Stained glass of the middle ages in England and France — John Shaqi
Stained glass of the middle ages in England and FranceArnold, Hugh
History
Stained glass of the middle ages in England and France
Arnold, Hugh
Art, Medieval; Glass painting and staining -- England; Glass painting and staining -- France
At Angers there are some remains of twelfth century windows which are
thought to be about the same date as those of Chartres and St. Denis,
or even a little earlier, and there are some at Chalons, but they
cannot be dated with any exactitude, and I have had no opportunity of
examining them. Next after these in point of date should, I think,
come the earliest of the windows at Canterbury, though nearly thirty
years must separate the two.
[Sidenote: Fragments at York.]
A few fragments in York Minster, however, show where the artists may
have been occupied meantime. There are some scraps in the
clerestory--scraps of a Jesse window of which the details are almost
identical with the St. Denis work--and a medallion representing Daniel
in the Lion's Den, which is glazed into the foot of the centre light
of the great thirteenth century grisaille windows in the north
transept, known as "the Five Sisters." It is a circular medallion
filled out to a square form with ornament, no doubt to fit a square of
the iron-work, and strongly resembles the St. Denis work.
[Sidenote: Canterbury choir.]
Of the stained glass of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, which
was once the glory of Canterbury Cathedral, only a remnant has escaped
the zeal of the Puritans. The minister placed in charge of the
Cathedral under the Commonwealth, one Richard Culmer, known to his
enemies as "Blue Dick," though I do not know why, relates with glee
how he stood on a ladder sixty steps high with a whole pike in his
hand and "rattled down proud Beckett's glassie bones."
I own I feel less resentment against "Blue Dick," who at least thought
the windows important enough to smash, than against that later vandal
Wyatt, who in the eighteenth century sold the glass at Salisbury for
the price of the lead in it, or those who even now in many places are
letting old glass perish for want of proper care.
[Illustration: PLATE IX
WESTERN LANCETS AND ROSE, CHARTRES CATHEDRAL
Twelfth and Thirteenth Century]
Even "Blue Dick" seems to have tired of his pious labours before they
were quite finished, for, of the early windows, he has left us two in
the north choir aisle, and four in the Trinity Chapel east of the
choir, in which most of the old glass remains. Besides these there are
many medallions and numerous fragments scattered about in other
windows and embedded in the work of the modern restorer, and several
large figures from the clerestory, of which the Methuselah in Plate
III., now in the south transept, is one.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account