1887, Donated by Damascus Commandery #5 of the Knights Templar

The Conversion of Constantine,

Mayer of Munich

"On December 10, 1887 The Conversion of Constantine was installed. This is the magnificent window in the left trancept. The window was given by the Damascus Commandery #5 of the Knights Templar, a Masonic Order of which the Reverend Robert McIlwain was for many years Prelate. McIlwain was the eighth rector of St. John's. The Conversion cost $750, and was to commemorate the dead of the Commandery. It is from Mayer of Munich and vividly portrays the account of Constantine's return to attempt to conquer Rome and to become undisputed emperor, eventually establishing Christianity as a tolerated religion in the empire. This was the fourth century. Interestingly, the dress of the principal figures is more characteristic of the Knights Templar during the Crusades than of Constantine's era. Perhaps that was at the suggestion of the Commandery which carried this name, or the artist's attempt to incorporate all aspects of the window's significance. Small armor-like shapes are repeated in the beginning of the structural border. The round window above this scene carries the Cross Patee, or broad-footed cross. This, in bright red, is the symbol of Constantine."

Alice Bowers, "The Windows of Saint John's," 1974