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
century and the beginning of the following one. On one of these little
panes in the chapel of Lullingstone Castle near here appears the date
1612: these on the Knole staircase are of about the same date. This
house was long the property of the See of Canterbury; perhaps the
pilgrim may have one of the rare opportunities to visit the bedroom so
long occupied by Archbishop Cranmer and observe in the upper lights of
the bay window the six large ovals containing coats of arms in enamel,
bits of which have peeled off, as is so often the case with this method
of applying colour. How mystified that worthy ecclesiastic would be to
see the modern bathroom which now opens into his old bedroom! While
speaking of Canterbury, it is of interest that we are enabled to date
one of the Knole towers by the fact that a morsel of glazing high up in
the traceries of one window (all that is left of the original equipment)
bears a double knot, the insignia of Archbishop Bourchier, thus proving
that it is at least as old as his tenancy here (1456-86). But let us
come to the main reason for our visit--the Cartoon Gallery. Named after
the set of Raphael's cartoons especially copied for Charles I., and by
him presented to the Earl of Dorset to decorate these walls, this long
room is brilliantly lighted by a series of windows giving off upon the
delightful gardens. This is no place to dwell upon the sumptuous silver
furnishings of King James' bedroom that opens out to the south, nor of
the treasures of English portraiture in the rooms through which we have
come to this gallery. We are here to enjoy the work of the glazier who
set upon the windows the arms of the great houses allied to this one by
marriage. One after another they unfold themselves all along the upper
lights of this series of embrasures, and tell their story in a far more
brilliant manner than can ever be attained by any musty tome on
genealogy. This estate was more than once the property of the Crown, and
an evidence of one of these periods is provided by the appearance on
some of the westerly windows of the arms of certain Law Officers of the
Crown, such as the Lord Chief Justice, Attorney-General, Chief Baron of
the Exchequer, Master of the Requests, Judge of Admiralty, &c. These are
somewhat earlier than those first mentioned and are freer from the
unfortunate enamel painting.
Taking into consideration the dimensions of this superb apartment, and
the paintings and glass that adorn it, together with the pleasing
outlook upon the gardens below, it is doubtful if a more impressive
gallery is to be found in any of the stately homes of England.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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