A piece of Central Florida history is finding new life at the Rollins Museum of Art.
The museum received a late 19th-century stained-glass window from First United Methodist Church in Winter Park, adding both artistic significance and local heritage to its growing permanent collection. Now formally titled Adoration of the Magi, the work will play a key role in the museum’s future as it prepares to open its new facility.
Measuring 15 feet tall and 5 feet wide, the window depicts the biblical scene of the Magi visiting the Christ child, a subject that has appeared across centuries of devotional art. It was produced by the Mueller Mirror and Art Glass Works, a Milwaukee-based studio known for its detailed ecclesiastical designs in the late 1800s. The piece reflects the period’s embrace of European-inspired stained glass, translated for American churches through rich color and narrative imagery.
But beyond its craftsmanship, the window carries a distinctly local story.
Originally installed at Reeves Memorial Methodist Church in Orlando, the window remained there for decades before the church closed in 2018. It was later relocated to First United Methodist Church in Winter Park, steps away from where the museum’s new building is now under construction.
The church initially lent the work to the museum in 2021 with plans for restoration and eventual display. That plan has since evolved into a full gift ensuring the window’s long-term preservation while making it accessible to the public in a new context.
The addition strengthens the museum’s stained-glass holdings, which already include a late 19th-century English panel and a 1929 Tiffany window depicting Christ the Redeemer. Together, these works trace how stained glass has moved between sacred and domestic spaces while remaining a powerful storytelling medium.
For the museum, the acquisition is as much about community as it is about art.
“This window is both a remarkable example of stained-glass craftsmanship and a work that has been part of the Orlando community for more than a century,” said Executive Director Leslie Anderson in a statement.
Visitors will have to wait a bit to see it on display. Adoration of the Magi is slated to debut as part of the inaugural exhibition at the museum’s new facility in 2028, where it will be shown alongside other works from the permanent collection. The museum also plans to incorporate the piece into future programming and collaborations, including with nearby institutions like the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art.
As the Rollins Museum of Art looks ahead, this addition connects past and present, preserving a familiar work for longtime residents while introducing it to new audiences in a museum setting.