Bayonne church home to ‘masterpieces’ of Ireland’s greatest stained-glass artist
Those celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in the Archdiocese of Newark do not have to travel far to experience a taste of the Emerald Isle. That is because St. Vincent de Paul Church in Bayonne is home to approximately 40 stained-glass windows created by Harry Clarke, an Irishman widely considered to be among the greatest glass artists of all time. In fact, Clarke (whose birthday happens to fall on March 17) is so significant his work even helped the parish land spots on the national and state registers of historic places.
What makes the windows special? For one, Clarke’s work is hard to find in North America. St. Vincent de Paul was the artist’s sole U.S. commission before his untimely death at 41, which means the parish is the only church in the country to feature windows designed by his hand.
Then there is the quality of the work itself. As parish historian Priscilla Ege put it, Clarke’s stained glass has to be seen to be believed.
“There are stained-glass windows in other churches, but they’re not masterpieces — these are masterpieces,” said Ege, a 25-year parishioner of St. Vincent de Paul Church. “I’ve traveled a lot and I’ve visited an awful lot of cathedrals in Europe. Nothing is as beautiful as ours.”
Clarke’s windows were created amidst the construction of St. Vincent de Paul’s third church building, which was required to meet the needs of the parish’s growing, largely Irish congregation in the mid-1920s. Yet the commission almost never happened. According to parish historian Peter Keenen O’Brien, Father Joseph Dolan — a proud Irish American who was pastor at the time — wanted to hire Clarke after seeing his work in Europe. But the parish’s architects Maginnis & Walsh, who designed the National Shrine in Washington, D.C., among many other projects, were unfamiliar with the artist and insisted on considering other candidates.
After reviewing Clarke’s portfolio, however, Maginnis & Walsh quickly changed their minds.
“They took one look and said, ‘There’s no need for a competition — we’d be honored to have Harry Clarke design the windows for our church,’” O’Brien said.
After accepting the commission in 1928, Clarke drew up a master plan to outline his vision for St. Vincent de Paul Church. He then got to work. According to a booklet authored by Ege and O’Brien, the artist crafted a decorative wheel window and 14 clerestory windows featuring icons signifying the Passion of Christ. He also produced nine apse windows each depicting an angel bearing a symbol of the Mass. For instance, one angel is shown holding a missal, while another has a chalice.
Clarke never lived to complete his vision, dying of tuberculosis in 1931. Fortunately for the parish, the artists of Harry Clarke Studio — including his protégé, stained-glass artist Richard King, and his widow, the acclaimed portrait artist Margaret Crilley Clarke — were more than capable of finishing the work. Using Clarke’s plan as a guide, Harry Clarke Studio created the rest of the church’s windows, which contrast biblical scenes with images of historical figures celebrating different types of Mass. Several of these figures are bishops from the Archdiocese of Newark.
That is not the only way Clarke’s windows are connected to the archdiocese. Because Bayonne is a peninsula, Ege said the artist included shells, sea creatures, and other nautical imagery in the windows to reflect the water that surrounds the city. Those who look closely will also find a depiction of Air Force S/Sgt. Vincent A. White, a parishioner of St. Vincent de Paul Church killed in World War II.
And those are just some of the details one can discover in Clarke’s stained glass.
“It’s like going on a treasure hunt when you look at the windows,” Ege said. “There are so many beautiful, little, hidden artistic details you could miss if you’re not looking closely. When I’m in church, I like to pick a window and take it piece by piece to see what I can find. There’s so much beauty in one window, it’s difficult to take it all in.”
Clarke’s attention to detail extended to his figure designs, too. Rather than using solid colors for garments, Ege said Clarke utilized different shades and lines to create the effect of ruffled clothing. And rather than drawing neutral faces, Ege said Clarke crafted precise facial expressions that conveyed how the figures felt in their scenes.
