When I photographed the St. Francis Xavier altar windows for my last post and zoomed in on the image I was surprised to find the name of an artist inscribed on the window. It is in the window to the left of the altar at the bottom left of the scene, and is very difficult to see when standing before the window because of its height above the floor. The inscription reads: Joep Nicholas Rambusch 1944.
Rambusch is the name of the company that designed and installed the windows. They are a family owned business, currently in their fourth generation. I emailed the company them asking if they had any biographical information about this artist.
The reply to my email came as an even bigger surprise. I was called by Mr. Viggo Rambusch, the third generation owner of the company, who knew this artist and shared his remembrances. Joep is the Dutch version of the name Joseph. Joep Nicholas was a prominent stained glass artist who lived in the Netherlands and brought his family to America in 1939 as the Nazis were threatening his homeland. He worked as a freelance artist in New York City and shortly after arriving began doing work for Rambusch. I thought it was interesting that Joep Nicholas, who fled the Nazis, did work in our church during WWII. We have an altar dedicated to peace and to the men and women who have served our country. It includes a book with metal pages engraved with the names of parishioners who served in WWII. Those who died have a star engraved next to their name. They died to free Europe, including Joep Nicholas’s homeland, from the Nazis.
After the war, Joep returned to the Netherlands and continued doing freelance work for Rambusch. Mr. Rambusch remembers that he was a highly educated man with a law degree and he knew iconography, a very evident aspect of all the windows in our church. He has done many important stained glass windows in the Netherlands and Europe. US Catholic, states that he is considered “the father of modern stained glass”. His daughter currently is a stained glass artist living in New Hampshire.
It is an honor to have had such a prominent, world renowned artist design windows for our church. We often remember the parishioners who contributed to decorate the church. Let us also remember the artists, who we don’t know, but with whom we have a spiritual connection through the windows, mosaics, and paintings in our church which enhance our worship.
Reference
Day, J.(2020, December 3). A 92-year old stained glass artist blends reverence and play. U.S. Catholic. https://uscatholic.org/articles/202012/a-92-year-old-stained-glass-artist-blends-reverence-and-play/