The Chapel of St John’s Hospital, Lichfield, Staffordshire
Address
The Chapel St John the Baptist without the Barrs, St John’s Hospital, 30-36 St John Street, Lichfield, Staffs, WS13 6PBRecommended by
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East window - Christ in MajestyArtist, maker and date
Designed by John Piper and interpreted in glass by Patrick Reyntiens, 1984Reason for highlighting
I noticed this window from the street by chance, as I was passing. It is the most powerful of John Piper’s figurative windows that I have seen, its awesome presence fills the whole chapel. The colours are strong but not glaring and the composition is bold across the dominant mullions.
The window was made in collaboration with Piper’s long-time colleague, Patrick Reyntiens, and was to be their last major commission. As such it is a fitting tribute to one of the greatest partnerships in British stained glass.
Artist/maker notes
John Egerton Christmas Piper CH (1903–92) 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). His career in stained glass began 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, famously working on the Baptistery Window of 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)