St Martin De Porres Catholic Church Stained Glass Windows

158 Military Road,, AVONDALE HEIGHTS VIC 3034 - Property No B7271

All information on this page is maintained by National Trust. Click below for their website and contact details.

National Trust

B7271 Stained Glass St Martin de Porres

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • Physical Description 1

    St Martin De Porres Catholic Church Stained Glass Windows - Physical Description 1

    At St. Martin de Porres, John Ferguson has designed the figurative windows using traditionally recognised subjects and symbols, but in a Modernist style that responds to and enhances the architecture. The light-filled interior needed careful consideration from both the architect and artist to achieve a successful and integrated effect. As well, the tall narrow openings in the east end demanded shrewd design decisions to accommodate groups of figures, taking into account the restrictions of proportion. The west window provided a particular design challenge as the porch gable protrudes upwards into the window space creating a unique shape requiring judicious placement of figures, texts and symbols.
    
    Subjects of the windows
    The subjects of the four stained glass windows in the east end are as follows:
    East wall north aisle: The Annunciation of the Virgin 'Behold, the Handmaiden of the Lord'
    Sanctuary (left hand light): Pentecost 'Come now Holy Spirit, Fill the Hearts of Your Faithful'
    Sanctuary (right hand light): Resurrection 'I am the Resurrection and the Life'
    East wall south aisle: Supper at Emmaus 'And their Eyes were Opened...'
    
    These windows represent some of the principal events in the life of Christ, and as such are liturgical significant to the Catholic congregation. The interpretation of the images within a recognisable iconography is deliberately direct and simplified.
    
    The West window encompasses a complex selection of subjects and symbols with Christ as The Good Shepherd in the central panel, surrounded by a hierarchy of significant fathers and saints of the church, including the church's patron saint St. Martin de Porres (1579-1639). St. Martin was a member of the Dominican order, who worked with the poor, the sick and the abandoned in South America. He was proclaimed a saint in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. He is depicted here with a representation of the church that bears his name.
    
    At the apex of the window are the overarching hands of God and the Holy Spirit, and in the lower section the Alpha and Omega are superimposed on the Word of God, above the words 'Teach the Gospel to All Nations'. The window reflects and responds to the multi-cultural population of the district and the parish's mission to assist the poor and sick in the manner of its patronal saint.
    
    Materials and construction
    'Stained glass' is defined as glass which has been painted, stained and fired to permanently fix the pigments to the underlying glass. 'Leadlight' is the traditional method of holding different coloured glass pieces together using 'H'-shaped lead cames. Cementing the whole window with linseed oil putty makes a strong, yet flexible, window.
    
    All the stained glass windows at St. Martin de Porres are made from 'Antique' coloured glass, (handmade by the 'cylinder' method, as distinct from modern window glass made by mechanical methods), and put together using traditional leadlight techniques. Each piece of glass is painted and fired with the details of heads, hands and robes, and to modulate the light passing through the window. See photographs in Appendix A.
    
    CONTEXT
    
    St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church shares the extensive grounds with an adjacent parish school that caters for more than 300 families, and a parish centre. The grounds are planted with native trees with car parking dispersed around the buildings.

    Intactness

    St Martin De Porres Catholic Church Stained Glass Windows - Intactness

    No alterations have been made to the original windows and they are in excellent condition.

• Location map
• Explore related places
  • Show:
    -- select -- Nearby Places

  • 
    RIVERVIEW TEAGARDENS WHARF AND SLIPWAY

    

    Victorian Heritage Inventory
  • 
    St Martin De Porres Catholic Church Stained Glass Windows

    

    National Trust H71624
• Public contributions