Paul, Naperville, IL.

Depicted at the bottom of the window is Mary and the 12 apostles. This was not precisely accurate to the New Testament for at the Ascension there were only 11 apostles. However, the replacement of Judas by Matthias took place almost immediately following the Ascension narrative (Acts of the Apostles 1:21–26).

In the center of the window at the bottom between Mary and a kneeling apostle with his right arm stretched out is an interesting detail. It is the outline of Christ’s feet showing where his resurrected body stood and was lifted directly from earth into heaven. This is significant beyond a souvenir of Jesus’s earthly memory, in that Mount Olivet from which the resurrected Jesus was lifted into heaven is exact the place to which “the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:27) will return at the end of the world. In that way, the window is a depiction of the Ascension and one that points to the Second Coming of Christ.

detail, outline of jesus’s feet, Ascension window, Sts. Peter and Paul, Naperville, IL.

Each of the apostle’s halos are unique. Mary’s halo has 12 stars as she is often pictured with a circle of stars. The Zodiac is an ancient circle of stars where some are symbolically combined into 12-star signs or constellations.

detail, apostles, Ascension window, Sts. Peter and Paul, Naperville, IL.
detail, apostles, Ascension window, Sts. Peter and Paul, Naperville, IL.

Jesus’ Ascension – his going “up” to heaven – is the same imagery used for the Assumption of Mary. It is figurative to express the spiritual. The biblical heaven is mysterious. It is the intimate reserve of God and as God is pure spirit (John 4:24), the question arises, how does Heaven incorporate the resurrected fleshly body of Christ at His Ascension?

It is explained starting with the Incarnation at the Annunciation to Mary (Luke 1:26-38) where the divine humanity of Jesus, the Word who was “with God, and…was God (John 1:1) begins. In the Ascension, the Person of Christ is fulfilled where the “new, saved man” enters heaven into the intimacy of the Father, and becomes the perfect God-Man. As “God is love” (I John 4:16), the manner of being of the body in Christ in heaven, the perfect God-man, is love.16

The Ascension is followed by Pentecost when the Apostles receive the Holy Spirit from Heaven and will speak thereafter of “Christ (in Heaven) in us.”

detail, rondelle, Christ the King, Ascension window, Sts. Peter and Paul, Naperville, IL.

The upper rondelle represents Christ the King. Christ’s crown obscures his elaborate three-part halo. The Greek letters on either side represent the “alpha” (“the beginning”) and the “omega” (“the ending”) which indicates Christ’s Godhead. Christ the King holds in his hands the symbols of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in the consecration of the Mass. in his right hand is the species of bread and wine that become the Body and Blood of Christ and in his left hand is the wood beam of the cross whose sacrifice on Calvary the Eucharist memorializes. Christ the King also reveals his Sacred Heart – a popular Catholic devotion- inside his chest. His heart is depicted as aflame encircled by a crown of thorns signifying his agape (or sacrificial) love. The entire Ascension window was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. William David Callender, parish members in the mid1920s.

detail, halo of stars, Ascension window, Sts. Peter and Paul, Naperville, IL.

In the New Testament, the Woman of the Apocalypse and the battle of St. Michael the Archangel against the Dragon are bound together in the same dramatic narrative in the Book of Revelation (Rev.12:1-9). The Woman with a crown of 12 stars who is against the Dragon in the Book of Revelation has been identified with Mary, particularly as the Immaculate Conception. This is how Mary is depicted in the Ascension of Christ into Heaven window at Sts. Peter and Paul.

The New Testament passage setting out these images is in Revelation 12:1-9:

1 A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

2 She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.

3 Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems.

4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth.

5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne.

6 The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God, that there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty days.

7 Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back,

8 but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.

