The Creation Rose

This window at the Washington National Cathedral is a ten petal rose created by artist Rowan LeCompte in 1976. Inspired by the Book of Genesis, “... and the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep ... and God said, Let there be light.” Predominantly blue, with bursts of autumnal colors, the window is an artistic celebration of light.

MGA5874 9⅝" diameter

The Space Window

Officially titled, “Scientists and Technicians Window,” The Space Window hangs in Washington National Cathedral to commemorate America’s exploration of space and man’s first steps on the moon. In the upper center of the original window is a 7.18-gram basalt lunar rock from the Sea of Tranquility, presented to the Cathedral by the astronauts of Apollo XI. Rodney Winfield’s celebrated Space window captures our wonder at the cosmos.

MGA5975 6" x 11½"

Portland Head Lighthouse, Hopper

Lighthouse and Building, Portland Head, Cape Elizabeth, Maine; from the American Paintings collection, was completed in 1791 under the orders of America’s first president, George Washington, and since has become the world’s most photographed lighthouse, renowned for its historic and artistic appeal.

MGA5997 9.5" x 7.38"

Dance at Bougival, Renoir

A masterpiece by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919), housed in the European Paintings Collection of the MFA. The motion of the dancing couple is conveyed by the swirl of the woman's skirt and by the blurred focus of the revelers in the background.

MGA6301 5.6" x 10.3"

Boston Common at Twilight

The soothing effects of dusk on freshly fallen snow are juxtaposed with Boston's busy streets. Boston Common at Twilight, 1885-86, by Childe Hassam (American, 1859 - 1935) depicts his view of the city's oldest park.

MGA6302 9.4" x 6.6"

La Japonaise, Monet

Monet created a virtuoso display of brilliant color that is also a witty comment on the current Paris fad for all things Japanese. The woman shown wrapped in a splendid kimono and surrounded by fans is Monet's wife, Camille, wearing a blond wig to emphasize her Western identity.

MGA6303 5.8" x 9.3"

Water Lilies, Monet

This art glass was inspired by the famous Water Lilies, 1905 painting by Claude Monet (French 1840-1926). Monet was fascinated with the changing light and color of landscapes, and using his garden in Giverny as inspiration, he painted his most famous water lilies series illustrating the effects of these changes.

MGA6306 6.5" round

Cats, Steinlen

Graceful cats as drawn by the Swiss-born French Art Nouveau painter and printmaker, Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen. Two Cats, 1894, Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen (French, 1859-1923).

MGA6307 6.25" x 7.13"

House at Auvers, van Gogh

Van Gogh's Houses at Auvers, 1890, shows the landscape of early summer. The view from above creates a flattened tapestry of shapes in which the tiled and thatched roofs of the houses form a mesmerizing patchwork of color.

MGA6308 6.38 x 7.5"

Great Wave, Hokusai

Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa-oki nami-ura), also known as the Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjôrokkei) Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese (1760-1849)

MGA6309 9.6" x 14.4"

Camille Monet and a Child, Monet

Camille, Monet's first wife, is shown with a child in the garden of their house in Argenteuil, near Paris, where they lived between 1872 and 1877. The shimmering reds, blues, greens, and white that capture the brilliance of a sun-drenched day are applied with many small brushstrokes, whose varied shapes create the different textures of flowers, grass, and clothing.

MGA6310 9.5" x 8.25"

The Iris Garden at Horikiri, Hiroshige

The Iris Garden at Horikiri (Horikiri no hanashôbu), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei) Utagawa Hiroshige I, Japanese (1797-1858)

MGA6311 6.7" x 10.3"