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
substituting Leah for Rebecca, together with Jacob's retaliation by
marking the cattle. Remark Esau shaking his fist at Jacob for stealing
his blessing; the solidity of the stairway in Jacob's dream; the unusual
number of animals shown in all the scenes. There should also be observed
the very elaborate treatment of the eastern traceries. An examination of
the outside of these windows indicates that they were probably brought
from some other edifice, for the wall seems to have been cut away to
provide sufficient room for them.
[Illustration: BISHOP ABBOTT'S HOSPITAL, GUILDFORD
Charming and complete glazing of a small chapel. Renaissance
glass coloured by the process of enamelling, often
unsatisfactory because bits are apt to peel off]
GATTON
It is not uncommon in England to find the chapel attached to the manor
house of an estate used as a parish church for the neighbourhood. This
is true of the family chapel at Gatton Park, Surrey, just north of
Redhill, off the road leading to London. This chapel stands close to the
mansion, and is connected with it by a passage. Finer carved wood than
the wainscotting of this small interior is far to seek. The wooden
pulpit, too, is of skilful workmanship, and together with the panelling,
is said to have come from Germany, and to be the work of Albrecht Dürer;
its beauty is certainly due to some great craftsman, if not to this very
man. The principal illumination of the narrow edifice is derived from
two large windows, one over the altar at the east end and the other of
similar size in the south wall; there is none in the north one. Both
these embrasures are glazed with Renaissance work of considerable
excellence; the one to the east dates from about 1500, and the southerly
one from about eighty years later. This latter, as is to be expected,
shows a liberal use of enamel painting, something entirely absent in
the earlier one, and each of its three lancets contains a different
subject, against elaborate landscape backgrounds. The delicately
outlined trees in the extreme distance are drawn upon a white field
instead of upon the light blue then used in France. Such architecture as
appears in the design is, of course, Renaissance. Across the whole of
the easterly window is stretched one large picture, the "Eating of the
Passover," which is pleasantly brightened by the golden staves held by
the figures who, with their raiment girded up and their feet shod by
sandals, carry out to the full the Mosaic law, "And thus shall ye eat
it; with your loins girded, with shoes on your feet and your staff in
your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is the Lord's Passover"
(Exodus xii. 2).
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account