Two Windows at Worcester Cathedral / January 2, 2020 by Sasha Ward

The great west window: from the quire, top of left hand lights, detail from first (left) light

The west window at Worcester Cathedral was designed by George Gilbert Scott in 1875 during his restoration of the cathedral and made by Hardmans. Its subject is The Creation, with the story of Adam and Eve in the central lights. It has been recently restored and and is looking wonderful and clean, with rich colour and detail flowing across the eight vertical window lights in a pattern of circles.

Zooming in on the window in the photos above and below below, I start by appreciating the overall composition, then find my particular favourite bits which all happen to be weather related. There are the two dramatic rainbow circles (above centre), the top one ringed by angels holding rainbow globes, the bottom one ringed by another circle of red and white glass pieces falling as ice, snow, rain and hail.

Bottom of left hand lights, detail from second light

Detail from seventh light, bottom of right hand lights

The right hand side of the window features the animal kingdom and, at the top, a beautiful circle with planets, stars and comets (below right). One of the six circles next to this scene (sixth light, below) shows how the signs of the zodiac form the next ring in the overall composition, while also combining with an angel to make a wonderful picture with painted borders and flowers around the rim, a device used around every circle to great effect.

Detail from sixth light, top of right hand lights

A pattern made of circles is always a favourite with me - as described in my last blog post. However, this window is full of wonder from the angels in the top tracery (below left) right down to the bottom, where you can find the famous pink giraffe (below right).

Detail from the top tracery, bottom of central lights

In the Cathedral cloister is a window by the artist Mark Cazalet that is etched, engraved and sandblasted on three sides of the clear glass panels that are made up as double glazed units. It’s hard to see the overall picture from the inside against the backdrop of the cathedral, and typically for a millennium window, the subject matter is varied. It includes depictions of people with some connection to the cathedral who led an inspired Christian life. The drawing and the details are amazing, there are so many different textures, marks and tones in the glass which you can see well when you look up through the panel tops to the sky. You can’t help thinking that the window needs a clearer backdrop (or a clearer design) to get a full appreciation of the beautiful drawings that are so skilfully applied to the glass.

Millennium window in the south cloister, detail from right hand panel

Detail from left hand panel, top windows right hand side

Paintings In Church / November 20, 2018 by Sasha Ward

Left: The Resurrection Chapel. Right: Gladioli and Stephen stoned by Clayton & Bell (1870s)

St Mary Abbots Church in Kensington is large and grand, designed by George Gilbert Scott with stained glass by the firm of Clayton and Bell. The Resurrection Chapel was redesigned by G.G.S’s grandson in the 1920s, and last week was beautifully decorated for remembrance day. For once the familiar sight of stained glass obscured by flowers didn’t annoy me at all.

Juliet’s Goodden’s paintings on the left hand side of the west wall.

On one wall of the church, either side of the west door, was an exhibition of paintings by Juliet Goodden celebrating interfaith week. I am a fan of Juliet’s paintings. In this series, which is about diverse faiths living side by side, she has painted religious souvenirs and fragments of patterns and places on top of prayer flags and saris. There is not a lot of painting on some of these intricate pictures, she said a lot of the work was in thinking about what should go where. Amongst the small stained glass windows in the nave and the stone memorial plaques they looked totally at home, glowing in the gloom.

Juliet Goodden’s paintings on the right hand side of the west wall.

However the church is brighter than it used to be - in the 1950s the firm of Con and Barnet carried out stained glass repairs and also decided to remove the borders and canopies of Clayton and Bell’s nave windows replacing them with white glass (below left). This strange decision emphasises imaginary tracery and makes the windows seem as if they weren’t made for this church. It also causes the light to flood on to the surface of the glass making the details harder to see.

Left: nave windows. Right: window showing St. John in Patmos.

You can see the glare and gloom effect along with patches of artificial light in the photos of the nave above and below. You can also see the wonderful detail in the figures and the birds flying through patterned backgrounds.

Left: nave & clerestory windows. Right: baptism window.

The patterns on the glass, particularly in the cloth and the backgrounds, take you back to Juliet’s paintings where plant derived patterns mingle with architectural shapes. Amongst the sgraffito floral glass backgrounds I spotted a couple of bright red pieces (above the hand holding the lantern below) that don’t match up. I imagine these to be hasty replacements by those vandals Con & Barnet - but this scratchy drawing is so lively that it just adds to the charm.

Left: detail from window of St Timothy. Right: detail from nativity window.