The Ascension
Designer: William Morris
Manufacturer: Morris and Co.
1862
Stained glass
The last in the sequence of five apse windows, All Saints, Selsley, Glos.
David O'Connor tells us that this design has "been related to fourteenth-century miniatures in the Queen Mary Psalter, a manuscript that Morris studied in the British Museum" (39), adding that sketches in his notebooks bear that out. But a look at the Psalter, now brilliantly digitised on the British Library website, shows just how much Morris has adapted it (see below; commentary continues after the images).
Photographer: Dr. Jim Cheshire, who retains the copyright.