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Members-Only | Seeing Red: Lawrence Saint and the Quest for Medieval Striated Ruby Stained Glass

Members: watch your mail for registration information. Contact Doreen Carey at doreen.carey@glencairnmuseum.org or 267.502.2981 for more information.

In 1928 Lawrence Saint became the first director of the stained glass department at Washington National Cathedral. In previous years, while designing windows for Bryn Athyn Cathedral, he had witnessed Raymond Pitcairn's attempts to recreate the magnificent colors of the sheet glass of the Middle Ages. For Saint, the Holy Grail of medieval stained glass was the striated ruby, which he had seen recreated in the Bryn Athyn glass factory. Saint ultimately achieved this color himself but his formula and method have been forgotten. Noted stained glass artist J. Kenneth Leap will pick up the trail in this presentation, spinning an engaging mystery that stretches from Bryn Athyn to Huntingdon Valley, the Smithsonian, Corning, and on to Europe, unveiling lost documentation and revealing modern attempts by glassblowers to produce this elusive glass. Can the ruby glass be recreated yet again?