ABSTRACT
The first part of this essay discusses the decoration of the Franciscan church in Kraków by Stanisław Wyspiański (the murals in the eastern part, dating from 1895, and seven stained-glass windows, dating from 1897–1904), with a special focus on the western window, known as God the Father. The second part of the essay compares the latter stained-glass window by Wyspiański with the poem of the same name by Katherine Mansfield, showing the affinities and differences between them both. The essay also suggests another possible visual source for ‘the little, pitiful God’ from Mansfield’s poem: namely, the Holy Trinity statue on the main altar in the Dominican church in Kraków (1876–84).