9 The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.

EXPLANATION OF IMAGERY IN THE NARRATIVE OF REVELATION 12-14

About the middle of the Book of Revelation (Chapters 12-14), the author portrays the power of evil as represented by the figure of the Dragon who is opposed to God and his people. This Dragon pursues the woman about to give birth to devour the child but the child is born. Then St. Michael and his angels expel the Dragon and the Dragon’s angels out of heaven (Rev. 12:5-9). Adorned with the Old Testament images of sun, moon, and stars (Genesis 37:9-10), the woman symbolizes God’s people. As Israel gave birth to the Messiah (Rev.12:5) and the church suffers persecution by the Dragon (Rev 12: 6, 13-17), the Woman corresponds to an archetype of a pregnant goddess bearing a savior who is pursued by a monster looking to destroy the offspring. But her offspring, a son, in his turn, destroys the monster.

The huge red Dragon is a symbol of the forces of evil – the Devil or Satan (Rev. 12:9, 20:2), or the mythical Leviathan (Ps, 74:13-14) or Rahab (Job 26:12-13; Ps 89:11). It is also the ancient serpent who seduced Eve, the mother of the whole world (Gen 3:1-6).17

The Assumption of Mary into Heaven.

South Transept, Assumption of Mary into Heaven, 1927, Tyrol Art Glass Company, Innsbruck, Austria. Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Naperville, Illinois.

There is no mention of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven in the New Testament. There are biblical texts used frequently to point to the doctrine whose imagery is related to the Ascension of Christ into Heaven.

The Assumption of Mary in theology is the doctrine that Mary as Theotokos, or Mother of God, was taken (“Assumed”) into heaven, body and soul, at the moment, or what would be the moment, of her death. This phenomenon is not unprecedented in the Bible. It occurred in the Old Testament to Moses and Elijah who were pivotally important as Old Testament figures and who were present at Christ’s Transfiguration in the New Testament (Matt 17:1-9; Mk 9:2-10: Lk 9:28-36; and 2 Peter 1:16-21).

There has been debate whether Mary was assumed into heaven at death or after death – that is, whether Mary, the Mother of the Savior, experienced death at all. It is a debate not resolved even with the doctrine of the Mary’s Assumption into Heaven declared a dogma of the faith by Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) on November 1, 1950 in the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus.

What is depicted in the window is biblical in the sense that it is the dogmatic theology deduced from it. The Assumption as a theme in Christian art originated in western Europe during the late Middle Ages—starting in the 12th and 13th centuries – a period when devotion to the Virgin Mary was growing in importance. It would be renewed vigorously again in the 16th century during the Protestant Reformation. Before this Renaissance and Reformation period, Mary is represented surrounded by a mandorla, or almond-shaped aureole. But starting in the 16th century the mandorla was replaced by a cluster of clouds as depicted in the window.

detail. Mary, Assumption window, Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Naperville, Illinois.

The window depicts Mary standing upon a brightly-lit crescent moon reflected in imagery from Revelation 12.

Mary wears a blue cloak with a red shirt underneath as seen in the stained glass window by her right arm’s sleeve. The blue of her cloak is interpreted to represent the Virgin’s purity, symbolize the cosmos, and identify Mary as a Queen as blue was associated with royalty.

The red garment color signifies traits connected with motherhood as well as Mary’s presence on Calvary at her son’s crucifixion, particularly her traits of love and devotion.

These symbolic colors Mary wears expresses a universal definition of motherhood for her.

The Virgin Mary is mother to Jesus which expands to the whole of humanity. On Calvary, standing by the cross of Jesus were three Marys – Mary, his mother, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. From the cross, Jesus said in John 19:

26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”

27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. (New American Bible)

Mary wears a white robe representing her purity. Her halo has seven eight-pointed stars. In numerology the number 7 represents “perfection” and the number 8 represents “regeneration or rebirth.”

detail. angels, Assumption window, Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Naperville, Illinois.
detail. angels, Assumption window, Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Naperville, Illinois.

There are 12 angels, some carrying palms representing peace and victory, others carry lilies representing Mary’s virginity. Angels wear laurels of hyacinths (prudence, peace, and desire for heaven) and of roses (heavenly joy). Another angel holds out a bouquet of thornless roses signifying purity and the triumph of love. Mary will be crowned Queen of Heaven and the angels hold her crown.

detail. rondelle, The Trinity, Assumption window, Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Naperville, Illinois.

