John La Farge (1835–1910)
Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still, c. 1909

Opalescent leaded glass
McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Gift of Oliver La Farge Hamill, 2016.65

Jeffery Howe
Professor Emeritus, Art History

This small panel was one of six made for the writer and publisher Edward W. Bok. They were combined in an allegorical window in Bok’s home in Merion, Pennsylvania. Several of their subjects represent arts: Apelles (painting), Pan and Nymph (music), and Samoan Dancing the Standing Siva (dance). Others show Sakia Muni (or Buddha) Sitting under the Bo Tree (wisdom), two figures contemplating the stars (astronomy, or the love of nature), and Joshua (religion). The book of Joshua 10:12 tells of the miraculous defeat of the Amorites, when the prophet commanded the sun to stand still until the Israelites had achieved victory.