Stained Glass Glimpse #19: Succession

As deplorable as they were, the family in Succession made one hell of a drama. I loved the ending, did you? 

Two churches for two funerals were featured throughout the 4 seasons. One, for the patriarch himself, Logan Roy, in Season 4, Episode 9. His extravagant send-off took place in St. Ignatius Loyola church in Manhattan, considered one of the most beautiful churches in New York. The church was completed in 1900 and boasts detailed marble, mosaic, and granite work, alongside the extensive stained glass windows.

The other service, for Uncle "Mo" Lester, was shown in Season 2, Episode 4 and set in St. John’s Episcopal Church in Larchmont, NY. Only Connor Roy and girlfriend attend the funeral of Lester, due to his rumored misconduct. The glass here is so colorful and just surrounds the attendees from all angles! However, even the saintly glow of these glass windows isn't enough to soften the familial Roy irreverence.

The New York Times wrote this blurb about three additions to the church windows, made by Charles M. Shean, in 1895.

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Stained Glass Glimpse #11: Making Fun

This show is The Best! My whole family laughs so hard at the wise-cracking humor of Jimmy Diresta and his crew in Making Fun, streaming on Netflix. The team gets an idea from kids about what creation they should make, like “a T-rex that vomits tacos…onto you, while you’re sitting on a toilet”, or a “Cat-a-poop vs. Tre-poo-chet” cat-poop-flinging competition.

The glimpse here was prominent but easily suspect. Is this bold and bright shop signage real stained glass? While watching the show, we see the male worker in both the interior and exterior signs facing to the right. Clearly not the same sign, but two signs! A quick search shows how the signs were made by pouring epoxy into a plywood frame. Using CNC machines and colorful pigment, the stained glass effect is constructed intentionally and unmistakably.

Now, when you see evidence that someone avoided making real stained glass by using epoxy, it seems the trail of bread crumbs ends. But not for Jimmy Diresta! He makes everything, and he did in fact use real glass to make a smaller version of the design.

Rather than rely on the customary, handcrafting tools for stained glass, Jimmy used a waterjet cutting machine to cut the plexi frame and glass shapes, He then attached the glass into the open spaces using silicone.

Not exactly the methods of the masters, but close enough to say the rabbit hole led me to a true glimpse of glass!

Watch his method in the video below!

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Stained Glass Glimpse #9: Better Call Saul

A break from our seasonal spooky selection to say:

Happy 60th Birthday @therealBobOdenkirk !

There were a few glimpses of glass in the masterful Better Call Saul, but none that struck me as the one in Season 5 Episode 1 Wine and Roses. We sneak a peak Saul’s home, filled with gold toilets and over-the-top embellishments. It’s hard to miss the rounded stairwell with tall stained glass windows as we see agents boxing up Saul’s home decor, er…evidence. Even McSweeney’s got in on mocking incredulous furnishing of our favorite meth-maker lawyer’s home.

The glass is real, and can be seen from an exterior view of the actual home used for this set in Albuquerque, NM.

Another striking glass glimpse takes place in Season 4, Episode 1: Smoke. Chuck’s funeral takes place in The Cathedral of St. John (also in Albuquerque NM), which has some elegant, detailed glass windows all around the abbey.

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Stained Glass Glimpse #4: The Sandman, Episode 1: Sleep of the Just

I’ve plunged into The Sandman, and it is as gorgeous and engaging as the original comic. The stained glass I’ve seen so far hasn’t disappointed! The glass won my heart within two minutes!

The epic starts with a raven’s soaring perspective, entering Sandman’s castle, zooming past Lucien’s exquisite library, and then into the throne room. The flight swiftly traverses several monumental stained glass windows before resting in the throne room, which was filmed in a real church in England. Visual FXs create the ambience; a team of 400 artists worked on this for 2 months, with the stained glass taking a full week to perfect.

As much as the use of digital effects steals some glory from handcrafted stained glass windows, the beauty of stained glass is only further established when stories as fantastical as The Sandman use this medium to enhance their set design. When one sees stained glass, real or computer-generated, we feel a sense of reverence.

The actual church, Guildford Cathedral, does have real stained glass in the larger upper windows, but those were considered too dull for The Sandman. And I imagine those windows don’t have shifting pieces that display The Corinthian.

The Corinthian

A second short glimpse happens around 15 minutes in, at the Burgess’ manor, as Alex is eavesdropping on his father and The Corinthian. We see another glass window peeking through behind Alex, and this one looks real, with saintly figures depicted.

No copyright infringement intended.









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