- Exhibition: Of Earth and Heaven: Art from the Middle Ages
- The Stained Glass Museum Annual Lecture 2018: Exhibiting Stained Glass in 19th Century London and Paris
- Reminder: The Stained Glass Museum Study Weekend 2018: Suffolk
- British Society of Master Glass Painters Spring Lecture 2018: Bradley + Basso, by Ray Bradley and Denise Basso
- CALL FOR PAPERS: ICON STAINED GLASS GROUP CONFERENCE, 8-9 May, 2018
- The Stained Glass Centre: Stained Glass Workshops 2018
- Reminder: University of York Spring Master Class
- Medieval Stained Glass an Instagram Hit
Exhibition: Of Earth and Heaven: Art from the Middle Ages
Until March 10th, 2018

Fig. 1. Detail from the Expulsion from Paradise, Church of Saint Firmin at Flavigny-sur-Moselle, Lorraine, 1533, by Valentin Bousch.
In association with Sam Fogg, the Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York, is currently hosting Of Earth and Heaven: Art from the Middle Ages, an exhibition of late Medieval painting, sculpture, stained glass and goldsmiths’ work. Bringing together some of the finest masterpieces of Medieval and Renaissance art still in private hands, the centrepiece of the exhibition is three monumental sections of carved stonework from the south transept window of Canterbury Cathedral, one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Europe. The window was designed by Thomas Mapilton (d. 1438), a master mason who worked on Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London prior to his appointment at Canterbury. The window, made from limestone specially quarried at Caen in Normandy, France in 1428, was one of the most ambitious projects of English Gothic architecture, filling almost the entire height and width of the cathedral’s vast south transept.
Other highlights include an extraordinary stained-glass window (Fig. 1) depicting the Creation of the World and the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, painted in 1533 by the celebrated Renaissance glass-painter Valentin Bousch.
A fully-illustrated catalogue has been published in conjunction with the exhibition, and is available through the Luhring Augustine Gallery website.
The Stained Glass Museum Annual Lecture 2018: Exhibiting Stained Glass in 19th Century London and Paris
Wednesday, 9th May, 6.30pm for 6.45pm
Ely Cathedral, South Transept
For this year’s annual lecture, Jasmine Allen, Curator of the Stained Glass Museum, will take her audience back in time to explore the fascinating, and often surprising, displays of stained glass at International Exhibitions over the course of the 19th century. Drawing from glass exhibited at sites such as London’s Crystal Palace and along the Champs-Élysée in Paris, the lecture will both explore a range of stained glass windows which impressed visitors from across the world, and also, in turn, suggest how the challenges of exhibiting stained glass at these events ultimately shaped the ways in which modern museums have displayed stained glass.
The lecture is open to all. Tickets cost £7.50 (£6.00 to Friends of the Stained Glass Museum and of Ely Cathedral), and can be purchased through the Museum’s website.
Reminder: The Stained Glass Museum Study Weekend 2018: Suffolk

