Stained Glass Tours in EnglandSherrill, Charles Hitchcock
History
Stained Glass Tours in England
Sherrill, Charles Hitchcock
Cathedrals -- England; England -- Description and travel; Glass painting and staining -- England
The interior is of modest dimensions, and is elaborately decorated, the
richly carved capitals, &c., giving us indications of how gorgeous it
must all have been before it was looted. An interesting feature is the
slight inclination of the choir northward from the axis of the nave,
which is said to be symbolic of the inclination of Christ's head on the
cross after death. At Troyes and at Quimper in France there is the same
deviation in orientation and the same poetic explanation, but
investigation reveals that it was caused by a change in the street line
in the first instance, and in the other by the annexation of an existing
chapel standing slightly north of the true axis.
[Illustration: LADY CHAPEL, LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL
Excellent example of Renaissance colouring, freer from applied
paint than then customary. This glass was brought from Belgium]
Practically all of the ancient glass which originally adorned the
embrasures has been destroyed; the north window of the north transept
has some Early English work much restored, and on the east of the south
portal of the south transept is a short lower window, in the central
lancet of which is a richly dressed female figure with arms thrown about
a cross. Just before entering the Lady chapel we remark two small
three-lanceted windows, one on each hand, the one to the left having
donors on each side, and in the middle St. Christopher carrying the
infant Jesus. But it is to the seven most easterly windows of the Lady
chapel that we must repair to see the famous Flemish glass, brought
here in 1803, which is the cause of our visit. The dates which appear
upon them run from 1534 to 1539, and they were originally made for the
Abbey of Herckenrode, near Liége, Belgium, by Lambert Lombard--the
earliest and best of those glaziers of the Low Countries who show the
Italian influence. All are of three lancets, except the most westerly
pair, which have six. The traceries above them are grouped in pyramids
of trefoil openings, similar to some in the Lady chapel at Wells.
The scenes are taken from the life of Christ, and there are as well
portraits of certain benefactors of the Abbey. The composition as well
as the grouping of the figures is not so crowded as in the slightly
earlier (1527) glazing of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, or St.
Margaret's, Westminster. The artist drew his personages on such a large
scale that it is evident his work was planned for a more spacious
interior--this chapel is so narrow that one cannot stand far enough
away to get the full effect of the pictures. Although now in the fully
developed picture epoch and passed beyond the conventional trammels of
the canopy with its imitation stonework, the glazier is not forgetful of
what his craft had learned during that period, for he has made agreeable
use of architecture, notably as the background for the Last Supper in
the east window. Even if the dates were not displayed in the usual
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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