St Thomas More Catholic Church, Dulwich, London SE22

Patrick Pye was Ireland’s leading religious artist of the second half of the twentieth century, and in addition to many works on canvas and paper, he created stained glass windows over a period of four decades. This window is his only overseas window. Pye titled it ‘An apparition of St Columba’ and inscribed it, ‘Presented to this church by the Knights of St Columba 26 XI 70’. (The Knights of St Columba, founded in 1919, is a fraternal organisation affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church in England, Scotland and Wales).

Although Pye considered himself a narrative artist, many of his windows are idiosyncratic and the viewer can benefit from any explanation he may have provided which reveals his personal vision and interpretation. In this instance we are fortunate to know the particular story that inspired his depiction: ‘The theme of the window is taken from a story in St Adamnan’s ‘Life’. It tells how, every evening, the monks return from the work of the fields. One of the brothers is always struck by a sense of blessedness at the same point on the way home. All the fatigue of the day seems lifted from his shoulders. Then he finds that other monks experience the same sensation. Together they ask the oldest brother and he explains that this is the moment of the evening when St Columba retires to his chapel to pray for them.’ Pye treats all three lights and tracery as a single canvas; at the base the monks are depicted returning from the fields carrying their farming implements while the upper two-thirds is dominated by a patchwork of fields which merge into a dramatic sky. There is a sense of how small and insignificant humans are when compared with the awe-inspiring power of nature.