Eight from St. Peter’s enjoyed an exhibit of 60 Renaissance- and Baroque-era paintings from many museums around the globe all depicting Mary. The exhibit is at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington. The trip was an extension of our Advent study on Mary, “Singing Mary’s Song” and led by artist Susan Tilt. It will continue until April 12.
Art
Stained glass repair 2011-2012
Back in November, 2011, we had a post about work to restore stained glass windows on both the left and right side of the church. One was cracked on the right side and there was a missing rose medallion on the left. Through a generous donation, the work is complete and installed on Feb. 23, 2012. Stained Glass by Shenandoah had to order special paint from France to complete the work. The results can be seen here in photos taken by the company.
Visual Lectionary Vanderbilt, Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Aug. 3, 2025
Click here to view in a new window.
Visual Lectionary Vanderbilt, Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, July 27, 2025
Click here to view in a new window.
Visual Lectionary Vanderbilt, Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, July 20, 2025
Click here to view in a new window.
Visual Lectionary Vanderbilt, Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C
Click here to view in a new window.
Visual Lectionary Vanderbilt, Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, July 6, 2025
Click here to view in a new window.
Visual Lectionary Vanderbilt, Third Sunday after Pentecost, June 29, 2025
Click here to view in a new window.
Visualizing the Trinity
The Trinity is most commonly seen in Christian art with the Spirit represented by a dove, as specified in the Gospel accounts of the Baptism of Christ; he is nearly always shown with wings outspread. However depictions using three human figures appear occasionally in most periods of art.
The Father and the Son are usually differentiated by age, and later by dress, but this too is not always the case. The usual depiction of the Father as an older man with a white beard may derive from the biblical Ancient of Days, which is often cited in defense of this sometimes controversial representation.
The Son is often shown at the Father’s right hand.[Acts 7:56 ] He may be represented by a symbol—typically the Lamb or a cross—or on a crucifix, so that the Father is the only human figure shown at full size. In early medieval art, the Father may be represented by a hand appearing from a cloud in a blessing gesture, for example in scenes of the Baptism of Christ.

Later, in the West, the Throne of Mercy (or “Throne of Grace”) became a common depiction. In this style, the Father (sometimes seated on a throne) is shown supporting either a crucifix[111] or, later, a slumped crucified Son, similar to the Pietà (this type is distinguished in German as the Not Gottes)[112] in his outstretched arms, while the Dove hovers above or in between them. This subject continued to be popular until the 18th century at least.

By the end of the 15th century, larger representations, other than the Throne of Mercy, became effectively standardised, showing an older figure in plain robes for the Father, Christ with his torso partly bare to display the wounds of his Passion, and the dove above or around them. In earlier representations both Father, especially, and Son often wear elaborate robes and crowns. Sometimes the Father alone wears a crown, or even a papal tiara.

In the 17th century there was also a brief vogue for representing the Trinity as three identical men (example), conceivably influenced by Hospitality of Abraham images. This period coincided with the Spanish ascendancy in Latin America and the Philipines, so examples can be found in older churches in those areas. One odd example represents the Trinity this way in an image of the Coronation of Mary.

Soon, however, this type of Trinity image was condemned and supplanted by one in which the Father is represented as an older person, the Son as a younger one seated at his right and shouldering a large cross, and the Holy Spirit as a dove that hovers above the space between them. In the latter type the Spirit is represented as casting light upon the other two persons (symbolically, making it possible for humans to know them), but in one unusual variant he emanates from both their mouths simultaneously, a reference to the Latin trinitarian theology in which the Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son” (a phrase from the Roman Catholic text of the Nicene Creed that reads simply “proceeds from the Father” in the Orthodox and Anglican versions).
Trinity Sunday – the Trinity Knot
Trinity Sunday on our church calendar is the only Sunday in the year devoted to a doctrine of the church.
The Trinity Knot is also known as ‘Triquetra’ which comes from the Latin for ‘three-cornered’. It has been found on Indian heritage sites that are over 5,000 years old. It has also been found on carved stones in Northern Europe dating from the 8th century AD and on early Germanic coins. It developed during Ireland’s Insular Art movement around the 7th century
It’s likely the Trinity knot had religious meaning for pagans and it also bears a resemblance to the Valknut which is a symbol associated with Odin, a revered God in Norse mythology. According to the Celts, the most important things in the world came in threes; three domains (earth, sea and sky), three elements, three stages of life etc. It is also possible that the Triquetra signified the lunar and solar phases. During excavations of various archaeological sites from the Celtic era, a number of Trinity knot symbols have been found alongside solar and lunar symbols.
For Christians, the Trinity knot consists of three corners, some designs also include the circle in the center. The three points of the Trinity knot represent the Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the circle eternal life
Visual Lectionary Vanderbilt, Pentecost, June 8, 2025
Click here to view in a new window.