The east window of the Church of Saint-Étienne at Pruniers-en-Sologne presents a striking modern interpretation of the Virgin and Child, surrounded by a constellation of Marian symbols drawn from the Litany of Loreto. Executed in the mid-twentieth century by the artist L. Gouffault, whose name appears inscribed at the base of the composition, the work exemplifies the post-war revival of sacred stained glass in rural France.

The Virgin is depicted frontally, rendered in vivid tones of sapphire blue and white, and crowned in majesty. She cradles the Christ Child, who raises his hand in blessing, the figures occupying the central vertical axis of the window. Around them, a series of radiant emblems and Latin inscriptions evoke the traditional epithets of Mary: Porta Coeli (Gate of Heaven) at the summit, flanked by an angel and a golden sun; Domus Aurea (House of Gold), Speculum Iustitiae (Mirror of Justice), Civitas Dei (City of God), Turris Davidica (Tower of David), Rosa Mystica (Mystical Rose), and Hortus Conclusus (Enclosed Garden). Each symbol is integrated into the geometric structure of the design, its meaning both literal and allegorical.

At the base of the panel, an angel kneels before a walled garden — the hortus conclusus — a familiar emblem of the Virgin’s purity and divine enclosure. The vibrant reds and golds of the angel’s robes provide a chromatic counterpoint to the cooler blues of the upper field, drawing the viewer’s gaze upward toward the figure of Mary herself.

Gouffault’s handling of form and colour reflects the stylistic tendencies of the French stained-glass renewal of the 1950s, marked by simplified outlines, luminous fields of pot-metal glass, and an architectural rhythm established through the confident use of lead lines. His work aligns with the regional idiom of the Loire workshops, where the influence of the Mauméjean, Barillet, and Ingrand ateliers encouraged the fusion of modern abstraction with traditional Christian iconography. The result is a work at once devotional and modern — deeply rooted in liturgical heritage yet expressed through the clarity and restraint of contemporary design.

The window’s theological focus is unmistakably Marian, celebrating the Virgin as intercessor and as the personification of divine grace. In the aftermath of the Second World War, such imagery acquired renewed resonance: Mary as both protector of the faithful and symbol of spiritual renewal. The Latin inscriptions that encircle her — drawn from centuries of liturgical use — reassert continuity between the medieval and the modern, between the inherited language of faith and the visual idiom of a new age.

Today, the glass remains in excellent condition, its colours retaining their brilliance and the original leadwork still secure. In the modest setting of Pruniers-en-Sologne, Gouffault’s window transforms the light of the eastward sun into a hymn of devotion — a quiet yet eloquent example of how the mid-twentieth century reimagined the sacred tradition of stained glass for a new era of worship and reflection.