R.I. stained-glass window showing Christ as a man of color finds new home
A piece of Rhode Island art history will soon have a new ZIP code — in the South.
A stained-glass window at St. Mark’s Church in Warren, R.I., that scholars believe to be the first to depict Christ as a person of color, is moving to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in Tennessee. The window, which was commissioned in 1877, will go on permanent display at the museum’s new campus in downtown Memphis, set to open in 2026.
According to a press release, the piece will be prominently featured in a glasswalled gallery, “flooded with natural light by day, illuminated and visible from a public courtyard by night.”
St. Mark’s Church, which has been closed since 2010, was purchased by couple Hadley and Peter Arnold, who began converting the Greek Revival building into a residence. According to Hadley Arnold, she had been searching for a new home for the artwork since she discovered it around 2020, and deliberated over several different museums across the country before settling on the Memphis Brooks Museum.
“The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art made a compelling case for how the window would serve as a beacon to the community,” she said in a phone interview Thursday. “I felt the window would be in good hands there.”
Another key reason for choosing the Memphis Brooks Museum was the thematic connection between the window, which shows Christ speaking to three biblical women, and the museum, a female-led organization also tied to civil rights initiatives.
Arnold underscored the importance of the gender dynamic shown in the artwork when she spoke to the Globe last year.
“I cannot tell you how powerful it is to see three women getting the job done in conversation with their God,” she said.