|
THE
GENEALOGICAL WINDOWS
Text
from Bernard Rackham "The Stained Glass Windows of
Canterbury Cathedral"
Canterbury
SPCK 1957
CLERESTORY OF CHOIR, EASTERN TRANSEPTS, AND TRINITY
CHAPEL
THE clerestory windows of the eastern half
of the cathedral were designed to illustrate by a series
of figures, two in each window, the descent of Christ from
Adam, as recorded in Luke 3; eight additional figures were
included, from Matthew I, in order to make up the requisite
number of eighty-four . The first window, at the west end
of the Choir, on the north, showed the Almighty creating
Adam in its upper half and Adam delving below; the last,
facing it, brought the series to an end with the Virgin
Mary and our Lord. All the surviving figures except Adam
are seated on a throne or chair. The sequence was interrupted
by five windows in the Apse, of which three, each comprising
three panels, were devoted to the most important incidents
in the Life and Passion of Christ from the Nativity to the
Ascension (see p. 36 [of ths book]) ; flanking these one
on each side, were two windows by George Austin, relating
to Moses and St John the Baptist as the first and last of
the Prophets (the subjects of their original glass are not
recorded).
There is a perceptible difference in treatment
and disposition between the windows in the western part
of the series and all, save the first two on each side,
in the Trinity Chapel; of the former, all but those in the
first six windows were originally set under shrine-like
arched canopies, and may be assumed to date from about 1178
; the remainder, in the Trinity Chapel, though they must
have been part of the intended scheme from the first, were
evidently executed later, about the beginning of the 13th
century, and from cartoons by a different designer; the
figures are enclosed in panels of various outlines.
All the clerestory windows retain their original
iron armatures; of the figure-panels, only nine now remain
in the clerestory, and of these only three (Nos. 15,23
and 61) are in their original places, the rest
having been shifted from window to window. Fourteen of the
windows still show their ancient borders, which are notable
for their powerful foliage design and are entirely Romanesque
in feeling. The remaining figures that survive are now distributed
in the West window of the Nave and the South window of the
South-West Transept (to which they were removed in 1792)
and in a window of St Andrew's Chapel. They are described
below as in their present several locations and, in each
place, in their original sequence in the series (indicated
by the numerals in brackets following their names). With
the exception of the eight figures mentioned above and fourteen
borders the windows were filled with modern glass by George
Austin in 1861-2, copying or imitating the ancient glass.
Austin's work was partly destroyed during the air attack
of 1942 and has now been restored by Mr Caldwell ; he took
this opportunity of inserting in the upper half of the first
window the original 12th-century face of Adam, which he
had come across, and two other heads, reproduced in the
author's Ancient Glass of Canterbury Cathedral, pl.
5oa, 648..
Author’s
note: Here and throughout this Guide italicized capitals in
inscriptions are either interpolations or modem restorations.
Deficiencies which can be made good without question are
inserted in roman capitals between square brackets []; small
italics are used for explanatory insertions.
BORDERS
The original borders remain in the following windows
(numbered from left to right) :
Choir, north side-Windows 1,
3, 5.
North-East Transept, west
side-Window 1.
North-East
Transept, east side-Windows 3, 4. ,
Trinity
Chapel, north side-Windows 1,4,5,7 ; in No.5 the groundwork
is also ancient, slightly restored.
Trinity Chapel, south
side-Windows 6, 7, 9.
South-East Transept, east
side-Windows 1, 2.
FIGURES NOW IN CLERESTORY
North-East Transept, west side, Window 3
:
Heber (15). Inscr. (defective)
: ..BER. The lower half restored by S. C. Caldwell, 1955.
North-East
Transept, east side, Window 4 :
Shem (12), holding a scroll.
Inscr.: SEM.
Isaac
(23). Throne painted to imitate porphyry. Inscr. (defective
) I. ..C. This figure
is in its original position.
South-East Transept, east side, Window 1
:
Neri (61). Inscr. : NERI (in
original position).
Rhesa
(64), holding a scroll. Inscr. : RESA. (Wrongly identified
by Westlake as Esaias.)
South-East Transept, east side, Window 2 :
Judah
(25), holding a scroll. Inscr. : IVDA. Phares (26),
with scroll. Inscr. : PHARES.
