The Evangelists by the Sea: Stained Glass for Our Lady of Health in Neum

Neum is the only town on the short stretch of Adriatic coast that belongs to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Above its bay stands a church that waited decades to be finished, and in 2015 it received its colored light.

A church built out of sight

The parish of Our Lady of Health in Neum was founded in 1974. When the time came to build a church, the communist authorities allowed it only if it stood far from view, so the diocese accepted a site several hundred meters up in the hills outside the town. Bishop Pavao Žanić blessed the foundation stone on 2 September 1983.

The first Mass in the unfinished church was celebrated in September 1992, in the middle of the war. The very next day, on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Ratko Perić was consecrated bishop in this church, because the cathedral in Mostar had been heavily damaged. Work on the building went on for many years, and the last works were completed in 2019.

The commission

In January 2015 the parish of Our Lady of Health, represented by its pastor, Ivica Puljić, commissioned Atelje Stanišić (Stanisic Studio) in Sombor, Republic of Serbia, to make new stained glass windows for the new church in Neum.

The order had 3 parts:

1. The 4 Evangelists, Saint Matthew, Saint Mark, Saint Luke and Saint John, in 4 tall pointed arch windows, each about 3 ft 2 in wide and 16 ft 1 in high.
2. The Holy Trinity, a round window about 6 ft 1 in across.
3. 4 narrow vine windows, each about 1 ft 10 in wide and 12 ft 10 in high.

Every window was cut, painted, fired and leaded by hand in our studio in Sombor and then carried down to the coast.

The writers of the Gospels

Each Evangelist stands under his pointed arch in a burst of gold and turquoise rays, robed in strong reds, golds, blues and greens, with his Gospel book and pen in hand. At his feet 2 angels swing golden censers, and below, in a panel of its own, sits his symbol: the angel of Saint Matthew, the lion of Saint Mark, the winged ox of Saint Luke and the eagle of Saint John.

The colors are deliberately bold. Between the bright Herzegovina sun and the white walls of the nave, quieter glass would simply disappear; these windows hold their own and throw color across the church through the whole day.

Saint Luke and Saint John Saint Matthew and Saint John

The Holy Trinity

High above the Evangelists, the round window gathers the whole commission into one image: the Father with his white beard and the Son with his cross, seated together on clouds, and the Holy Spirit as a white dove above them, in a field of golden light.

The Holy Family

A second round window shows the Holy Family: Mary in her blue mantle, Joseph with his staff, and between them the young Jesus holding lilies, under the dove of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Family Above Saint Luke and Saint John

Vines and the way into the light

The 4 narrow vine windows, lozice as they are called in the original order, frame the great windows like a border: a column of medallions with golden leaves and blossoms on clear turquoise glass, simple enough to let the figures speak and bright enough to carry the color down the walls.

A vine window Installation from the scaffolding

Not far from here, in the hills behind Neum, we also made the windows for the Church of Christ the King in Hutovo. See more of our stained glass commissions and sacred art.

Church: Church of Our Lady of Health, Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pastor: Ivica Puljić
Work: 4 Evangelist windows, a Holy Trinity rose window and 4 vine windows
Fabrication: Stanisic Studio, Sombor, Republic of Serbia
Year: January 2015