Faith Window

In this window, the apostle Thomas ("doubting Thomas") kneels before the resurrected Jesus. Another apostle stands in the background (although as in all of these windows by Burnham, the background is very shallow). John (21:24-29) relates how Thomas disbelieved the other disciples who told him they had seen the resurrected Jesus, saying: "I will never believe it without probing the nailprints in his hands, without putting my finger in the nailmarks and my hand into his side." A week later, Jesus appeared to the disciples, this time including Thomas, and he believed after having seen.

In contrast to the Emmaus window, the hands and feet of Jesus show the marks of the nails. The disciples are also shown now with nimbi. Jesus' clothes are plain and are colored a subdued, pale greenish-white. In contrast, Thomas' kneeling figure is clothed in a brilliant robe underneath a bright red cloak , which has yellow decorations that are repeated in the yellow sash and yellow halo. Thomas' facial features seem deeply sculpted and express his perplexity. The other disciple has his left hand raised, with an intense look on this face, compared to the serene face of Jesus.

The green robe of the other disciple is juxtaposed against the yellow of Thomas' nimbus. This other disciple is shown with a red halo and mauve cloak with a subtle orange band. This use of color “tones down” the whole figure and puts even further emphasis on Thomas.

This window was not installed until almost a year after the other two in this transept. Dean Emerson raised money for each window from different donors, so the designs or cartoons were done as the money was obtained. This window also generated controversy between Emerson and Burnham. For example, in a letter from the Dean to Burnham, dated December 20, 1939, Emerson writes:

How I wish you could see these windows. There are some minor changes to be made and yet, perhaps the only thing that needs to be done is something to those red borders. The most difficult one is that Faith Window, which is so red that you can hardly see anything else at a distance, in the color mass I mean, and that in spite of the fact that the figure of Christ is in white. ...and some day when you are out here I want you to treat the border of the Faith window to a lot of paint.

Another letter to Burnham from Emerson, dated February 9, 1940, reads in part:

I think there are bits of things that need to be done to the windows and I could point them out to you better if you were here... The St. Thomas window is definitely too red - its (sic) suffused with red and stands out from the other two rather prominently. I think you will need to paint those borders as you did the other two.

On April 11, 1940, the Dean wrote to Burnham referring to work Burnham was about to undertake at First Baptist Church in Cleveland:

By the way, one of the criticisms is this, I think you are likely to make the same mistake that you and I both feel was made in our smaller windows [the lancets], that red border again. It is the identical red border that's given us worries here.

On April 25, 1940, Burnham responded to Emerson:

Once again, I was unlucky in arriving in Cleveland on a day when you were out of town, but you will notice that we made some changes to most of the single-lancet windows by toning down the rubies, and thus making the entire series, in my opinion, extremely satisfactory, because by toning down the rubies, it gives the blues in all of the windows a better chance. I was delighted with the result.

Later in the same letter he reiterates:

Hoping that the changes which we have made and are going to make will meet with your approval, and with kindest regards....

Burnham writes again on May 20, 1940.

As soon as you can conveniently do so, I would be glad to hear how you feel about the changes we made in the aisle windows, and I hope that you noticed that we toned down the rubies in almost every window, thereby giving the blues and other cool colors a greater chance to assert themselves.

Our recent investigations demonstrate the use of unfired paint remedially applied to the glass, as suggested in the letter just quoted.

Behind the three figures in this window are arches and a cupola, attributes which place this scene within a building. There is the indication of a rug under Jesus' feet. Compared to the Emmaus scene, where the figures are all frontal and on the same plane, here we have the kneeling Thomas with his body and face in profile, with Jesus' arms outstretched, not only so Thomas can see the marks of the nails, but as if these arms are embracing the doubting man. In the Three Marys window, the figures are facing the viewer’s right. In this window Thomas is facing the viewer’s left, enclosing the three scenes in this transept aisle. In the opposite transept, the two kneeling figures face right, which is a compositional device that also unites those three windows.

One of the iconographical attributes in this window is a set-square, which is a builders tool traditionally associated with Thomas. There is a lance behind the set-square. In the apex of the lancet, set in a blue shield, is a cross. In spreading the gospel, the Apostle Thomas is said to have gone as far east as India, where he established and built the Christian Church.

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