St. Michael

John Henry Dearle, 1859-1932

Manufacturer: Morris and Co.

1921

Stained, painted, and leaded glass

St Cybi's Church, Holyhead, Anglesey

This is the central light of a three-light window in the church's St David's Chapel. St Michael is flanked in each of the other two lights by a musician angel to the design of Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898), whose work was still being used by the Morris Co. But Dearle, who had been Art Director of the company since 1896, was responsible for the warrior angel St Michael, seen here with swirling red-feathered wings treading on and piercing Satan. The latter is very much in the form of a hideous, brutish fallen angel: his face is humanoid, but his wings are scaly and match his reptilian tail in colour. The window was, in fact, a war memorial, installed in memory of Captain Harry Adeane, who died in the carnage at Ypres in 1914 (see Roberts 50). The flanking angels may have been meant to offset the terror of this image, and remind us of the reward awaiting those who die in a just cause. The chapel contains two other Morris windows, and there is a third in the north transept. [Click on the image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

Photograph taken by Dennis Eaton and kindly sent in by Dr J. K. Roberts. Text and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee.

You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

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