Our
Story: the Stained Glass Windows
An
outstanding piece of stained glass art is the West Window
(1915). Commissioned by Mary Ellen Elliman, sister
of a Slough businessman, it was created by the Anglo-Jewish
artist Alfred
Wolmark (1877-1961). Groundbreaking and daring
for its time, it inspired John Piper's design for the windows
of Coventry
Cathedral. Elliman wished to commission a piece of art
in an entirely new and unparalleled style. Wolmark, an exiled
Warsaw Jew, had become renowned for his new approach to colour.
His artistic breakthrough was in 1911 when, at a post-impressionist
exhibition in London, his own work was exhibited with that
of Vincent van Gogh. His rejection of form and acceptance of
intense, raw colour appealed to Sir Joseph Duveen, who had
been approached by Elliman. It took Wolmark two years to complete
the window. Wolmark's window channels the day-light intriguingly:
in the morning amass with reds, purples and blues; as the sun
is setting, yellow and orange panels are highlighted and bring
to life a sea of greens.
The windows
in the Sanctuary were designed by Charles Earner Kempe. The
fine East Window dates back to 1889 and depicts
Christ in glory with the twelve apostles. Each panel has a
traditional medieval canopy, and each apostle is shown with
two guardian angels with Kempe's distinctive peacock feathered
wings. On either side of the sanctuary are two tall lancet
windows. The four evangelists on the North are mirrored by
four prophets to the South: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah and Hosea.
At the east end of the North Aisle the window depicting Saint
Frideswide (Patron of the Diocese
of Oxford) is the last window produced in the Kempe Studios.
The glass in the aisles was designed by Nuttgens, Pawle, Smith
and the studios of Shrigley & Hunt.
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