Stained Glass — First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta

Stained Glass Windows

First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta was founded in 1848 and had a succession of two sanctuaries on Marietta Street until 1915. The church then moved “way out” to 16th and Peachtree. The full sanctuary was dedicated in 1919. The architect provided a plan for a number of large windows “for light and ventilation.”

The pastor, Dr. Lyons, developed a plan and designs for installation of stained glass windows. The ten windows around the floor of the sanctuary tell the story of the bible from Abraham to the spread of Christianity by the apostles after the crucifixion and resurrection.

The first six windows were executed by Tiffany, the next four by D’Ascenzo. There are a total of twenty windows in four locations. Seven windows are by Tiffany, four by D’Ascenzo, and nine by Willet.

Ten History Windows

There are twelve large windows in the sanctuary. Ten of these windows surround the floor of the sanctuary, five on each side. These represent ten events, or stories, from the history of the Bible.

The first impression of each History window is of a scene representing a single, familiar, story.

However, the structure of each window is actually quite complex. The primary scene is composed of three windows (or panes) which together are referred to as a “trefoil,” or tripartite schema.

Above the trefoil are eight tall, slender panes which appear similar in all ten windows but are distinctly different. We have adopted the term Octet, or the Mansions, for these panes.

Below the trefoil are three smaller windows, which we refer to as the Triplet. The center window of the Triplet contains a primary element which links each window to the previous window, or the time before.

Further below are two more small windows, referred to as the Pair. On one side of the sanctuary these are filled with stained glass and illuminated from outside as are the larger windows. On the other side, mosaics have been used to fill the spaces.