“You seldom see facial expressions like that in stained glass, with haunting eyes and stylized hair,” Ege said. “These windows really don’t look like stained glass. They look like paintings from a famous artist.”
Such detail was a hallmark of Clarke’s work, according to Lucy Costigan, a leading scholar on the artist. Costigan said Clarke’s skills as a renowned illustrator — he produced the drawings for books by Edgar Allan Poe and Hans Christian Andersen — enabled him to instill his glass work with a level of precision not typically found in stained-glass art.
To Costigan, this creativity is what made Clarke a true artistic genius.
“It was his glorious imagination… that really put Clarke’s work literally on another level,” said Costigan, who has authored multiple books about the artist, including one with a forward from Ege and O’Brien. “His natural ability to depict scenes, to design robes, and to add tiny details made his windows come to life in a way that other works did not.
“Harry Clarke is among the finest stained-glass artists of all time, and his work is ranked with such masters as Tiffany, Burne-Jones, Matisse, and the Medieval colorists,” she continued, adding that St. Vincent de Paul’s parishioners “are very fortunate to have nine of Clarke’s angel windows, and many more works that were completed by the Harry Clarke Studio, to view and to enjoy in their magnificent church.”
O’Brien never ceases to be amazed by Clarke’s windows. Though he is a lifelong parishioner who grew up admiring the art, the parish historian said he is always finding new aspects of Clarke’s work to appreciate. This especially includes the colors Clarke used, which are far different from the pastels commonly found in stained-glass art.
As O’Brien explained, Clarke was inspired to use jewel tones after being impressed by the windows of Chartres Cathedral and Notre Dame in France. So, he developed his own technique of aciding and plating that allowed him to create similarly bold colors other artists could rarely duplicate. As a result, Clarke became synonymous with deep, rich tones.
“It’s a very unique style,” O’Brien said. “You go to other churches, and the windows there tend to look very similar in how they were done. You come to these, and they’re like nothing you’ve ever seen.”
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Many art lovers have indeed come to see the windows through the years, with O’Brien pointing out that tourists from other countries have visited St. Vincent de Paul Church just to admire Clarke’s art. But most people do not realize what a gem the parish has on its hands, he said. To remedy that, O’Brien and Ege have hosted walking tours and presentations to educate the community about the windows’ significance. Now that the COVID-19 pandemic is largely over, the parish historians hope to hold more events of that kind in the near future.
They also hope to eventually refurbish the windows. Clarke’s work looks pretty good for nearly 100-year-old pieces of art, O’Brien said, but the stained glass is starting to warp due to heat building up between the soft lead of the windows and the outside frosted glass that guards them. Ideally, he said a vented glass frame system would be installed to protect Clarke’s stained glass. But he said that would cost at least $150,000 — way more than the parish can afford — so the historians are searching for grants and donors to offset the expense.
In the meantime, St. Vincent de Paul’s parishioners are content to enjoy the windows as they are. Father Sergio Nadres — the parish’s pastor — said today’s congregation is much more diverse than it was in the 1920s, but it still takes great pride in Clarke’s work. Father Nadres himself said he feels blessed to be part of a parish with such a historic pedigree. And he urges anyone who has not seen the windows to make a point of doing so.
Clarke’s stained glass is more than just a work of art, he said — it is a gift to Catholics everywhere.
“The windows show the articles of our faith like the Sacraments and the stories from the Scriptures, so they elevate your faith because they make it a reality,” Father Nadres said. “They bring our faith to life.”
To request a tour of Clarke’s windows, call the St. Vincent de Paul Church rectory at 201-436-2222. Those who would like to make a donation for the windows’ refurbishment should write out a check to St. Vincent de Paul Church (with “Harry Clarke windows” in the memo) and mail it to 979 Avenue C, Bayonne, NJ 07002.
Featured image: Clarke depicted St. Patrick, the patron saint of his native Ireland, in one of St. Vincent de Paul Church’s south transept windows. (Photo by Peter Keenen O’Brien)
