Churches,  Glass,  Panel of the month,  Stained Glass

Panel of the Month – February 2017

Panel of the Month  – February 2017

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(Please click the image for more detail)

Detail of panel 3b from the West window of All Saints’ Church in Stamford. The panel shows St. John the Evangelist leading a grieving Virgin Mary away from the scene of the crucifixion. He looks at her with sadness and tenderness. The tears are visible on Mary’s face in this image but are hard to see with a naked eye in the window itself.

The window in question is a huge and very striking Victorian masterpiece by Clayton and Bell. It was created in 1888 and presented to the church by Mr. Edward Ingersoll Browne of Boston Massachusetts. He was the descendant of a prominent wool merchant who lived in Stamford in the fifteenth century who also gave money to All Saints’ church for its embellishment.

Clayton and Bell were one of the most prolific stained glass firms in Victorian England producing high quality designs for stained glass windows, murals and decorative wall paintings. At the height of their production – in the mid-1860s – they had over 300 employees.

I have chosen this panel as the first installment for panel of the month because it contains monumental and moving detail, which certainly would not be visible to most people from the ground and the window forms part of the research for my recent publication: ‘The Stained Glass of All Saints’ Church, Stamford’ – a project that was very close to my heart for a long time!