The Visitation

The visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, shortly after the Annunciation, is told by Luke (1:36-56). This meeting was one of mutual joy, because Mary had conceived, and Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy after a lifetime of being barren. The child in her womb was John the Baptist. This is a favorite theme in scenes of Mary's life, and in Gothic art the two generally meet each other with a formal bow. However, in later works, particularly after the Counter-Reformation, the theme is treated with more devotion, with Elizabeth kneeling in homage before the Virgin. This scene is usually placed before the house of Zacharias, Elizabeth's husband. In this window, it is possible that the building forming the frame behind the two women represents Zacharias' house.

Elizabeth is shown as matronly, in contrast to the youthful Virgin. Burnham has given Mary a classic, unblemished beauty, while the kneeling cousin, with lines on her face (even Anne's face is not depicted this way), looks considerably older. The two women are in stiff poses. The figures look as if they have been caught in stop-action, and represent a moment frozen in time. Elizabeth's arms are extended out on either side of Mary as she kneels in homage. Mary gives her a blessing with an upraised right hand. Mary is not wearing the traditional colors attributed to her (red the symbol of love, white the symbol of purity, and blue the color of heaven). Instead, Mary is robed in magenta for royalty, while her head covering is green, the color of springtime, symbolizing rebirth and immortality.

Again, Burnham has used color opposites to add brilliance to the scene and to pull the viewer's eyes toward the image of Mary. The intense yellow/gold halo surrounded by the bright green head covering with its complementary robe of purple is also very eye-catching.

Elizabeth's halo is red, possibly denoting love, or perhaps for no reason other than to complement the green and to pick up the reds in the border of this window. The whole scene is one of complementary colors, with the red of Elizabeth's halo set against her blue-clad arm, bisecting Mary's magenta robe. The color is actually magenta or mauve, and not a royal purple, for the following reason: In a letter to Burnham dated October 12, 1938, the Dean writes:

I have been looking at the big windows which have been in for some time and saw that there were two lovely shades of purple - one that the English call Royal purple, which however is duller than what we call Royal purple and then a very lovely shade which I think somebody called Cobalt purple, if there is such a color, at any rate it is a soft lilac shade. Whatever it is, it is a very lovely color. I wonder if there is any particular reason why you never use it (sic)

Burnham's reply was written two days later, on October 14, 1938:

You mention two lovely shades of purple in some of the large windows, and wonder why I never use it. Generally speaking, royal purple in stained glass is a dangerous color, especially if it is used in a large area. In Mediaeval glass royal purple was seldom, if ever, used; for those master craftsmen in the early days knew that it was a dangerous color. However, the next time that I am in Cleveland, I will look at those purples with you, and we can probably use the two shades you mention in some of the other windows; but I will use it sparingly.

It is not clear what Brunham meant by these comments, and the subject of “purple” does not come up again.

In a letter to Dean Emerson, dated October 13, 1938 (and obviously written before he received the letter of October 12), Burnham writes:

Successful stained glass windows should be brilliant and luminous with the primary colors majored and with the secondary colors used sparingly but in a sufficient quantity to make a perfectly balanced color arrangement. Personally I feel that these windows fulfill all the requirements of good stained glass, and I feel sure that as time goes on, they will grow upon you.

This was in reference to criticisms from many parishioners that the Burnham windows did not look like their long-in-place windows, which contained sentimental and “natural-looking” scenes, rendered with soft, muted colors. The intensity of the colors is a contentious issue between the artist and the Dean and comes up many more times.

The brilliant reds, yellows, greens, and blues of this window (as with all of Burnham's windows) stand out with tremendous clarity and brightness, with the "primary colors majored and with the secondary colors used sparingly...” (Burnham to Emerson, October 13, 1938). The strong colors and the strong diagonals carry the eye up from the kneeling Elizabeth to Mary, with her intense yellow halo and the complementary green mantle. The whole, however, is softened by the white light surrounding Mary and emanating from the arched window behind her. The icon that crowns this scene is a heart pierced by a sword and is located in the apex of the window. This symbol reflects a statement made by Simeon to Mary in the Temple (Luke 2:35) "yea a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

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