Saint Luke
Studio Unknown - After 1927; before 1950
St. Luke The Beloved Physician
Joseph Yates Porter
October 21, 1847 - March 10, 1927
DESCRIPTION: St. Paul's has four windows representing the Gospels, accounts of the life and work of Christ, gracing the church. All are smaller clerestory windows located in the transept of the church. Saint Luke (Window #111) and Saint John (Window #113) are in the south transept; Saint Mathew and Saint Mark are in the north transept. With the exception of Saint John, which was designed by Phipps, Ball & Burnham, the artists are unknown.
Window #111, a small figural clerestory window in the south transept, is of Saint Luke, pictured as a bearded old man. In his left hand is a feathered quill. Luke is wearing loose-fitting garments of varied colors: blue, green, red and gold. The slippers on his feet are rose-colored. Above his head is a banderole which reads: St. Luke The Beloved Physician. The usual spelling of Luke is assumed to be abbreviated as the "e" cannot be seen. It is interesting to note the unknown artist of this window has conformed to the style of its companion window, Saint John (Window #113), installed earlier by Phipps, Ball & Burnham, on the opposite side of the Nativity Adoration (Window #112).
SAINT LUKE: Luke was a native of Antioch, a man of culture, a physician, and reputed to be an artist. His stories of Christ's life are swift moving, in detailed chronological order, and stress Christ's humanity and concern about the welfare of all people.
MEMORIAL: It is undoubtedly by design that this window featuring "Luke the beloved physician" (Colossians 4:14) was given in memory of Joseph Yates Porter, also a physician, noted for his efforts to quell dreaded epidemics of yellow fever. He was born in Key West on October 21, 1847, to Mary Randolph Porter, two weeks after the death of his father J. Y. Porter. He attended public schools in Burlington, New Jersey and graduated from Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia in 1870. After entering the U.S. Army, he was sent to Fort Jefferson, a Civil War fort located on a small island 70 miles west of Key West, where he spent three and a half years. When Florida organized the State Board of Health in 1889, he was the first state health officer and continued in that capacity for many years. On June 1, 1870, he married Louise Curry of Key West. They were the parents of four children: William Randolph, Mary Louise, Jennie Roberta, and Dr. Joseph Yates Porter, Jr.
Source: The Golden Cockerel: The Art, Symbolism & History of the Stained Glass Windows, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Key West, Florida by Winifred Shine Fryzel.
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