Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, Glasgow
Address
Memorial Chapel, Gilmorehill Campus, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQTheme
Overview
Lawrence Lee (1909 – 2011) was one of the most distinguished stained glass artists of the 20th century. It is not surprising therefore that a number of contributors chose to include one of his windows in their selections. But there is much more to say and to celebrate about this wonderful artist.
A Theme has therefore been dedicated to the work of Lawrence Lee. The windows highlighted within the Theme have been chosen in conjunction with his son, Stephen Lee, to highlight some of his father’s best work.
A full list of the windows chosen can be found by following the link above or here. There you will also find two papers written by one of his former assistants, Philippa Martin, covering his life and his most famous achievement, the masterminding of the ten nave windows of Coventry Cathedral.
Highlight
East windowArtist, maker and date
Lawrence Lee, 1967Reason for highlighting
As noted above, this window is one of a selection made in conjunction with Lawrence Lee’s son, Stephen Lee.
The following description of the window is an amalgamation of two written by Lawrence Lee, one to accompany the design when it was considered by the Chapel Committee, and a similar version published at the time of the window’s dedication. The second paragraph could stand alone as a statement of Lawrence Lee’s philosophy with regard to religious art.
Although the starting point of the design was the Benedicte, I have felt impelled to go further by a general logic of ideas. These are: this is a University Chapel; since the fundamental purpose of a University is the pursuit of knowledge, the window should direct our imagination to the concept that all knowledge comes from God and should lead back to Him.
The other windows in the Chapel record particular things – branches of knowledge, human achievements, accepted symbols, particular Saints. This window is concerned with God and the Universe beyond the mechanics of knowledge or religion – an area of creative activity known to great mystics, scientists and artists. It should be a focus for thinking eyes, and produce a kind of elevation of the spirit by the impact of its design and colour before enquiry into its meaning. It is, very briefly: Earth and Man, the Universe on the borders of knowledge, and beyond that the final order or beauty of God.
In the left hand light I have made the emphasis Nature, and in the right Science. The female figure is therefore surrounded by natural forms; roots, vegetation and animal life, with the suggestion of a landscape beyond. She appears in a kind of canopy surmounted by a triangle resting on its base – a position of stability – and the whole section is passive, domestic, pastoral.
By contrast the male figure is concerned with mechanical invention and the search into the nature of the Universe, hence the suggestion of a wheel and, behind, the night sky with stars signifying the exploration of space, while the triangle is on its apex – a position of instability.
Above are symbolic winged figures of Nature and Science, the former made up of flowing, growing lines with a sprouting staff and flower-like nimbus: the latter more angular with a great triangle (measurement) and a crystalline nimbus. The left light culminates in a nucleus and the right in a bursting meteor.
The centre light begins with this text from “The Wisdom of Solomon, Discourse III”
“For wisdom is more mobile than any motion. She pervadeth all things by reason of her pureness. She is an effulgence from everlasting light and an image of His goodness. She remaining in herself reneweth all things, and from generation to generation passing through holy souls she maketh men friends of God and prophets”
The fragments in the outer lights are: “The root of understanding cannot fail” and “She that is the artificer of all things taught me – even Wisdom”.
The main text is enclosed in a kind of tabernacle and above it the glory of the Shekinah is represented by a flash of white brilliance. The complex shape at the feet of Christ represents a burst of creative energy.
The dominant subject is Christ as “Our Great High Priest”. The figure is given supernatural quality and is linked with the Divine Spirit in the head of the light, but the final thought should be expressed by the hands holding the Chalice. Against all the activity of the surrounding design the hands are at rest with a completed work.
Artist/maker notes
Lawrence Stanley Lee FMGP (1909 – 2011) trained at Kingston Art School and the Royal College of Art before the war. After the war he worked for Martin Travers, and it was Travers’ unexpected death in 1948, which led to Lee forming his own studio. A wide range of commissions followed, including his famous windows at Coventry Cathedral, with Keith New and Geoffrey Clarke, which established his reputation. Lee was also a teacher both formally at the Royal College of Art, and in his studio to a succession of assistants. He was notable in acknowledging the contribution of his assistants by including their initials on windows, along with his own.
Other comments
Lawrence Lee was assisted in the making of the window by Alan Younger, who also installed two of his own windows to celebrate the Chapel’s Jubilee (1979).
The Chapel also features in Part 10 of Douglas Hogg’s essay ‘The Lion in the North – a 20th century lineage’ which particularly highlights the work of Keith New (1966). New’s three windows completed a scheme for the nave originally devised by Douglas Strachan, but left uncompleted at the time of his death in 1950. Strachan had completed the five north side windows and left designs for two of the five south side windows. Those two windows were completed by his student Gordon Webster (1950s).