God the Father wears a triangular halo as He blesses the scene. The Holy Spirit in the symbol of the dove emanates.18

FOOTNOTES:

1  https://www.kingrichards.com/news/Church-Stained-Glass/79/Historic-Stained-Glass-Companies/ – retrieved 12.7.21.  

2 DuPage Roots, Richard A. Thompson, et.al., DuPage County Historical Society, 1985, p. 200.

3 DuPage Roots, p.203.

4 DuPage Roots, p.203-4.

5 http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/npl/id/7507/ – p. 18 retrieved 12.7.21.

https://sspeterandpaul.net/our-church -retrieved 12.7.21.

DuPage Roots, p.203.

Naperville, IL (NPV)

6  http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/npl/id/7507/ p.23 – retrieved 12.7.21.

https://sspeterandpaul.net/our-church – retrieved 12.9.21.

7 DuPage Roots, pp. 204-5.

http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/npl/id/7507/ p. 38- retrieved 12.7.21.

8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naperville,_Illinois – retrieved 12.9.21.
DuPage Roots p. 204.

9 https://sspeterandpaul.net/our-church – retrieved 12.9.21.

10 DuPage Roots p 205.

11 see Raymond E. Brown, The Churches The Apostles Left Behind, Paulist Press, NY, 1984.

12 Raymond E. Brown, A Risen Christ at Eastertime, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1991, p. 60.

13 “Acts of the Apostle, “ Richard J. Dillon and Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J, The Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall Englewood Cliffs, NJ, p.169.

14 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/1 – . retrieved 11.17.21.

Raymond E. Brown, A Risen Christ at Eastertime, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1991, p. 60.

15 see – https://www.beyondtheyalladog.com/2016/06/winged-heads-a-key-to-the-heirarchy-of-angels/ – retrieved 12.11.2021.

16 Romano Guardini, The Lord, Regnery Publishing, inc. Washington, D.C., pp. 501-503.

17 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/revelation/12 – Retrieved11.17.21.

Stained Glass Windows Tour at Saints Peter and Paul Church – Parts 1 and 2

18 Ibid.  

SOURCES:

http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/npl/id/7507/

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/1

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/revelation/12

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naperville,_Illinois

https://nmwa.org/blog/nmwa-exhibitions/mary-and-the-colors-of-motherhood
On The Origin of Ὁ ὬΝ in The Halo of Christ

https://sspeterandpaul.net/our-church

https://www.beyondtheyalladog.com/2016/06/winged-heads-a-key-to-the-heirarchy-of-angels

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Assumption-Christianity

https://www.kingrichards.com/news/Church-Stained-Glass/79/Historic-Stained-Glass-Companies/

Raymond E. Brown, A Risen Christ at Eastertime, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1991.

Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J,  and Roland E. Murphy, O. Carm.,The Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1968.

Raymond E. Brown, The Churches The Apostles Left Behind, Paulist Press, NY, 1984.

Richard A. Thompson, et.al., DuPage Roots, DuPage County Historical Society, 1985.

Romano Guardini, The Lord, Regnery Publishing, inc. Washington, D.C.

Stained Glass Windows Tour at Saints Peter and Paul Church – Part 1 and 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5mUrOH1Ze4

(Color) photographs and text:

UNITED STATES. My Art Photography: JACOB WATTS (b., American), Moose Bubblegum Bubble, 2014, 33 E. Congress (South Wall), Chicago, Illinois.

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Jacob Watts, Moose Bubblegum Bubble, 2014, 33 E. Congress, Chicago,  11/2017 5.19 mb

Jacob Watts is a photographer and visual storyteller based in Chicago, Illinois. A graduate of Oswego (Illinois) High School (class of 2008), Watts received his B.F.A. from Columbia College Chicago in 2012. The photo-illustration of a moose blowing bubblegum hangs on a blue wall in the South Loop of Downtown Chicago at a size of 48′ by 43′.

