Christ with the Children, by Edward Burne-Jones, 1862, in the nave of G. F. Bodley's All Saints, Selsley, Gloucestershire. Individual windows here were designed as part of the collaborative scheme of Morris & Co. stained glass in the church. The partners starting with the Creation in the West rose window, with Philip Webb being credited with the "overall design" of the scheme (Jenkins 263). This window is considered to be by Burne-Jones: as seen in the last image below right, it has a musical angel in the topmost tracery light, overlooking the pleasant picture of Christ welcoming children to him, and blessing them. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
The arrangement of the glazing, with the figured panels set between grisaille glazing, was inspired by thirteenth-century French glazing, and allows more light to enter the church without sacrificing the colours and impact of the figures themselves (see O'Connor 38). It also emphasizes the architectural lines of the church building. On either side of the central panel here, more children are being brought forward, on the left, two little girls with their mother, who holds a babe-in-arms; on the right, a grandfather, or other older person, shepherds in a boy and a girl.
Photographs by Dr. Jim Cheshire, who retains the copyright. Dr. Cheshire has most generously shared his photographs of the church stained glass with us, and provided caption material. Commentary and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee.
The angel playing a stringed instrument in the topmost tracery light.
Related Material
- Christ Blessing the Children in Jesus Church, Troutbeck
- Christ Blessing the Children as part of a larger window in Llandaff Cathedral
- Burne-Jones's apse window, of Jesus rising from the tomb, here in All Saints
- All Saints, Selsley, Glos. (this provides a list of links to the other beautiful Morris & Co.'s windows in All Saints)
Bibliography
"Church of All Saints." Historic England. Web. 25 June 2018.
Jenkins, Simon. England's Thousand Best Churches. Rev. ed. London: Penguin, 2009.
O'Connor, David. "Morris stained glass: 'an art of the Middle Ages.'" In William Morris and the Middle Ages: A Collection of Essays together with a Catalogue of works.... Ed. Joanna Banham and Jennifer Harris. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984. 31-46.
Created 25 June 2018