The mausoleum itself is tasteful, but not particularly distinguished. The stained glass inside, however, is signed by F. X. (Franz Xavier) Zettler of the Royal Bavarian Stained-Glass Manufactory, Munich, and it is an extraordinary piece of art.
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Albert C. Opperman Mausoleum, Homewood Cemetery
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Stained Glass in the Shields Mausoleum, Homewood Cemetery
Mr. Shields decided to take his favorite pinup girl with him to the grave. A stout wooden beam apparently holding up the ceiling of the mausoleum stands in the way of the view of this window; Father Pitt has therefore stitched this picture together from two separate pictures, and the seam is obvious. But the window is unusual enough that we can tolerate a substandard photograph. —UPDATE: Old Pa Pitt has accidentally found out quite a bit more about this window. It is called “The Spirit of the Water Lily,” and it was designed by the famous stained-glass artist William Willet for the home of one of Pittsburgh’s rich industrialists, George I. Whitney. How it came to be in this mausoleum Father Pitt does not know. The design for the window was printed in the February, 1904, issue of the Booklovers Magazine, and we note that, if this drawing is accurate, the window is currently installed backwards:
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Wilkins Mausoleum, Homewood Cemetery
The Wilkins family took the word “mausoleum” quite seriously and attempted a scale model of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, which is probably the inspiration for more constructions in Pittsburgh than any other classical edifice.
