Number 10, 2019

On Sunday, October 5, 1919, a formal dedication service was held in Bryn Athyn Cathedral. It took place during the tenth assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian Christian), giving members of the church from around the globe the opportunity to attend. More than 2,000 people took part in three separate services during the day: a morning dedication service (attendance 900), an afternoon Holy Supper service (attendance 500), and an evening "service of praise" (attendance 720). Photographs and other documentation of this remarkable day are preserved at the Bryn Athyn Historic District Archives at Glencairn Museum and the Academy of the New Church Archives at Bryn Athyn College.

Number 9, 2019

Relatively little is known about Frank Jeck (1884-1965), a woodcarver who emigrated from Hungary in 1903 and made his home in Philadelphia. We will explore five remarkable examples of his craftsmanship in two consecutive issues of Glencairn Museum News. In part two we will explore four medallions on the first floor stairway and two inglenook benches.

Number 8, 2019

Relatively little is known about Frank Jeck (1884-1965), a woodcarver who emigrated from Hungary in 1903 and made his home in Philadelphia. We will explore five remarkable examples of his craftsmanship in two consecutive issues of Glencairn Museum News. In part one we will look at three of them: a Bible cabinet, infant’s crib, and master bed.

Number 7, 2019

On November 11, 1965, the Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn family received a special visitor at Glencairn, their castle-like home in Bryn Athyn: James Rorimer—medieval art historian, former “Monuments Man,” and then-director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Number 6, 2019

Don't panic if you hear that a number of ferocious-looking lions recently left Bryn Athyn and made a cross-country journey to the West Coast. From May 14 to August 18, 2019, two of Glencairn’s medieval “lion” capitals are on loan to the J. Paul Getty Museum’s new exhibition, Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World.

Number 5, 2019

In this essay for Glencairn Museum News, Dr. Jennifer Houser Wegner, Associate Curator in the Egyptian Section of the Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania), explores art and artifacts in Glencairn’s Egyptian Gallery that were made to prepare the deceased for a happy afterlife.

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.

Number 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.

Number 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).