Church of St Giles, Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
Address
Church of St Giles, The Ride, Church Rd, Totternhoe, Dunstable LU6 1RJRecommended by
Highlight
East window Tree of LifeArtist, maker and date
Designed by John Piper and interpreted in glass by Patrick Reyntiens, 1970-1Reason for highlighting
Another of my favourite subjects, the Tree of Life, this time with a hint of the vine. It uses the jewelled medieval palette of western European stained glass with a rich blue ground holding the bold and beautiful form of a decidedly contemporary frond-like tree/vine with ruby red fruits held in pale yellow branches. These fruits are pomegranate -like and echo a pomegranate roof boss found in the church- a symbol of eternal life.
The tracery holds additional symbols of the Resurrection; fire, the Phoenix and butterflies in their own pools of blue, each one a self-contained window within the larger whole. The painting throughout is moody and magnificent.
I love this window for its melding of ancient and contemporary forms, use of limited yet rich colour and the simplicity and boldness of design that manages to carry a wealth of meaning.
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)