Good Samaritan Project-Chartre Cathedral

AT Chartres Cathedral in France you will find 21,00 square feet of
beautiful stain glass, which includes 10,000 images. The panels are 
similar to books, in that, they were used to illustrate the Bible before 
people could read.  One of the lesson illustrated is the parable of 
"The Good Samaritan."   The story is a parable told by Jesus 
in response to a question posed to him by a lawyer.  The lawyer asked him to 
Jesus to define "neighbor."  The panels illustate the story in a seq-
uence from bottom left to top right.  The viewer can read the story of
a man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, who was robbed and 
attacked by two thieves.  They left him naked, stabbed, and alone on 
the side of the road, half dead.  Just by chance, a priest came by,
and crossed to the other side of the road when he saw the man.  Next, came  
a Levite, another religious person, passed by the stranded and 
hurt man.  A third man came along that was a traveler, a man
from a different city, a Samaritan.  When the Samaritan saw the
man he felt compassion for him, he cared for him, bandanged his
wounds, gave him his own animal, took him to an inn, and took care
of his bills, gave the innkeeper money, and told him that he would
pay for any other expenses when he returned.  After telling the 
parable, Jesus, this time, asks the lawyer, who he believes his 
neighbor to be.  The lawyers says, "He who showed mercy." The
Stain Glass panels illustrate the stories lesson, and instruction
in the final verse of the Luke 10-25:37 story, as Jesus instructs
to "Go and do likewise."

Project Idea #1
In Medieval times the colored glass techniques used at Chatres were
highly innovative and utilized new technologies.
Imagine that you have been commissioned to create a
visual illustration of the "Good Samaritan" for a church, temple, or
cathedral. How would you illustrate the events?  Would you use stain 
glass? What are some modern materials or technologies that you could
use to illustrate the parable?

Project Idea #2
Create a story about a present day "Good Samaritan".  Illustrate
your story by creating stain glass panels from construction paper
and tracing paper.  First draw designs and figures on to two sheets
of construction paper.  Cut out designs, making sure that both
pieces of construction paper are the same.  Glue a sheet of tracing
paper, or vellum, between the two construction paper panels. Lightly
color the tracing paper or vellum so that you can see through it
when it is held to the light.

Project Idea #3
Using clear vinyl sheets, that can be purchased at a fabric store,
draw an outline of a rose-like shape (similar to those found at
Chatres) with black fabric paint (black, in the squeeze bottle).
Let it dry.  Create figures or designs with the black paint, let it
dry and then use transparent glass paint (available in the craft
stores) to fill the spaces within the black lines.  Use the transparent
glass paint sparingly.  Cut out the contours of your design and lay
it in a window.  It will stick!
 



You will find some good links for Chartres Cathedral and other links below

St. Johns Cathedral-Good Samaritan Window: Read the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke Chapter 10) and see it illustrated here.
Chartres Cathedral University of Cincinnati Faculty Page: Examples of Chartres Cathedral
homepage: