women in glass

 Ruth the Moabitess (great grandmother of David) gleaned barley and wheat in the fields of Boaz to support her mother-in-law, Naomi.

 David, Moses, Melchizedek

These windows are in Lakewood Ohio, in the Episcopal (Anglican) Church of the Ascension. Some of the stained glass in churches are random, and some are themed, and some are placed in accordance to symmetry, and some in divisions.

The clerestory level has five double scened windows on each side of the nave, in total there are twenty scenes of the Life of Jesus (many are the Catholic mysteries of the rosary). The ground level has twelve men of the Old Testament, paired with twelve apostles of the New. The last nine of the Old Testament are prophets with named books. The first three are King David, Prophet Moses, and Priest Melchizedek; those three offices are also offices of Jesus.

Not many Roman Catholic churches have Old Testament references, other than Abraham (with Melchizedek, or Isaac), David in the choir, and Moses and Jeremias even less. One may encounter more in Eastern Churches. In Cuyahoga County, outside of Cleveland, the only well populated towns before WWII were East Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and Lakewood; so those are the places you can find certain artistic architecture.

 Sarah, Ruth, Esther

So of the twenty-four people on the ground level of the nave, there are no women. The church has a document (the studio of the windows is not mentioned) of the nave windows, one of two rose windows, six glass panels on the main entrance doors, and two other windows in a chapel (?) room. All these windows (except Mary in the Life of Jesus windows) are men. But in the narthex, there are two groupings of three windows of women of the Old and New Testaments. Of the forty-six books of the Old Testament, three are named after women (Ruth, Esther, Judith). [click for previous female saints on glass] Some Catholic churches balance statues of male and female saints (St. Stephen, and St. Stanislaus both in Cleveland), and fewer balance in glass. Other than Mary, the Mother of God, not that many female presentations of art are seen in many churches (of those churches that have art).

Priscilla, Esther

Saint Priscilla was Saint Aquila's wife. Emperor Claudius exiled Jews from Rome. Saint Paul met them in Corinth, and they were also tent makers. They became comrades in Christian evangelisation, and they too were martyred. Aquilla and Priscilla are mentioned six times in the New Testament.

Esther became Queen of the Persians. She and her uncle Mordecai saved the Jewish people from the murderous plans of (H)aman, the vizier of King Assuerus.