St George, Almshouse Chapel, Lichfield
Lichfield's St John's Almshouses date back to medieval times and continue to provide accommodation to this day. Many of the buildings are of more recent date but the east range facing the street and the chapel are parts of the original medieval foundation.
The chapel is open to the public and is entered from a quiet garden quadrangle. It is a simple building consisting of a short main vessel and an even shorter north aisle. The windows on the south side are surprisingly random in configuration.
The main draw here for me is the stunning east window designed by John Piper and made by Patrick Reyntiens, adding a splash of deep, vibrant colour just where it is needed above the focal point of the altar. It is one of Piper's last designs dating from 1985, and depicts a purple Christ flanked by angels (based on a French Romanesque carving) within a mandorla surrounded by the symbols of the Four Evangelists.
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The Hospital of St John without the Barrs, Lichfield, Staffordshire
Originally offering overnight accommodation for pilgrims, this is now an alms house
At the back of the church are two rather nice 19thC stained glass windows in sheds of grey with splashes of colour on the figures. On the south side there are representations of John the Baptist and St George. On the left are St Philip and W Smith, Bishop.
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Charles Eamer Kempe’s window depicting Saint John the Baptist and Saint George in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield
In the chapel of Saint John’s, Kempe’s window on the south side depicts Saint John the Baptist and Saint George the Martyr. The window was commissioned as a memorial to Captain Peter Charles Gillies Webster (1830-1877), of Penns, near Sutton Coldfield, Adjutant of the Staffordshire Yeomanry.
Surprisingly, despite Webster’s lifelong interest in genealogy and heraldry, there are no heraldic images on this window, nor could I see Kempe’s trademark golden wheatsheaf.
The dedication below the window reads: ‘To the glory of God and in memory of Peter Charles Gillies Webster, born May 20th 1830, died April 28th 1877.’
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Medieval windows in the south wall of the chapel also appear to have been renewed.
Изображение в деталях повторяет средневековые образцы и, хотя создание этого витража приписывают Charles Eamer Kempe, этому противоречит несколько фактов:
- кроме одной статьи, нигде больше не говорится об этом авторстве и нигде он не упоминается среди работ этого мастера
- другие работы этого мастера явно соответствуют викторианскому стилю изображения людей и доспехов
- указывается, что вопреки увлечению геральдикой, на витраже нет гербов, соответствующих персоне, которой посвящен витраж
- на странице Википедии про эту часовню говорится, что на южной стене находятся обновленные СРЕДНЕВЕКОВЫЕ витражи
Скорее всего, реальные средневековые витражи были обновлены и посвящены заказчику