Rhode Island: Cathedral Church of St. John

The Wise Virgin, 1881-82

The Cathedral Church of St. John in Providence, RI (1810-11), is one of the oldest Gothic Revival churches in New England. It was designed by John Holden Green (1777-1850). Born in Warwick, Rhode Island, Greene worked in Providence where he designed more than fifty buildings for the capital city. Unfortunately, the church was closed in 2012, but it is preserved due to its historic landmark status.

John La Farge created a window for this church depicting The Wise Virgin, as a memorial to Mary Mackie Paine in 1881-82. The subject is taken from one of the parables of Christ, and is related to the window of The Wise Virgin in the parish house of Trinity Church in Boston (1885).