Studio: international art (51.1911)

Painted Glass designed by Sir E. Burne-Jones

church of Rottingdean, where Burne-Jones had a
seaside house. In this case, moreover, it might be
pleaded in explanation that the windows were not
traceried, but in the form of simple lancets, and
that the new glass certainly did not occasion the
rejection of any ancient glass previously existing.
On the other hand, the celebrated windows in old
buildings, such as Christ Church, Oxford; Jesus
College, Cambridge; and Salisbury Cathedra],
were all executed previously to Morris’s manifesto.
It should perhaps be remarked that the present
representatives of the firm of Morris & Co., not
having been parties to the declaration of 1881,
are under no obligation to observe the restrictions
which Morris, from conscientious scruples, laid
upon himself in this regard.

One all-important fact to be borne in mind for
a right appreciation of the Burne-Jones windows is

that they are not, and do not pretend to be,
mediaeval. It is true that the art of glass-painting
is historically a mediaeval one, and that even in
the practice of the present day, the ancient con-
ventions of leading up a mosaic of white and
coloured pot-metal, more or less painted, cannot
be dispensed with, since they are of the essence of
the process ; but the motif of the old and new has
so little in common that even the Vyner memorial
window, Burne-Jones’s and Morris’s greatest triumph
in form and colour, is said to have been admitted
by Morris to be out of place amidst its sur-
roundings at St. Frideswide’s, Oxford, if judged
by a strictly mediaeval standard. No, the work is
modern, and as such alone it is fair to appraise it.
It may be well, then, to enumerate certain factors in
respect of which Burne-Jones’s differ from mediaeval
windows. Firstly the colour scheme. It is obvious

WINDOW IN ST. GEORGE’S CHURCH, KNUTSFORD

94

DESIGNED BY SIR E. BURNE-JONES