Angel
Stephen Adam (1848-1910)
Baptismal window,
Episcopal church, Dumbarton
This window is a significant departure from earlier nineteenth-century figure drawing, foreshadowing the coming changes in stained glass in the new century now dawning. A magnificently drawn and monumental angel fills the opening, his beating wings forming the entire background, a late-Pre-Raphaelite influence one again palpable. He holds in his arms a small infant: in complete trust, the two figures are locked in each other’s gaze with a total absence of fear.
Photograph by Iain B. Galbraith