Number 4, 2019
The beams and trusses on the ceiling of Glencairn’s Great Hall are covered with thousands of individual tesserae, hand cut from mosaic glass made in the Bryn Athyn glassworks. The intricate mosaic designs for the beams and trusses were inspired by the Book of Kells, a medieval Celtic manuscript produced around 800 AD containing the four New Testament Gospels.
Read MoreNumber 3, 2019
In this essay for Glencairn Museum News, Dr. Michael Cothren, Glencairn’s longtime Consultative Curator of Medieval Stained Glass, presents the results of his research into several panels of thirteenth-century glass from Rouen Cathedral in France.
Read MoreNumber 2, 2019
Glencairn’s current exhibition, Hex Signs: Sacred and Celestial Symbolism in Pennsylvania Dutch Barn Stars, explores themes of sacred and celestial imagery in the traditional arts of the Pennsylvania Dutch, with special emphasis on the decorated barns of Southeastern Pennsylvania. The full text of the exhibition catalog is available online in this special issue of Glencairn Museum News (in both html and pdf formats).
Read MoreNumber 1, 2019
In this essay for Glencairn Museum News, Dr. Jennifer Borland, Associate Professor in Art History at Oklahoma State University, describes the process of researching medievalism at Glencairn.
Read MoreNumber 12, 2018
This year’s World Nativities exhibition features Nativity Maker’s Workshop, an extremely detailed miniature diorama created by R. Michael Palan. In this issue of Glencairn Museum News, Michael talks to us about his work, and we interview both Michael and Karen on video in the living room of their home in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
Read MoreNumber 11, 2018
This issue of Glencairn Museum News features five artists whose works are included in this year's World Nativities exhibition: Christina Orthwein (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania), Nancy Schnarr-Bruell (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania), Jeronimo Lozano (Peeru/Salt Lake City, Utah), Sabinita López Ortiz (Córdova, New Mexico), and Carmen Gutierrez Vazquez (San Miguel Aguasuelos, Veracruz-Mexico).
Read MoreNumber 10, 2018
In this essay for Glencairn Museum News, Dr. Jonathan Kline, Assistant Professor of Art History at Bryn Athyn College, explores the original contexts, functions, and meanings of the late thirteenth-century Annunciation and Second Coming frescoes in Glencairn’s Great Hall.
Read MoreNumber 9, 2018
In this essay for Glencairn Museum News, Dr. Eva Miller, Teaching Fellow for the Ancient Middle East, University College London, will explore the religious, archaeological, and architectural contexts of Glencairn’s remarkable Cylinder of Nebuchadnezzer.
Number 8, 2018
Raymond Pitcairn’s Bryn Athyn Studios created a three-story tall glass mosaic version of the Academy of the New Church seal for Glencairn’s Great Hall. This article will explore the history of the Academy seal, where the emblem appears in Glencairn, and why it was so important to the Pitcairn family.
Read MoreNumber 7, 2018
Glencairn Museum’s Egyptian collection features several objects related to the weres, or headrest, an ancient Egyptian pillow made of wood. Headrests were believed to magically protect the sleeper at night, and also eternally after death. In this essay for Glencairn Museum News, Egyptologist Dr. Jennifer Houser Wegner explains both the practical and magical functions of the ancient Egyptian headrest.
Read More