South-East Transept, east side, Window 3 :
Unidentified, perhaps Matthat (52) or Maath
(70). Inscr. (defective) : M. ..AT. Unidentified.
NAVE (WEST WINDOW)
The references preceding the names are to the diagram
of the window
|
L4 Adam (2), girt with a fleece and delving
with a mattock, Inscr. : ADAM. The figure may be compared
with that closely similar but on a miniature scale
at the beginning of the Bible of Robert of Battle
(de Bello), Abbot of St Augustine's (1224-53), which
was doubtless copied from it or from an original common
to both; in later MSS. Adam commonly wears a shirt.
L.1
Esrom (27), with scroll. Inscr. : ESROM.
L.7 Aram (28), with scroll. Inscr. : ARAN(sic).
L.6
Aminadab (29), with scroll. Inscr. (defective) : ...H(?)
A...AD.
L.2 Naasson (30). Inscr. : NAASON.
I.2
Obed (33), with scroll. Inscr. : OBETH.
I.6
Jesse (34), with scroll. Inscr. : IESSE.
I.3 Rehoboam (37), with scroll. Inscr. :
ROBOAS.
I.5 Abia (38), with scroll. Inscr. : ABIAS.
I 19
I.1 Perhaps Jechonias (41), holding
a book and a bowl full of coins. Inscr ..illegible.
.ft~
1.7
Perhaps Salathiel (42). Inscr. (defective)
: SI. ..C
L.5
Joseph (67). Inscr. (partly restored) : IOSEPH.
L.3
Semei (68), holding a book or scroll (exceptional
in being beardless). Inscr. (incorrectly restored)
: SETH.
|
|
SOUTH- WEST TRANSEPT - (SOUTH WINDOW)
The references preceding the names are to the diagram
of the window (below)
|
Q4 Jared (7). Inscr. : IARETH.
Q.8
Enoch (8). He looks up towards the hand of
God extended from a cloud and seizing his wrist for
his "translation" to Heaven. Inscr. : ENOCH.
Q.5
Methuselah (9). Inscr. : MATVSALE.
Q.l
Lamech (10), on throne with high arcaded back.
Inscr. (restored) : LAMECH.
Q.2
.Noah (I I). Inscr. : NOE.
Q.6
Phalec (17), with scroll. Inscr. : PHALEaH.
Q.7
Ragau (18), with scroll. Inscr. : RAGAV.
Q.3 Terah (21), with scroll. Inscr. : THARE.
M.l
Abraham (22). Inscr. : ABRAM (the usual form
of M may be noted).
H4 David (35), supporting a scroll inscribed:
DAVID.
H.S
.Nathan (36), holding a sceptre topped with
a dove. Inscr. : NATHAN. )
M.5
Hezekiah (39). He holds the Dial of Ahaz, in
allusion to the shadow turning backward on the sundial
( 2 Kings 20. 8-1 I). Inscr. : EZECHIAS.
M.6
Josiah (40), holding the Book of the Law (in
the form of a long scroll inscribed with mock Hebrew
characters), in allusion to its re-discovery (2 Kings
22. 8-23. 2). Inscr. : IOSIAS.
H.6
Unidentified, possibly Jonan (47). In "Phrygian"
cap. Inscr. (defective) : ACLC(?).
H.3
Unidentified, with sceptre, possibly Joseph (48).
Inscr. (disordered, and perhaps belonging to another
figure) : IOSEP.
H.7
Jose (55), with scroll. Inscr. (mutilated)
: LESV.
H.2
Er (56). Inscr. : HER.
M.8 Zorobabel (63). Inscr. : ZOROBABEL.
H.I Joanna (63). Inscr. : JOHANNA.
H.8
Juda (66), with scroll. Inscr. : IVDE.
M.2
Unidentified, perhaps Salmon (31).
M.7 Unidentified, perhaps Boaz. Head modern.
|
|
FIGURE NOW IN ST ANDREW'S CHAPEL, WEST SIDE
Cosam (58), beardless, with
scroll. Inscr. (defective) : CO. ..(?) .Restored and set
in its present place in 1928.
FRAGMENT, UNPLACED
The bearded head of an unidentified figure from
one of the earlier windows of the series.
|
