Left: Whole window. Right: St Peter on the left, with his keys.

St Peter, St John and St Paul designed by David Evans (1793-1861). In the wall of the north aisle, Bangor Cathedral, Gwynedd, N. Wales. Again, this was originally part of the east window, removed and reinstalled in the nave in about 1880. It is easier to identify these, since St Peter holds his keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, John the Evangelist is shown, as he traditionally is, with his chalice (from which his faith drives away poison), and St Paul is shown preaching animately, with his instrument of martyrdom, the sword. Here too, as Martin Crampin says in the "Stained Glass in Wales" site, the tracery lights depict symbols of the tribes of Israel, with the lion in the topmost light representing the well-known Lion of Judah (see "Jewish Concepts: The Lion").

As usual, David Evans's designs are bold, richly coloured and characterful. Colin Price explains that the three saints "are rendered in strong colours produced by adding metallic elements to the 'pot' (hence 'pot metal') of molten glass. Metallic copper gives ruby red, as do gold and selenium; yellow is achieved with silver nitrate or cadmium; green, with ferrous oxide with or without chromium; blue with cobalt. There are other 'recipes.'"

Photograph on left by Colin Price, close-up of St Peter, text and formatting 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 website and (2) link to this webpage in a web document or (2) cite it in a print one. [Click on the images for larger pictures.]

Bibliography

Crampin, Martin. "The Date and arrangement of the Bangor Cathedral east window." Stained Glass from Welsh Churches. Web. 19 May 2021.

"Jewish Concepts: The Lion." Jewish Virtual Library. Web. 19 May 2021.

"St Peter, St John and St Paul." Record added by Martin Crampin. Gwydir Lliw yng Nghymru: Stained Glass in Wales. Web. 19 May 2021.


Created 19 May 2021