Capturing the stories behind the glass

Joan Bartman began researching stained-glass windows in parishes around the Appleton area after discovering the meaning behind a specific window set at St. Margaret Mary Church in Neenah.

The window set, titled The Seven Sorrows of Mary, uses muted grays, purples, and greens with a single bit of deep red to represent the Sacred Heart. The design lacks traditional symmetry, using diamonds of various sizes placed across three segments. Through her research, Bartman identified symbolic elements such as pyramids, bird cages, and seven swords. She discovered that each sword and nearby image depicts one of Mary's sorrows, such as the first window's depiction of Simeon’s prophecy using a sword and a caged bird.