East Window, Lady Chapel
Thomas Willement (1786-1871)
Restored in 1843
Wells Cathedral, Somerset
Five lights, with Christ in glory above Biblical figures
[Click on the images to enlarge them; See below for more images and commentary.]
Photographs by Colin Price, by kind permission of the Dean and Chapter. Text and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee.
The Rev. Dearmer's account for the Bells Cathedral series is scathing: in his opinion, Willement spoiled the window by "modern insertions," and he had a particular spite against "Willement's blue background":
Glass in Lady Chapel.—The large windows of this chapel are all filled with beautiful fourteenth-century glass, but alas! in a marred condition. The side windows contain fragments packed together anyhow. The eastern window was made up out of old pieces by Willement at Dean Goodenough's restoration, and its colour almost completely spoilt by modern insertions. The harm, however, is not irreparable, for the figures are almost entirely genuine, and the bad effect is mainly due to Willement's blue background. A careful examination would easily separate the new from the old, and it would be quite easy at the present day to remove the bad work and replace it by glass that would carry out the old harmony of colour. [133]
Closer view, from the left, of the top row of figures: Noah as a simple carpenter (this has "Noe" written under the figure, though not quite visible here) and Abraham (note the "AB" just below the figure) followed by King David, with his crown and harp.
Eve with an enormous (strategically placed) coiling text in the Garden of Eden, seeming to beckon the serpent to come closer, followed in the next light by the serpent himself, with a human head, entwined around a tree as he holds out the fatal apple; then Mary with the infant Jesus. The figures are all noticeably medieval figures, with a good deal of blue around them, particularly in Mary's case.
Dearmer continues, "The lower lights are filled with two tiers of figures in canopies, David and other patriarchs in the upper tier, and the following well-chosen series in the lower:— The Madonna in the midst, on her right the Serpent and Eve, on her left the Brazen Serpent and Moses. The upper lights of this window contain angels bearing the instruments of the Passion, which are unspoilt" (133).
Bibliography
Dearmer, The Rev. Percy. The Cathedral Church of Wells: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See. London: George Bell & Sons, 1898. 2nd ed. Riverside Press, Edinburgh: W. H. White & Co, 1899. Project Gutenberg. Web. 29 April 2022.
29 April 2022