Kempe Studio, The Four Rivers of Paradise (1883) Baptistry, Church of St Mary the Virgin, Monmouth.

Photo: Peter Hildebrand

Kempe Studio, detail of The Four Rivers of Paradise (1883) Baptistry, Church of St Mary the Virgin, Monmouth.

Photo: Peter Hildebrand

Priory Church of St Mary the Virgin, Monmouth

Address

Priory Church of St Mary, Monk Street, Monmouth, NP25 3NX

Recommended by

Martin Crampin (10)

Highlight

The Four Rivers of Paradise window in the baptistry

Artist, maker and date

Kempe Studio, 1883

Reason for highlighting

An unusual window in terms of subject and design by the Kempe Studio, which illustrates the inventiveness of its work prior to its standardisation into an often rather formulaic style. Youths pour water over the four biblical scenes, which are arranged in vertical compositions, representing the rivers of the Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel and Euphrates.

Other comments

The Four Rivers window is one of the earliest stained glass windows in the church, predating even the east window. With the exception of a window by Christopher Charles Powell of 1938, all of the stained glass at the church was made by Kempe Studio, with some made after the death of C. E. Kempe, when his firm was under the direction of Walter Tower. The church is therefore an excellent place to see a range of Kempe windows made over a period of four decades.

Further Reading:
Adrian Barlow, Espying Heaven: The Stained Glass of Charles Eamer Kempe and his Artists (Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2019)
Stained Glass in Wales – Church of St Mary the Virgin, Monmouth

Artist/maker notes

Charles Eamer Kempe (1837-1907) was one of the most remarkable and influential figures in Late Victorian and Edwardian church art. Despite using a variety of designers, Kempe’s name became synonymous with a distinctive style of stained glass deriving from late medieval and Renaissance models.

Sources:
Kempe: The Life, Art and Legacy of Charles Eamer Kempe by Adrian Barlow (The Lutterworth Press, 2018)
Espying Heaven: The Stained Glass of Charles Eamer Kemp and his Artists by Adrian Barlow (The Lutterworth Press, 2019)