Life — March 11, 1926 — page 19: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a stained-glass window design satirizing greed and moral corruption. The central grotesque figure appears to be a personification of "Moral Turpitude"—depicted as a bloated, devil-horned creature juggling money bags and guns while gesturing wickedly. Dollar signs ($) appear in the upper corners of the window frame. The banner at the base reads "Judge not that ye be not judged," suggesting ironic commentary on those who accumulate wealth through questionable means while presenting themselves as moral authorities. The subtitle indicates this is a "suggestion for cathedral builders," sarcastically proposing that such a window commemorates the very vices—greed, violence, and hypocrisy—that religious institutions supposedly oppose. The satire critiques wealthy industrialists or robber barons of the Gilded Age who built monuments to themselves while engaging in ethically dubious practices.