Left: The sower. Right: Whole window. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
The Sower, and Jesus with Corn in William Butterfield's St Mary Magdalene, Enfield, a later north aisle window, showing a young, romanticised farmhand sowing seed in a neatly ploughed field. The seed trickles down from his fingers as he holds the tilted pannier under his other arm. In the righthand light, Jesus in all his traditional dignity cradles the produce of harvest, in the form of a sheaf of corn, and raises his spare hand in blessing, and in the sign of the Trinity. Below is the inscription, "Homo plantat sed Deus dat incrementum," or, "Man plants but God gives the increase." This comes from 1 Corinthians 3, 7, where Paul says that the human efforts of the ministers are nothing without the grace and power of God.
The window is dedicated "To the glory of God & in grateful memory of Charles William Reeves, churchwarden from 1892 to 1897 & 1909 until his death on 15th January 1924." It was erected not by any family members but by "parishioners and friends," which is rather touching.
Photographs by John Salmon, and text by Jacqueline Banerjee. You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one.
Sources
Eberhard, Robert. "Stained Glass Windows at St Mary Magdalene." Church Stained Glass Windows. Web. 7 July 2015.
"The Nave Stained-Glass." St Mary Magdalene. Web. 7 July 2015.
Created 8 July 2015