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
This window, which is sometimes called the Heraldic Window, from the
number of coats of arms it contains, is the only one of them that has
hitherto been the subject of any very close study, Mr. Winston having
devoted a whole article to an extremely close and careful analysis of
its heraldry, and to an account of the life of its donor, one Peter de
Dene, whose portrait is in the central light and who was a
churchman-politician under the first two Edwards. There is no space
here to repeat his arguments, and I will only say that, after reading
them and rereading them, I find it very difficult not to accept his
conclusion that the most probable date for the window is 1306. The
subject panels represent the story of St. Catherine, but are the least
interesting part of the window, of which the most charming feature is,
perhaps, the border of the central light, which consists of miniature
portraits of kings, queens, and nobles whom the donor wished to
compliment (Plate XVIII.). The two uppermost figures are those of a
Templar and a Hospitaller; below them are the kings and queens of
England and France, in allusion to Edward I.'s second marriage, and
the recent peace concluded by it; below the Queen of France is the
Heir-Apparent of England, and the remaining figures bear the arms of
de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, Warrenne (both connected with the Royal
Family), Beauchamp, Ros, Mowbray, Clifford, and Percy. The coats of
arms which form the bosses in the white panels are those of foreign
monarchs with whom the King of England was connected. The white eagles
in the outer border are thought by Winston to refer to Piers Gaveston,
who, though somewhat under a cloud in 1306, yet, as the friend of the
heir to the throne, was a good person to keep in favour with. It is
true the Gaveston eagles were golden, but heraldry was more free and
easy then than later. There is a portrait of Prince Edward in the
Chapter-House with a white falcon on his wrist, and white falcons are
plentiful in the windows of the nave, yet I have never heard of his
using it as a badge, though the last Plantagenet, Richard II., did so.
[Sidenote: The Bell-founder's window.]
The next window to this is the famous "Bell-founder's Window," given
by Richard Tunnoc, bell-founder of York. In the lower panel of the
centre light is his portrait kneeling and presenting a model of the
window to an Archbishop, perhaps St. William. The panels on either
side represent one, the casting, the other the turning of a bell in a
lathe. Bells are everywhere in the window, the canopies are hung with
them in rows, the borders are formed of them, but Mr. Westlake's
careless remark that all six panels represent the process of
bell-making is not true. The upper three are much perished, but one
can just see that they tell the story of St. William's return to York,
when the welcoming crowds broke down Ouse Bridge, but when, through
his intercession, not a life was lost.
[Sidenote: The de la Warde window.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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