All Saints' Chapel is the Gothic chapel at the heart of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. For the chapel, Brenda Belfield designed 8 triptych style stained glass windows depicting biblical scenes and the history of the Episcopal Church in America. Stanisic Art Glass Studio fabricated and installed every window.

Completing the project took 9 years, about 1 triptych per year. The windows follow the old English style, with intricate border patterns and dominant reds and blues, and every piece of glass was hand painted and kiln fired.

The nave of All Saints' Chapel at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, with its stone vault, rose window, organ and stained glass clerestory windows

The chapel

Most of the chapel's stained glass was made by J. Wippell and Co. of Exeter, England, which received the contract for most of the windows in 1958. Artists who contributed over the years include Arthur Erridge, Fredrick Cole and Brenda Belfield.

The University of the South, known as Sewanee, was founded by leaders of the Episcopal Church in 1857. Its campus covers about 13,000 acres atop Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau, between Chattanooga and Nashville.

All Saints' Chapel at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, with its rose window and stone tower

Scaffolding and a lift in the nave of All Saints' Chapel, Sewanee, below the rose window and clerestory windows

A row of triptych stained glass clerestory windows above the arcade of All Saints' Chapel in Sewanee, Tennessee

The windows

Each triptych tells its story in 3 tall lights crowned with tracery: figures and scenes from the Old Testament, the wisdom books and the prophets, and the people and places of the Episcopal Church in America, from John Wesley to Washington National Cathedral.

Triptych stained glass window at All Saints' Chapel in Sewanee with scenes of Wisdom, the Song of Solomon, Ruth, David and Ecclesiastes

Triptych stained glass window at All Saints' Chapel in Sewanee with Joshua, Jericho, Samson, Deborah and Gideon

Triptych stained glass window at All Saints' Chapel in Sewanee with Samuel, King David and Solomon, in memoriam G. Cecil Woods Jr., priest and teacher

Triptych stained glass window at All Saints' Chapel in Sewanee with Isaiah, Ahaz, Josiah and Cyrus

Triptych stained glass window on the history of the Episcopal Church, with John Wesley, Washington National Cathedral and William Porcher DuBose, All Saints' Chapel, Sewanee

Triptych stained glass window with a seated king at its center, All Saints' Chapel, Sewanee, Tennessee

A full triptych stained glass window glowing in the nave of All Saints' Chapel, Sewanee, Tennessee

Hand painted details

Every face, garment and border was painted by hand onto the glass and fired in the kiln, the traditional technique that gives the windows their depth and fine line.

Hand painted stained glass detail of a Tudor king and his court, All Saints' Chapel, Sewanee, Tennessee

Hand painted stained glass detail of 2 men with sheet music and quill pens, All Saints' Chapel, Sewanee, Tennessee

Detail of a triptych window with an angel and figures beneath a radiant star, All Saints' Chapel, Sewanee, Tennessee

Tracery panel with a bishop's mitre between 2 yellow crosses, stained glass at All Saints' Chapel, Sewanee, Tennessee

Upper lights of the Wisdom triptych with stars, a crowned figure and an angel with a trumpet, All Saints' Chapel, Sewanee

From the installation, 2 photos we treasure: Stevan Stanisic on the scaffolding, setting the windows in place.

Stevan Stanisic on the scaffolding, installing the triptych stained glass windows of All Saints' Chapel, Sewanee, Tennessee

On the scaffolding Stevan Stanisic setting a stained glass panel in place during the installation at All Saints' Chapel, Sewanee, Tennessee

Setting a panel in place

See more of our stained glass commissions and sacred art.

All Saints' Chapel, University of the South: 8 Stained Glass Triptychs

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