Fig. 1. 15th century stained glass (window nXII 1c), Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford, Suffolk © Chris Parkinson.
Thursday, 19th April – Sunday, 22nd April 2018
The Stained Glass Museum’s 2018 Study Weekend will take place in Suffolk, from lunchtime on Thursday 19th April to the morning of Sunday 22nd April 2018. Based in the historic market town of Bury St Edmunds, former home to one of the richest Benedictine abbeys in medieval England, the annual weekend will involve tours of a number of churches and other buildings to see stained glass in situ. The weekend will begin on Thursday afternoon with a walking tour in the town of Bury St Edmunds, and continue with coach tours in the surrounding area on Friday and Saturday. Optional visits by foot, exploring the Abbey ruins and Moyses’ Hall museum will be scheduled for Sunday morning.
Visits will include: St Edmundsbury Cathedral, the parish churches of St Mary and St John, and Council Offices, all in Bury St Edmunds. In addition, there will be visits to see medieval stained glass at Long Melford, Risby, Gipping and Hessett, an important collection of 16th and 17th century roundels at Nowton; 17th century heraldic glass at Clare, and High Victorian glass at Sudbury and Lavenham. There will also be opportunities to see some beautiful early Henry Holiday glass at Shimpling and fine Arts and Crafts stained glass at Horringer and Herringswell.
Booking is now open for the weekend, and prices are as follows:
Prices (per person)
Residential:
£495 Residential single occupancy
£445 Residential double/twin occupancy
Non-residential:
Please note Residential places have priority booking)
£250 Non-Residential and dinners
£150 Non-Residential (visits only) PLACES LIMITED
For more information and booking forms, please see the museum’s website.
British Society of Master Glass Painters Spring Lecture 2018: Bradley + Basso, by Ray Bradley and Denise Basso
Friday, 16th March, 6.15pm for 6.45pm
The Art Workers Guild, 6 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AT
Ray Bradley established his architectural glass art studio in West London in 1964, and in the years since has designed and made many works in an expanded use of glass techniques for a large range of situations in the UK and overseas, always from a contextual position and working collaboratively with architects, designers and clients. In 2004 he invited Denise Mt Basso to join him as a partner to create Bradley+Basso (www.bradleybasso.com). With a family background of mosaic and terrazzo, close con-tacts with current Venetian mosaics, a Bauhaus influence from one of her early tutors in Italy and the addition of an MA in Fine Art with Architecture from UEL, her skill sets have resulted in an extended approach and range of commissions from a wider and more varied clientele. In this lecture, Ray and Denise will talk about their personal approach to glass and describe how their very different talents have coalesced successfully in their new work.
The lecture is open to members and non-members of the Society, and admission is by ticket only. For more information and to book tickets, see the BSMGP website.
CALL FOR PAPERS: ICON STAINED GLASS GROUP CONFERENCE, 8-9 May, 2018
The ICON Stained Glass Group Conference for 2018 on the theme of ‘Conservation, Communication, and Collaboration’ will be held at Glaziers Hall, the central London home of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers, on 8 and 9 May 2018. The conference’s deliberately broad themes seek to explore recent developments and challenges in the field of stained glass conservation, as well as ways in which collaborations have advanced our understanding of issues, practices and techniques. The ways in which work is disseminated, defined, and communicated is also central to this year’s meeting.
As part of an active international community, practitioners in the field of stained glass conservation have often initiated and participated in many forms of collaboration and communication on a daily basis. As an architectonic medium, those working within the stained glass sphere are especially attuned to looking at objects as part of a wider framework. Collaborations with scientists, architects, stonemasons, academics and heritage bodies help further advance our understanding of complex issues. The methods through which we document and convey conservation practices, or interpret, define, or redefine guidelines and principles, are challenges constantly under evaluation and scrutiny.
Papers are invited that seek to explore and examine issues of cross-disciplinary collaboration. Topics that deal with communicating, advancing or redefining our work or working guidelines, as well as any conservation projects relevant to these themes, are welcomed.
Deadline for abstract submissions: Noon, Friday 16 March 2018
Abstract Submission: Proposals for 20-minute papers (no more than 300 words in length, including the title, email address and name of the corresponding author) should be sent together with a short CV directly to the conference secretary Dr Marie Groll (mog500@york.ac.uk).
The Stained Glass Centre: Stained Glass Workshops 2018
The Stained Glass Centre in York has announced the dates of this year’s summer workshops. Four one-day, self-contained workshops in glass painting and leading will be held on the fol-lowing dates:
Saturday 23rd June – Glass painting
Saturday 30th June – Glass painting
Sunday 1st July – Glazing
Saturday 14th July – Glazing
Workshops on glass painting will introduce basic techniques of painting on glass, as used by artists from the medieval period to the present day. Participants will practice using different brushes to produce different effects, and by the end of the day will have produced a painted piece to be fired. Those who also attend a glazing day will be able to incorporate this painted piece into a leaded panel. The leading and glazing workshop will focus on basic techniques of cutting glass to shape, leading and soldering to produce a simple stained glass panel. Those who have previously attended a painting workshop will be able to incorporate their painted piece into a leaded panel.
The workshops are taught by Ann Sotheran, a Fellow of the British Society of Master Glass Painters, with over 25 years’ experience of designing and making stained glass. She has taught evening classes in stained glass for nearly twenty years as well as various workshops covering all aspects of stained glass work.
The workshops are held at St Martin-cum-Gregory Church, Micklegate, York, and run from 10.30am to 5.00pm. The cost of attending each day is £70, which includes all materials and use of tools and equipment. Numbers are limited to ten at each workshop. For further information and registration, please see the Stained Glass Centre website or email events@stainedglasscentre.org
Reminder: University of York Spring Master Class
On Saturday, 3rd March, 2018, the University of York’s MA in Stained Glass Conservation and Heritage Management will hold its Spring Master Class.
Following the theme of Collectors and Collections, speakers will include Dr Ute Bed-narz (CVMA Potsdam), Anna Eavis (English Heritage), Dr Marie Groll (independent scholar), Dr Joseph Spooner (CVMA GB), and Dr Ivo Rauch (University of York).
This event will take place at The King’s Manor, York YO1 7EP. Tickets cost £40 (student concessions are available) and include refreshments. To book places, visit https://stainedglassmasterclass.eventbrite.co.uk
Medieval Stained Glass an Instagram Hit

Fig. 1. York Minster, home to one of England’s most spectacular collections of medieval stained glass.
York Minster, and its impressively extensive collection of medieval stained glass, features within a list of the twelve ‘most instagrammable sights’ in the UK. Research by the travel company, Expedia, found that the medieval landmark was snapped more than 89,000 times last year.