Monk as Architect

When the Booth family expanded their home, Cranbrook House, in 1918, two windows of this style were commissioned from George Owen Bonawit, a New York-based stained-glass artist. Both are composed of clear glass set in lead cames, outlining the form of a monk engaged in architectural work. This window was installed in an exterior door in the Sunset Porch at Cranbrook House, overlooking the West Terrace.

In the window, a monk is bent over a small table, holding a compass. On the wall beside him hangs an angle divider, another tool employed in the drafting of architectural plans. Together with its counterpart, CEC 1049, which shows a monk holding a small model of a church, the two windows present a romantic vision of architectural work during the Middle Ages, carried out by individual craftsmen under the inspiration of religious devotion.

Mariam Hale
2023-2025 Collections Fellow
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
March 2024