The Swiss Stained Glass Windows in the Churches of Patrixbourne and Temple Ewell

( 229 ) THE SWISS STAINED WINDOWS IN THE CHURCHES OF PATRIXBOURNE AND TEMPLE EWELL. BY N. E. TOKE. IN his description of Patrixbourne Church in Vol. XIV of Archreologia Oantiana, Canon Scott Robertson mentions briefly the foreign stained glass which fills the south window of the Bifrons Chapel, and the east lancet windows of the chancel. This he describes as" Flemish," and states that it was collected on the continent by the first Marchioness of Conyngham, and inserted in the windows in 1849 when the church was restored, at her expense, by Mr. Marshall of Canterbury. But the foreign glass in the east lancets of the chancel bears the inscription, " Presented by Elizabth March88 Conyngham, An° Dom1 1837." It would seem, therefore, that this glass must have occupied another position in the church prior to 1849, unless Canon Scott Robertson was mistaken as to the date of its insertion. He was certainly in error in calling it " Flemish," for several of the panels are signed with the initials of well-known Swiss glass-painters, and the inscriptions show that most of the glass was designed for armorial families resident, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in the Cantons of Switzerland bordering on the lakes of Zurich and Lucerne. Many of the panels are dated ; the earliest of these having been constructed in 1538, and the latest in 1670. At this period glass painting had undergone a great change. The oldest coloured glass was stained rather than painted : that is to say, it was originally.a mosaic of colour<:1d pieces each of which was out out of a sheet of" pot-metal "-i.e. glass fused and coloured in a crucible-and held together by strips of lead. The glass was also painted to give indispensable detail such as faces, folds in drapery, etc., and to atop out 230 SWISS STAINED WINDOWS superfluous light, but the colour was given by the glass itself, and the design was formed chiefly by the leads. · Most of these early windows were very deep in colour, and, in course of time, a desire arose for more light, and for more pictorial work. It was discovered, in the fourteenth century, that a solution of silver painted upon the glass would give it a yellow stain when fired. This silver stain made it possible to show white and yellow on the same sheet of glass, and, since the stain was never so deep as pot-metal yellow, its use made for clearness and brightness. The later Gothic windows became eventually windows of white and yellow stain enclosing pictures in colour. With the increase in transparency came the necessity for more painting, and, by the end of the fifteenth century, painting and glazing were about evenly matched, until, in the early sixteenth century, the painting of pictorial glass reached its perfection. The glazing had now taken a secondary place, and the painting was the main thought of the artist. This led, in the middle of the sixteenth century, to enamel painting which resulted in the destruction of glass-like quality in the glass, and sacrificed, for the sake of pictorial advantage, the permanency of the glass itself. The enamel colours were made of finely powdered glass mixed with metallic oxides and some sort of gum into a pigment which was applied with a brush. In the oven this powdered glass melted and was fused to the sheet of glass. But, as the enamel melted at a temperature at which the glass on which it was painted kept its shape, the result was that the enamel contracted and expanded under changes of temperature much more than the glass itself, and so the colour was apt to crumble off and expose the white glass beneath. · This is what has happened to most enamel glass. But an exception must be made in the case of Swiss enamel of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This has stood the test of time surprisingly well, owing partly to extremely careful and conscientious workmanship, and partly to the fact that most of the Swiss glass of these centuries was destined for domestic purposes, and was therefore not exposed to AT PATRIXBOURNE AND TEMPLE EWELL. 