Minster church of St Andrew, Plymouth, Devon
Address
The Minster Church of St. Andrew, Royal Parade, Plymouth PL1 2ADRecommended by
Highlight
Tower west windowArtist, maker and date
Designed by John Piper and interpreted in glass by Patrick Reyntiens, 1957-62Reason for highlighting
An outstanding five-light window packed with Crucifixion iconography in glowing colours. Although started in 1957 it was not completed until 1962.
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 on Wikipedia
Stained Glass: art or anti-art by John Piper (Studio Vista, 1968)
John Piper and stained glass by June Osborne (Sutton Publishing, 1997)
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
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)
Other comments
There are five more Piper/Reyntiens windows, made between 1963 and 1968, in the church – one of the best collections of post second World War glass in the Southwest