Jacob Watts has been passionate about the medium of photography since before he was a teenager. From the start of his interest in photography, Watts was wholly intrigued by Photoshop. Today the artist creates illustrative and conceptual images with an emphasis on post production. Most of Watts’ work consists of graphic, imaginative, surreal, and composited works from his own images. His current headline work includes images in areas entitled Strangers, Recovery: Movie Posters, Some Time Alone. Portraits, Hvrbrd, Motion, Conceptual, Things are Strange, and Building A Universe.  

According to the artist’s website, he is passionate about collaboration and finding creative solutions to exceed expectations. Watts is represented by Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago.

In the spring of 2014, Columbia College Chicago’s Wabash Avenue Corridor (WAC) Campus Committee launched a student and alumni competition to install artwork in the heart of the South Loop. Watts’ Moose Bubblegum Bubble was selected as one of the winners.

The scores of educational and cultural projects and programs that WAC advances strengthen the ties between students, artists, curators, academic institutions, cultural organizations and local businesses. Artists and curators from around the world have participated in WAC projects and programs to create murals, performance, installations, actions and large-scale projections that are always free of charge and open to the public.

This public arts program brings together the visual, performing, and other arts and media which are expansive, diverse and accessible so to provide a transformative experience to the many tens of thousands of urbanites who live, work and play in the city on a daily basis.

Starting in 2016 WAC began a focus of “diversity, equity and inclusion,” and developed one of the largest street art and public art collections of women artists and artists of color. This effort continues in 2021.

SOURCES:

http://www.jacobwatts.net/

Jacob Watts

https://patch.com/illinois/oswego/former-oswego-grads-art-receives-prominent-downtown-chicago-placement-0

photograph and text:



UNITED STATES. My Art Photography: RUTH AIZUSS MIGDAL (b. 1932, American), Here, 2012, Chicago, Illinois.

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Ruth Aizuss Migdal, Here, fabricated painted steel, 2012, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago. 5/2015 3.73 mb

Ruth Aizuss Migdal was born in Chicago. The artist was educated at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (B.F.A.) and the University of Illinois at Urbana (M.F.A). Migdal was awarded an honorary doctorate from U of I, her alma mater, in 2019. Classically educated and trained in painting and printmaking, initially she created abstract paintings. Migdal turned to sculpture where, in 1971, she began exploring the female figure.

Her towering sculptures begin as a maquette and, then, as a wax mold, they are each pieced together section by section. Today the artist continues her work in bronze and steel, creating large abstracted figurative sculptures that have been installed in popular locations throughout Chicago and around the United States.

Here is a 14-foot-tall public sculpture, painted a shining bright red, that depicts a dancing female figure on the runway and poised for flight. Standing in Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo next to the Chilean pink flamingos pond, Migdal’s sensuous, voluptuous, and muscular female dancer sculpture (and others like it) are constructed and deconstructed with multiple body parts. It exemplifies a spirit of joyfulness, independence, and perseverance. Further, the artwork is an expression of strength and a lust for life.

Here is one of the major examples of Migdal’s red dancing figures – another, entitled Whirling Dervish is in Chicago’s Douglas Park. La Diva III at 2650 N. Clark Street in Chicago was Migdal’s first monumental red painted sculpture installed in a public space. The photograph is from May 2015.

Here is installed in Lincoln Park Zoo. Founded in 1868, Lincoln Park Zoo is one of the most historic zoos in North America (fourth oldest) and one of the only free admission zoos in the country. It attracts over 3.6 million visitors annually.

SOURCES:

https://sculpture.org/member/ruth_aizuss_migdal

wgntv.com/news/features/85-year-old-chicago-sculptor-has-no-plans-to-slow-down/

http://www.lincolnparkchamber.com/news-item/art-on-clark-ruth-aizuss-migdal/

https://ruthssculpture.com/

http://www.lpzoo.org/

Photograph and text:

My Nature Photography: FALL I. (93 Photos).

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FEATURE image: Downers Grove, Illinois. October 2018.

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My Architecture & Design Photography: ANONYMOUS/UNKNOWN. Row Houses (1873), 802-812 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois. (2 Photos & Illustrations).