231 the weather as much as church glass. It became the custom in Switzerland to decorate with stained glass not only monasteries and public buildings, but also inns and private houses. Presents of stained glass windows were made by one town to another, and by guilds and individuals to various buildings in their places of residence. To such an extent was this carried out that painted glass windows in the houses of Switzerland became as common as furniture for a room, or pictures for the walls. In hall and staircase windows, in the toplights of dwelling-rooms, and wherever it could be used ·with advantage, little panels of pictorial glass were inserted. These were frequently of the kind known in France as vitraux ·d' alliance, and in Germany as Verbindungs-Gemiilde, because they commepiorated alliances between families, or were given as souvenirs. This custom of using painted glass for secular purposes was not confined to Switzerland, but was in vogue, in the sixteenth century, all over the continent, and also in England. Much of this glass was armorial, especially in England where very little religious painted glass was made after the appearance of Queen Elizabeth's ordinance requiring that plain glass should be substituted for coloured glass in churches, and that all glass paintings of a superstitious character should be destroyed. · But, on the continent, the glass-painters continued · to employ religious subjects for their pictures. For domestic use these consisted very largely of little circular medallions surrounded by a border, or of small oblong panels containing, in an architectural setting, pictures, generally of a sacred character, in the centre, together with figures of saints at the sides and the arms of the donors (usually husband and wife) at the bottom. Most of the Swiss glass in Patrixbourne Church is of this latter kind, and is exquisitely delicate in design and colouring. The earlier panels contain a certain amount of pot-metal glass, but the later ones are chiefly enamel glass. The latest of all, which are . signed with the initials of Hans Caspar Gallati of Wylin the Canton of St. Gall, are beautiful examples of the way in which the Swiss painters laid on their pigment, 232 SWISS STAINED WINDOWS and then, with a needle-point, scraped out the lines until their work resembled a delicate etching in colour. (See Figs. 2, 4, 6, 8.) But the very delicacy of this kind of glass-painting and its small dimensions make it unsuitable for a church window, and especially unsuitable for a position in which it is exposed to strong sunlight. Unfortunately, these late seventeenth century panels at Patrixbourne have been inserted in the south window of the Bifrons Chapel where, it is true, they are low down and can therefore be inspected with ease, but where, on a- sunny day, their beauty is killed by the light. To be seen to the best advantage they should be viewed on a dull day in autumn or winter, or a cloth should be hung outside the window to keep out the light.1 For the following description of the windows I am largely indebted to Professor Dr. Hans Lehmann of the " Schweizer Landes-Museum" at Zurich to whom I sent photographs of some of the panels, and who most courteously supplied me with detailed information respecting the donors and the names of the glass-painters. As the Swiss National Museum at Zurich has the largest collection in the world of Swiss enamel glass, it possesses information on the subject unobtainable elsewhere. My best thanks are therefore due to the learned Professor for placing his expert knowledge at my disposal ; without his assistance it would have been impossible to have given anything but a jejune account of the Swiss glass in these two churches. PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH. A. BIFRONS CHAPEL. Of the eighteen panels in this church, eight are inserted in the south window of the Bifrons Chapel in two vertical rows of four each. Beginning with the east light of this window, and reckoning from top to bottom, we have :- 1 My photographs of the panels were made some fourteen years ago on a. dull day in November, a sheet being hung outside the window to minimise haJa.tion. Panchroma.tio plates were used and a prolonged exposure given. The resulting negatives, which, by an error of development, were too dense, would have been improved by reduction, but this AT PATRIXBOURNE AND TEMPLE EWELL. 233 No. 1 (Fig. I). This represents, says Professor Lehmann, Peter Gisler of Biirglen near Altdorf, in the Canton of Uri, who was born in 1548, and became a Captain in the Swiss regiment of Lussy in Venice, subsequently entering the service of France. In 1577 he became Landesfahnrick (Provincial Ensign) in Uri, and a statesman of note. In 1583, in company with some friends, among whom was Colonel Melchior Lussy of Stanz in Lower Unterwalden, he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and was there knighted. From this time dates his crest of a demi-lion rampant, or, holding in its paws a shield bearing: Dexter: the arms of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre-viz. sable, a cross-crosslet, in each angle a cross-crosslet, or : and, Sinister : the arms of the Order of St. Catherine of Mount Sinai-viz. or, a sword argent transfixing a broken wheel of the first. In 1588, Gisler was Landvogt in the