News

Lost: forty stained-glass windows from Antwerp

Fig. 1. Sketch of St Francis by Abraham van Diepenbeeck, perhaps indicating how he was depicted in the Minim cloister in Antwerp.

Fig. 1. Sketch of St Francis by Abraham van Diepenbeeck, perhaps indicating how he was depicted in the Minim cloister in Antwerp.

In the 1640s, Abraham van Diepenbeeck created forty stained-glass windows depicting the life and miracles of St Francis of Paola for the new cloister of the Minim Convent in Antwerp. J.B. Descamps, who saw them, described them in 1769: « Ce sont des petits Tableaux transparens ; la couleur a l’air d’un lavis, mais dégradée de façon que l’on y apperçoit les teintes locales, & des masses qui forment des effets, sans la marqueterie des couleurs éclatantes entières & presque opaques ; tout y est bien composé & dessiné avec correction & avec fermeté ».

A few years later, in the first half of the 1770s, some “Englishmen” are said to have bought the windows and transported them to England, as they did with the cloister windows of the Dominican Convent and those of the Great Carmelite church.

Does any reader of Vidimus know who these Englishmen were and, more importantly, what they did with the windows? Are they somewhere in a church or in a private collection?

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Fig. 2. Sketch of St Francis by Abraham van Diepenbeeck, perhaps indicating how he was depicted in the Minim cloister in Antwerp.

Fig. 2. Sketch of St Francis by Abraham van Diepenbeeck, perhaps indicating how he was depicted in the Minim cloister in Antwerp.

Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate two sketches of St Francis by Van Diepenbeeck that may be related to the windows, to give an idea of the way in which he depicted the saint.

If any reader has any thoughts or information about these windows, please contact Fr Marc Lindejer, SJ – Brussels lindeijer@bollandistes.be

Exhibition: Dreaming in Blue: Harry Clarke Watercolours, until February 14th, 2019

Fig. 1. Design for ‘At Length Burst in the Argent Revelry’, for the Eve of St Agnes window, by Harry Clarke, c.1923, in the Collection of the Crawford Art Gallery.

Fig. 1. Design for ‘At Length Burst in the Argent Revelry’, for the Eve of St Agnes window, by Harry Clarke, c.1923, in the Collection of the Crawford Art Gallery.

In 1923, Harry Clarke was approached by Harold Jacob (of Jacob’s biscuits fame) to create a stained glass window for his Dublin home.  Of the literary-inspired subjects Clarke proposed, Jacob settled on a pictorial representation of Keat’s influential Romantic narrative poem, set in the Middle Ages, The Eve of St. Agnes. In preparation for the commission, Clarke produced a series of 22 studies in pencil, watercolour and gouache, each illustrating a panel of his proposed design.

This exhibition, at the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, presents 18 of these preparatory works together in a sequence for the first time in many years.  The show also includes two booklets illustrated by Clarke, a display of his earliest, prize-winning stained glass panels and John Doherty’s 2003 documentary, Harry Clarke: Darkness in Light.  The actress, Fiona Shaw, provides a vivid reading, commissioned for the exhibition, of Keat’s poem, telling of the dreamlike romance of Madeline and her family’s enemy, Porphyro, culminating in their dramatic elopement on the eve of the feast of St Agnes.

Appropriately for an exploration of this romantic theme, the exhibition runs until February 14th, 2019.  For more information, including details of upcoming tours with the exhibition’s curator, Dr Michael Waldron see the Gallery’s website. Clarke’s stained glass window itself is permanently housed in the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.

Exhibition: Edward Burne-Jones at Tate Britain: Last few weeks

Fig. 1. Detail from 'The Good Shepherd' by Edward Burne-Jones, 1857-61, which features in the Tate exhibition.

Fig. 1. Detail from ‘The Good Shepherd’ by Edward Burne-Jones, 1857-61, which features in the Tate exhibition.

Ultimately one of the great artists of the European fin de siècle, Edward Burne-Jones was exceptional in his ability to turn his hand successfully to a wide range of different media including painting, tapestry and, of course, stained glass.

London’s first major retrospective of Burne-Jones’s work since 1933, bringing together all the major works from across his four-decade long career, the exhibition runs until February 24th, 2019.

Call for Papers: ‘The Art of the Lost: Destruction, Reconstruction and Change’, Canterbury Cathedral

Fig. 1. Thomas Johnson’s ‘Choir of Canterbury Cathedral’, dated 1657, showing iconoclasts attacking the stained glass windows.

Fig. 1. Thomas Johnson’s ‘Choir of Canterbury Cathedral’, dated 1657, showing iconoclasts attacking the stained glass windows.

Throughout 2019, Canterbury Cathedral will celebrate the role and significance of art, in all its diversity, within the cathedral space, culminating in a two-day international conference on 27-29 November.