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Row Houses, c. 1873, 802-812 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 6/2014

These early row houses were developed in Chicago’s Gold Coast/River North neighborhood in the early 1870s immediately following the Great Chicago Fire.

That tw-day conflagration began on October 8, 1871 at 137 DeKoven Street (around 1100 South) and blew its destruction north through Downtown and into the Gold Coast area. The fire petered out to the north of Fullerton Avenue (2400 North). The area of devastation was a swath of over ⁠four miles (see map below).

The fire’s aftermath sparked an intense period of rebuilding, especially in Downtown Chicago, less than one mile to the south of these row houses. This flurry of building activity, particularly of needed housing, may be partly why the architect is unknown for these three- and four-story Italianate buildings, all of which are well preserved.

The three-story row houses to the south have neo-Grec ornament which was in vogue by 1872. It included incised carved detail on window ledges and door frames.

The four-story row houses to the north (partially pictured) have more lavish Second Empire exterior decoration.

Like the Italianate style, the Neo-Grec–style row houses have a smooth brownstone front with a pronounced deep cornice, heavy entryway and window details. The contrast was in their ornamentation: Neo-Grec’s simple, precise lines and geometric Greek influence varied from Italianate ornamentation of curved and organic lines and forms.

Italianate curved window and door frames are replaced by Neo-Grec’s right-angles. Lintels are replaced by rectangular blocks. Entryway steps had baluster cast-iron railings that ended in squared-off linear and geometric incised ornament.

Vintage map of Chicago Great Fire (detail).

CHICAGO POPULATION GROWTH 1860-1980

Chicago was growing exponentially by 1870. In 1860 the city had a little over 112,000 residents and ranked 9th on the list of largest U.S. cities. By the time of the Great Fire in 1871, Chicago had grown to nearly 300,000 and ranked 5th on the largest U.S. cities list. Equally significant is that the city’s size also doubled in those same ten years from 17,492 square miles in 1860 to 35,172 square miles in 1870. Busy with rebuilding, the city did not expand again in square miles until the 1880’s, though its population continued to soar. When these Italianate row houses were built, Chicago was growing towards becoming the 4th largest U.S. city with a population of over 500,000. In the early 1870’s with rebuilding and augmenting population density the demand for housing was high. Chicago’s population would continue to grow with each decade until 1980.

OCCUPANTS TODAY INCLUDE A CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY AND THE ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE CHICAGO FOUNDED IN 1897

Today, at 806 N. Dearborn is Alan Koppel Gallery which has, for over two decades, introduced contemporary international artists to Chicago audiences.

At 810 N. Dearborn is the main entrance to the Alliance Française de Chicago. Founded in Paris in 1883. the Alliance Française de Chicago is part of an international network of over 1,100 Alliances around the world which promotes French language and francophone culture. Chicago’s Alliance Française was founded in 1897. Offering French language classes and a full range of cultural events, the Alliance Française de Chicago is the second oldest Alliance in the U.S. and the second largest in the U.S. after the French Institute Alliance Française in New York City. The Alliance Française de Chicago is headquartered in two renovated architecturally historic buildings, including the 1870’s row house on Dearborn Street and, connected by an interior garden, a building on Chicago Avenue.

SOURCES:

Alice Sinkevitch, AIA Guide to Chicago, 2nd Edition, Harcourt, Inc., Orlando, 2004, p. 134.

Frank A. Randall, History of the Development of Building Construction in Chicago, Second Edition, Chicago and Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999, p. 5.

Jay Pridmore and George A. Larson, Chicago Architecture and Design, Abrams, New York, 2018, p. 42.

https://www.biggestuscities.com/city/chicago-illinois – retrieved October 30, 2021.

https://www.brownstoner.com/guides/%25guides%25/neo-grec/ – retrieved October 30, 2021.

https://www.af-chicago.org/ – retrieved October 30, 2021.

https://www.alankoppel.com – retrieved October 30, 2021.

https://thevintagemapshop.com/products/1871-mcdonalds-map-of-chicago-great-fire – retrieved October 30, 2021.