Newport Cathedral, Newport
Address
Cathedral Church of St Woolos, Stow Hill Newport NP20 4EDTheme
Overview
The cathedral, located in Newport, takes the Anglicised name of its patron, Gwynllyw, and was formerly a parish church. Declared pro-cathedral of the new diocese of Monmouth in 1921, it was not confirmed cathedral until 1949, and a new choir was constructed in the 1960s, resulting in the loss of Victorian stained glass. The Piper/Reyntiens window and reredos now dominate the building, while windows by John Hardman & Co. (1861-92) and William Pearce of Birmingham (1913 & 1928) can also be found at the cathedral.
For further information see: Stained Glass in Wales – Newport Cathedral
Highlight
East windowArtist, maker and date
Designed by John Piper and interpreted in glass by Patrick Reyntiens, 1963Reason for highlighting
The window tracery takes the form of a double cross, which Piper filled with golds and yellows, that Reyntiens interpreted by the skilled use of silver stain. A wonderful demonstration of the silver stainer’s art.
Silver stain is a technique developed in the 14th century, which creates true stained glass windows, although the term is nowadays applied more generally including many windows that have no staining in their creation.
John Piper designed both the round window and the reredos below as one. The reredos looks like marble, but is in fact a canvas painted by Peter Coutier of the Royal Opera House. Piper designed a similar marbled reredos for The Collegiate and Parish Church of St Mary, Swansea
Further information: John Piper and St Woolos Cathedral, Newport by Tony Corten, The Journal of Stained Glass, vol. XXXVI (2013), 78–92.
Artist/maker notes
John Egerton Christmas Piper CH (1903–1992) was an English painter, printmaker and designer of stained-glass windows, and both opera and theatre sets. He began working in stained glass in partnership with Patrick Reyntiens, whom he had met through John Betjeman, from 1950
Sources:
John Piper and stained glass by June Osborne (Sutton Publishing, 1997) which includes the text of John Piper’s book Stained Glass: art or anti-art (Studio Vista, 1968)
John Piper on Wikipedia
Patrick Reyntiens OBE (1925-2021) studied fine art at Edinburgh College of Art. He began his career in stained glass with an apprenticeship with Eddie Nuttgens, and flourished when he met and collaborated with John Piper.
Together they redefined the medium in the post war era, working on the Baptistery Window, Coventry Cathedral and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral as well as numerous ecclesiastical and secular commissions in Britain and USA.
He has also been an influential teacher both through the arts centre he ran at Burleighfield House, with his wife, Anne Bruce, from 1963 to 1976, and through the 10 years he spent as Head of Fine Art at the Central School of Art and Design.
Sources:
Patrick Reyntiens website at patrickreyntiens.com
From Coventry to Cochem: The Art of Patrick Reyntiens, DVD, Reyntiens Glass Studio
Patrick Reyntiens Catalogue of Stained Glass by Libby Horner (Sansom &Co, 2013)
Comments by
Martin Crampin and Peter Hildebrand