"Noah the Deliverer"

Detail from a window by Marc Chagall in St Stephen, Mainz.

I cherish the memory of the short time we were able to spend in St Stephen's --the joy of arriving and of being surrounded by the glowing blue from the windows a symbol of joy and hope.

Chagall was born in Russia but spent the longest period of his life in France
He intended his work to be a contributionto Jewish, German reconcilliation --, . It was also to be a sign of the bond between Jews and Christians and of the understanding between all peoples.]
]This was the only German church for which the artist designed windows
He chose St Stephen's due to his friendship with Monsignor Klaus Mayer who was then the church's presiding priest.
The first Chagall window was presented to the parish in 1978. A few days later the ninety one year old artist started work on drafts for a pair of windows to flank this centre one in the apse. They were inaugurated in 1979. Six more windows followed the last inaugurated in 1985 a few months before the artist's death.
He himself never saw the windows insitu.]
His work was continued by his friend and pupil Charles Marq