Riviera (Canton Tessin); in 1590, Commissioner in Bellinzona; in 1594 Landesstatthalter in Uri; in 1596 and 1597 Landamman (the highest Swiss rank) in Uri; in 1608 Landeshauptmann (Provincial Captain); and in 1615 and 1616againLandamman. In the latter year he died. He is depicted in several glass panels, both before and after his journey to Jerusalem, and there is an account of him in the Historisclies Neujahrsblatt (No. XXIV, p. 41) of the Canton of Uri for the year 1918. In the Catalogue of the collection of Lord Sudeley of Toddington Castle, which was drawn up by Professor Lehmann when the collection was sold by auction at Munich in 1911, there is shown another glass panel of Gisler, in the upper part of which is represented the entry of the pilgrims into Jerusalem. Two other panels representing him are in the Historical Museum at Altdorf. The town in the upper part of Fig. I is doubtless meant for Jerusalem. The banner behind the Knight bears: per Jesse, or and sable, a cross, argent. The shield with the Agnus · could not be done since I had given them many years ago to the Viotoria and Albert Museum at South Kensington.. It is owing to the kind permission of Mr. Bernard Rackham, Keeper of the Ceramic Department of the Museum, that I was able to borrow the negatives for the purpose of illustrating this article. · · 234 SWISS STAINED WINDOWS Dei has been inserted into this panel, to which it does not belong. It bears the arms of Gisler's friend and fellowpilgrim, Colonel Lussy of Unterwalden. The :field of the shield is azure, and the Lamb, which.carries a white banner with a red cross, is in brown pigment with blood gushing from its breast into a golden chalice. Below it is a representation of the Virgin and Child. The Virgin has golden hair and wears a blue mantle. In the lower half of the panel is a shield with the arms of Gisler-viz. or, a sword erect, ppr., hilt upwards, sabl,e and argent. The glass-painter was Peter Bock of Altdorf, who was at work between 1573 and 1608. 1The panel measures 14½ by 11½ inches. No. 2 (Fig. II). The episode in the life of Christ which is depicted in this panel is puzzling, for it does not correspond exactly to any incident recorded in the New Testament. It has been suggested that it represents Our Lord, accompanied by His disciples, going to raise Lazarus from the dead, and being met by Martha and her friends (John xi. 20). The cross in the ground in the left hand lower corner of the picture would seem to indicate a burial. Dr. Lehmann says that the painting is a naive ahd rather vague representation of the events preceding the raising ·from the dead of Jairus' daughter (Mark v. 22 et se,q.), but I think the first explanation is the more probable, since we read that Christ was followed by a crowd on his way to the house of Jairus. St. Peter, the patron saint of the donor, recognisable by his traditional bald head and beard, is seated on the right of the picture. The inscription reads : Jo. t!ld:tr ttltt. llmnr .cin Jjigu:r ll.cs \uh: ittz htttll 􀃗m 􀃗ltnr llits niiw "i!ti:stnnunt. i.e. " When Abraham came from the battle, Melchisedek brought an offering [which] was a symbol of that we now possess on the altar-the New Testament." (Gen. xiv. 18; Heb. vii. 1.) The monarch, with sceptre and chalice, in the top left hand corner, represents Balthasar, the patron saint of thedonor. The figures on the right represent St. Anne, the patron saint of the donor's third wife, holding in her arms the infant Christ, and the Virgin Mary. The latter, in spite of the presence of her Child, is represented as a little girl. This curious anachron istic combination2 is not uncommon in German art of this period, and is probably due to a desire to emphasise the Virginity of Our Lady. The figure on the middle left is St. Elizabeth of Hungary, the patron saint of the donor's first wife ; that on the right 1 There is an illustration (No. 92) and description of the Flemish i:nedalli1>n, in the Oatalogue of Two 01.d Dutch Painted, and Stained Windows in the Royal Mu.9eum and Free Library of Oanterbury, compiled by W. Pugin Thornton. 2 There is an example of this in one of the oho.nee! windows of Lambourne Church in Essex. 238 SWISS STAINED WINDOWS St. Dorothea, the patron saint of his second wife. Professor Lehmann thought that the artist had made a mistake, and that, instead of St. Dorothea, had painted St. Barbara who is generally represented holding a cross and feather. But I think he was misled by the photograph sent him, in which the bunch of flowers (the symbol of St. Dorothea) in the left hand of the Saint was very indistinct. The inscription reads : 􀁱albnssnr im (!thud, (li,19bd lilfil\i'pffi)}, 􀁲or.tn::o brn Jmtit, nnll 􀁳nnn: Jjrnnt;; stn C!fgmndtt1. D