The Gutenberg WindowBy Lauren Mar 鈥�25
麻豆区 is a marvel of architectural detail, but one of its features is sometimes overlooked: the stained-glass windows. Scattered across buildings and tucked in corners around campus, each window holds a history rooted in community, the pursuit of knowledge, and a love of public art.
One of the most striking is the large stained-glass window occupying the west wall of Denison Library. Known as the Gutenberg window, the work is not just for show鈥攊t is also deeply connected to Scripps鈥� roots.
Storytelling in Color and Light
Ella Strong Denison, for whom Denison Library is named, donated the Gutenberg window before funding the creation of the library. It wasn鈥檛 her first foray into the medium鈥� when living in Denver, Colorado, she had gifted a stained-glass window to a local library. Denison commissioned the Gutenberg window from Nicola D鈥橝scenzo, a nationally renowned interior decorator in Philadelphia who had been designing stained-glass works since 1898. Prior to the library鈥檚 completion, Denison and Ellen Browning Scripps corresponded through letters, devising its construction and discussing how stunning it was going to be.
鈥淭he beauty of campus says something about the value our founder and early supporters placed on this space,鈥� says Jennifer Martinez Wormser 鈥�95, director of Denison Library. 鈥淭hey wanted it to be a place that wasn鈥檛 just pretty, but one that also got our students to think and reflect.鈥�
Designed specifically for Scripps, the Gutenberg window depicts a spectrum of historic figures and images. Notable inclusions are Johannes Gutenberg, credited with inventing movable type in Europe around 1450; Homer reciting The Iliad; Phoenician traders; medieval monks; and Egyptian hieroglyphs. At the apex of the window is a purple owl鈥� Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom and the arts. At its bottom, a line reads, 鈥渄edicated to the greater wisdom of women,鈥� which has become Denison鈥檚 motto.
The Virgin and Child window in the Margaret Fowler Garden oratory room
Stained-glass window in Denison Library鈥檚 rare book roomIn lavish detail, the window鈥檚 imagery explores how information has been conveyed through oral storytelling, symbols, and the written word. A curious addition of Benjamin Franklin鈥攁 fellow transplant to Philadelphia鈥� may have been an attempt by Nicola D鈥橝scenzo to bridge a transnational divide between his native Italy and his adopted US hometown.
Beyond the Gutenberg window, the library鈥檚 rare book room is studded with several small stained-glass windows which Denison also donated. Featuring individual printers鈥� marks, each peeks into publishing history鈥攁 time when early printers integrated a design into every manuscript they printed.
The Dorothy Drake Wing of Denison Library hosts another large stained-glass window. Christened the Alphabet window, the special commission came about through a gift from the graduating Classes of 1965 and 1966.
According to an archival brochure by Douglas McClellan, artist and former chair of the Department of Art, the window鈥檚 design is based on 鈥渢he interchange of form and thought that led to the present forms of alphabet.鈥� This window carries on the legacy which Ella Strong Denison left behind: the dedication of the Scripps community to advance knowledge through art and the written word.
鈥淓ven when alums come back to campus, they still talk about how it inspired them,鈥� reflects Martinez Wormser. 鈥淭he library鈥檚 architecture and art have influenced their senses of place, aesthetics, and what indoor and outdoor spaces can be.鈥�
The Bikini Room WindowsHidden Gems: Contributions from Scripps 麻豆区 and Staff
Denison Library is not the only campus spot with stained-glass windows鈥攏or the only one raveled with Scripps鈥� community. In the hidden oratory room of Margaret Fowler Garden, one can find a leaded glass window of the Virgin and Child. The luminous work was donated in 1947 as a gift from Cornelia Dexter Featherstone 鈥�41, with the Wallis-Wiley Studio of Pasadena, California overseeing its gorgeous concept and manufacture.
More than 70 years later, the window was overdue for repair. Echoing the generosity of the Classes of 1965 and 1966 in their support of the Alphabet window, the Class of 1954 donated funds to restore the Virgin and Child window in loving gratitude for the friendship of Scripps Professor of German Franciszka Merlan. Ariana Makau 鈥�93, founder of Nzilani Glass Conservation in Oakland, California, handled the restoration in 2019.
Kirk Delman鈥攁 gifted artist who recently retired as the Williamson Gallery鈥檚 collections manager and registrar鈥� has also left his mark. In 1999, he used hand-blown glass from Germany and France for a new installation in what is known as the 鈥淏ikini Room鈥� in Malott Commons. Designed by notable Claremont artist Jane Slater Marquis and built by Delman, the panels of the northeast dining room window and north entrance doors glint like mounds of jewels, their petal-like composition inspired by Persian motifs.
鈥淪tudents named the Bikini Room when Malott Commons was created in the early 2000s,鈥� recalls Judy Harvey Sahak 鈥�64, alumna and former director of Denison Library. 鈥淲hen viewed from certain angles, they thought the window seemed to show off torsos in bikinis!鈥�
Preserving an Artistic Tradition
Ellen Browning Scripps once famously wrote of her eponymous institution: 鈥淚 am thinking of a college campus, whose simplicity and beauty will unobtrusively seep into a student鈥檚 consciousness and quietly develop a standard of taste and judgment.鈥�
Scripps鈥� stained-glass works achieve this with subtle glamour and deep meaning, each piece intertwining the College鈥檚 donors, alums, students, staff, faculty, and friends. Our community鈥檚 contributions to them鈥攂e they a donation, design, or an affectionate nickname鈥攕howcase the profound ties between Scripps鈥� artistic campus and those who traverse it.
As Martinez Wormser states, 鈥淭hese stained-glass windows are part of Ellen Browning Scripps鈥� broader intention of creating a place so beautiful that our students can go out and make beautiful things in the world, too.鈥