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
as to liven any bits of stonework necessary to his drawing. It made
possible the development of an unimportant detail in the earlier windows
into the perfected result called the "Canopy window," which we shall
learn to know as a most useful and satisfactory combination of
decoration and serviceability. It will be remembered that from the
earliest times there frequently appeared above the heads of saints
certain conventional coverings meant to indicate an architectural
shelter. Upon the arrival of the Decorated period this detail became
more complete, the roof being fully depicted (although as yet in flat
drawing, with no attempt at perspective) and columns added at the side
to support it, thus completely enclosing the little figures in a niche.
Here we have the first, or Decorated canopy, now complete in form
although crude. It must be noticed, however, that these canopies,
generally drawn to a small scale, do not attempt alone to fill the
embrasures, and either are shown in bands across a ground of grisaille
or occur alone surrounded by grisaille. Their architectural portion is
of a strong brassy yellow, that colour being provided by pot metal glass
leaded in. Now comes the next and final development. The discovery of
yellow stain did away with the laborious need for leading in the yellow
bits to simulate stonework, so the limit as to size of the canopy was
removed, and at once they began to increase in dimensions. The obvious
result ensued, each canopy was made to fill an entire lancet, its
simulated stonework occupying as much surface as the enclosed figure,
and we have the logical whole of a decorative colour panel within
surrounded by a frame of lighter panes which admit the necessary amount
of illumination. So satisfactory did this style of window prove that it
persisted longer than almost any other type of glazing, and we must
remember it is the discovery of yellow stain that we have to thank for
making this result possible.
During the period we are now considering, the canopy was, of course,
rather crude, in fact it looked more like a sentry-box than anything
else. There was as yet no pedestal beneath it, and the pinnacles at the
top showed entire ignorance of perspective, as well as of drawing in
relief. During the Perpendicular period that followed, they did little
but elaborate this canopy idea, combining and softening the colours so
as to prevent jarring contrasts, and generally much improving the
logical combination of a coloured central portion surrounded by
light-admitting canopy framing. Without the use of yellow stain all this
would have been difficult, if not impossible, for without the little
touches of gold livening the grey stonework these canopies would have
been dull and unconvincing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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