The aim of the conference is to offer a vibrant and challenging perspective on the field, to review ongoing projects and scholarly activity, as well as to engage with the public.  Original proposals for papers are welcome from professionals, established and rising academic scholars, and graduate students, on topics ranging from (but not limited to) stained glass, wall art, textiles, music, architecture, sculpture and the moving image.

For full details of the conference and how to submit a proposal, please see the cathedral’s website. Please note, the deadline for proposals of Friday, 25th January, as listed on the website, has now been extended to Friday, 22nd February, 2019.

The Glaziers Trust announces new awards, including the Moat Memorial Award

The Glaziers Trust, part of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers’ charitable foundation, has long supported the restoration and conservation of historic and important stained glass through the award of grants for conservation work. The Trust is happy to announce that it is now able to provide further support in the form of small grants for the commissioning of condition reports for glass of similar significance.

Furthermore, all successful applicants to the Trust will also now be entered into the competition for the Moat Memorial Award.  This award is given annually to the most outstanding application, and provides £500 to the winner. The award was established in 2018 to honour the legacy of the Trust’s late secretary, Dr Neil Moat.

For further details of these grants, including an application form, please see the Glaziers Trust website and also contact the Trust’s secretary, Dr Marie Groll, on mog500@york.ac.uk.

Lecture: ‘The Illustration and Stained Glass of Harry Clarke 1889-1931

Friday, 8th February 2019, 1.00pm

Harry Clarke is best known as the leading Irish stained glass artist of the early twentieth century, but he also deserves recognition for his talents in other media, including as an illustrator and painter, as well as for his influence and impact internationally.

Mike Hope, author, lecturer, designer and curator, will aim in his talk to emphasise and recognise Clarke’s role in the development of Irish and international art in the early years of the twentieth century.

The lecture will take place at Dillington House, Ilminster, Somerset TA19 9DT, and costs £25.00, including a three-course lunch. For further information, see the Dillington House website.

Lecture: ‘Stained Glass in the English Parish Church: Through the Ages’

Saturday, 23rd February 2019, 2.30pm

Dr Jasmine Allen, Curator of the Stained Glass Museum, Ely, will give a Flamstead Heritage Lecture, for the St Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society, in association with the Flamstead Society, exploring stained glass in the parochial church context.

The lecture will take place in St Leonard’s Church, Flamstead, St Albans AL3 8EE. There is no charge for the lecture, but donations to the Flamstead Heritage campaign, established to save the twelfth-century church from closure, are very welcome.  For further details of this and other forthcoming lectures, please see the St Alban’s Society’s website  and the Flamstead Heritage website.

Day Course: ‘Christian Imagery in the Medieval English Parish Church’

Saturday, 16th March 2019

As part of its programme for 2019, Norwich Historic Churches Trust (NHCT) will host a day school, led by Sophie Weston, exploring the use of imagery within the medieval parish church. Using images in stained glass, wood, alabaster and stone, and depicting subjects such as the lives of Christ and the saints, the sacraments and sins, as well as the Last Judgement, the course will question whether and in what ways medieval parochial imagery really did follow Pope Gregory’s observation that, ‘A picture is displayed in churches in order that those who do not know letters may at least read by seeing on the walls what they are unable to read in books’.

The day school will be held at St Martin-at-Palace, Norwich and will run from 10.00am to 4.00pm. It costs £35 (£30 for under 18s, over 60s, those claiming JSA and Friends of NHCT), including tea/coffee and any study materials, but exclusive of lunch.  For further information, including how to book a place on the course, see the NHCT website and programme of events.

Reminders

York Open Studios: Lecture by Ann Sotheran

Saturday, 23rd February, 2019, 10.30 am

York Open Studios (YOS) is an annual arts event celebrating the best artists and art makers living in and around the city of York. As part of this event, YOS is proud to present two public lectures, by the sculptor, Richard Mackness, and stained glass artist, Ann Sotheran.

Ann, whose lecture may be of particular interest to readers of Vidimus, is a York native, with a studio established since 1987. Her talk will consider her work, her inspiration, her materials and techniques.  It will take place in the King’s Manor, Exhibition Square, York YO1 7EP, and tickets cost £6.00. For further information and to purchase a ticket, visit the eventbrite website.

British Society of Master Glass Painters Spring Lecture: Adrian Barlow on C. E. Kempe

Friday, 15th March, 2019, 6.15pm

Adrian Barlow’s talk will be based on his recent publication, Espying Heaven, offering detailed discussion of Kempe’s windows, and placing them in the context of his contemporary firms, such as Morris and Co., Burlison and Grylls, and Christopher Whall, leading to an evaluation of Kempe’s legacy and his standing today.
The lecture  will take place at the Art Workers Guild, 6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AR. It costs £17 and an evening meal, following the lecture, is available for a further £16. For more information, and to purchase tickets for the lecture and meal, see the BSMGP website.