One of the best kept secrets in all of Chicago is the Smith Museum of Stained Glass on Navy Pier, which we visited a week ago. Its free, its spectacular, and here is just a sample. You will notice that many of these windows, which have been collected out of old churches and homes mostly are made by the famous Tiffany Glass manufacturers which began in the Victorian era. There is something especially moving about the combination of beauty and truth and craftsmanship, for example in the Tiffany window above of King Solomon, or the dark skinned Jesus. Enjoy, and see if you can figure out which of the windows depicts a famous Tar Heel who landed in Chicago for a while. BW3
Personally, I think the Oriental Institute Museum is the better kept secret. But that's a matter of taste...
ReplyDeleteYes the ANE museum is great.
ReplyDeleteBW3
I Love it... You have the biblical scenes, the beautiful nature scenes, and then.... Michael Jordan. I guess to some living in Chicago, their thoughts may be that the canon needs to re-open and have a Jordan biography placed after the gospels :)
ReplyDeleteSo the question becomes, would the end of Jordan's career (particularly with the wizards) make it through all the scribes or would we have another "ending of Mark" scenario on our hands?
Spectacular! Who knew?
ReplyDeleteI'd say the stained glass museum is a better-kept secret. I've lived here for 10 years and I didn't know about it (then again, I tend to avoid Navy Pier). I've been to the museum at the OI a few times.
ReplyDeleteAlas, I am afraid the ending of Jordan's career was all too much like the long and later added ending of Mark-- he tried to drink a wizard's potion and handle various snaky situations, but alas, Air Jordan was suffering from a heavy bit of gravity by then, and like the rest of us, came crashing back down to earth.
ReplyDeleteBW3
PS: Frank Viola (of Pagan Xianity fame) is at it again, now Reimagining Church.
ReplyDeleteI spent a lonely few days in Chicago a few years ago and found the stained glass museum on the Navy Pier. Most impressive. I also managed to watch Shakespeare's 'Winter's Tale' there. Aprt from that I was reduced to counting how many Jaguar S types I could find.
ReplyDeletewho is the Smith this museum is named for and how was the collection acquired? Thanks. Its beautiful.
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