Stained Glass: Essays

Page 2

The east window has five main lights with 15th and 16th century stained glass panels depicting the apocryphal story of Ss Andrew and Matthew in the City of the Man-Eaters as well as some depictions of bishops and donor images. In "The History and Antiquities of Cumberland"¹ of 1840, Jefferson states:

"The east window is....filled with good stained glass, but much mutilated and displaced. This window appears to have been richly ornamented with historical subjects, relating to St Andrew, in ten compartments, with inscriptions and scrolls. Until about fifty years since, it was filled with the stained glass from the bottom of the spring of the arch; part was then removed by permission of the rector, Mr Moises, to Greystoke Castle, for the windows of the private chapel".

Unfortunately Jefferson does not illuminate us any further, but the Rev Thomas Lees writing in 1874⁵ says that the glass removed to the castle was brought back to the church for the renovation and glass "gathered up" from other parts of the church and worked up into its present form". What is certain is that the glass in the east window along with other windows was restored and added to by the then rector, Henry Askew in 1848 during a general refurbishment of the church as is attested by the dedication at the base of the window. The full inscription reads:

"This chancel was repaired by Thomas Howard of Greystoke, Earl of Arundel & Surrey; Earl Marshall; and William Moreland, Rector 1654. Was restored by Henry Howard of Greystoke and Henry Askew, Rector 1848".

During that work the top tracery was embellished with the coats of arms illustrated on page 1. I have no information to suggest whether alterations and additions were made to the ancient glass, or that the 1848 restoration maintained the general flow of the panels, though the latter is more probable. All we can say is that today we are presented with five lights of four panels each. Here for the sake of a sensible arrangement the lights are numbered 1 to 5, from left to right and the panels 1 to 20 (i.e. from top to bottom 1 to 4 in light 1, 5 to 8 in light 2 and so on). Most of the descriptions of the scenes in the panels are derived from the entry for Greystoke in "Ancient Painted Glass in England, 1170-1500", by Philip Nelson² but I have also drawn extensively upon the account given by the Rev Lees.⁵

Light 1:

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Panel 1:

Intricate canopies with niches and crocketed spirelets. Mostly white glass with silver stain, the outermost columns are extended down to the lower panel which serves to frame the bishop and other figures.

Panel 2:

Figure of a saint wearing an alb and chasuble and a bishop's mitre holding a staff and standing on a red devil. There are heads of other figures behind.

Panel 3:

St Andrew addressing a group of seven figures above which there is a label; "Here brynges.. first.. plac.. ew out of ye chyp fro fyssyng". One of the group is haloed (St Matthew?). There is an angel behind St Andrew.

Panel 4:

Christ standing on the sea-shore in front of a fire and holding a staff, whilst in a boat to whom his hand is extended, are several figures, one of whom grasps a net. The label reads, "Here commands ye k.. so drawen no taken de.. ? .. rew i y pson ys".

It is remarked by the Rev Thomas Lees ⁵ and Samuel Jefferson¹ alludes to the matter that the red devil in Panel 2 which is being trampled by the Bishop was originally elsewhere in the church. The Rev Lees continues:

"Old people, who remembered some of the glass in its ancient arrangement, have told me that originally the devil was whispering into the ear of a woman. This might be a representation for the Temptation of Eve; but I am inclined to think the figure formed part of one of the legendary pictures concerning St. Andrew".

The Rev Lees's inclination could be right as the devil plays a major part in the apocryphal story when he exhorts the cannibals to find Andrew lest they all die of hunger (verse 24)³. If this is the case then we should conclude that the ancient glass we now see is an incomplete construction of the original.

Matching the text and imagery in the glass with the story as translated by M. R. James in "The Apocryphal New Testament"³ is, to say the least challenging, and although I have used the interpretation of Philip Nelson² and relied heavily on Rev Lees's⁵ excellent coverage (as did Nelson), it is not at all clear that they are right!. Deciphering the explanatory labels is problematic and requires a significant degree of interpretation. There are clearly elements such as letters and words missing, misplaced or jumbled, or which are obscured by the leading. It is also clear that the author of the apocrypha has taken certain stories from the canonical gospels and interwoven them into his narrative. Panel 3 may well illustrate the part of the story where the crew of the ship taking Andrew on his errand could not eat as they "were disturbed by the sea". Jesus, who had embarked and was the pilot along with two angels ordered Andrew to tell his disciples "some of the wonders your master did to encourage them for we are going to set sail". Andrew told his disciples about the stilling of the storm (presumably a reference to the miracle told of in Matthew 8:23–27, Mark 4:35–41, and Luke 8:22–25) and they slept. The sea was calmed again.

Panel 4 appears to depict Andrew and his disciples embarking on the boat: "5. They went, Andrew and his disciples, and found a little boat and three men. The pilot was the Lord, and the other two were angels".³ One of the men is holding a net over the side of the boat, and Jesus stands outside the boat with his hand extended towards one of the apostles. The question is whether Jesus is standing on the shore or is walking on water echoing the miraculous draught of fish or the calming of the storm. The imagery is very reminiscent of other depictions in medieval art such as that in one of the 14th century windows in Strasbourg Cathedral (right), the significant difference being that Jesus is holding a cross indicating that the Greystoke depiction is a new story occurring after his crucifixion. In Christian art there are two similar stories of the miraculous draught of fish, one during the early ministry of Jesus (Luke 5:1-11) and another after his resurrection (John 21:1-14)⁴. The Greystoke panel seems to echo the latter.

Light 2:

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Panel 5:

A bishop mitred and wearing a cope, carrying a staff and giving benediction. This may represent St Thomas of Canterbury [Becket], to whom a chantry in the church was dedicated.

Panel 6:

Three kneeling female figures, mother and daughters, the former of whom wears a headdress of the time of Henry VII; they possibly portray Elizabeth, Baroness Greystoke who died in 1516 and her two daughters.

Panel 7:

A group of kneeling figures; to the right five tonsured men (presumably monks of the collegiate church) and to the left a woman who appears to be addressing them. Is this the narrative of the donor, Elizabeth, Baroness Greystoke, instructing the making of the windows?

Panel 8:

St Andrew standing before a church holding an asperge; before him are several persons, one female. A new church stands in the background.

Panel 6: Lees confidently asserts that this group depicts Elizabeth, Baroness Greystoke (b. 1471 d. 1516) and her two daughters. The label above is now so worn as to be undecipherable as it was when Lees was writing. However, it is thought to have read: "Virgo preclara mala per te sint aboleta".

Panel 8 depicts Andrew baptising the people and a church in the background. This is an illustration of the final verses of the apocryphal text where, in an act of mercy Andrew revives the poor souls who had been drowned by the waters that he had conjured up and the ensuing flood, and although the people feared him he consoled them and then converted them to Christianity: "32. Then he bade them bring all who had been killed by the water, but there were too many, so he prayed and revived them. Then he drew out the plan of a church and baptized them and gave them the Lord's precepts"³.

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