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.

Dr. Cheshire has most generously shared both image and caption material with us. Psalter page capture, commentary and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]

Instead of showing all the disciples gazing up in awe at the ascending figure of Christ, this dramatic depiction shows only Mary and two others, probably St Peter and St John the Evangelist, and the lower part of Christ's robes, together with his feet, as he disappears upwards in shafts of brilliant light.

Related Material

All Saints, Selsley, designed by G. F. Bodley (this provides a list of links to other beautiful Morris windows in All Saints)

Bibliography

"Church of All Saints." Historic England. Web. 25 June 2018.

Queen Mary Psalter British Library. Web. 25 June 2018.

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