Two Stained Glass Panels From Gloucester and Glasgow Cathedrals

This lovely work of stained glass is part of the centrepiece of a triptych in the cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral showing St Agnes, St Mary and St Dorothy, by Morris & Co, 1924.

St Agnes, carrying a lamb, and St Dorothy, with a bouquet of roses and apples, incline their heads towards the Madonna and Child. Lilies, roses and apples fill the panels and stylised foliage patterns cover the floor. I found the lifelike faces compelling. How strange it must have felt to be the model for this work.

My second picture , from Glasgow Cathedral, is one in a series of panels celebrating the fourteen trades, including masons, coopers, barbers, weavers, bonnet makers & dyers, hammermen and maltmen. Tools of the trade and banners are incorporated into each design. Gardeners are represented by a spade and a rake and the motto: Gardening, Of Arts, The First’.

Both Gloucester and Glasgow Cathedrals have wonderful collections of stained glass, if you find yourself nearby once we’re free to roam again.

I hope you’ll find a way to enjoy the Easter weekend while staying safe.

Postscript for photographers

HeyJude’s 2020 photo challenge is looking at lines during April – never my strong point. It doesn’t matter with flowers, but if you’re trying to capture a scene, she’s right that crooked lines are disconcerting. When I first started taking pictures, my lines were so crooked, I often used to take the picture at an angle as if to shout out ‘I’m not trying to get things straight!’, but that soon became wearisome.

Getting the lines reasonably straight is still a real challenge. Level horizontal lines often involves sacrificing one or more of the verticals, unless you have a specialist lens, which I do not.

While I tend to take pictures quickly, I’ve learned to slow down when lines get involved and experiment. In both these cases, I tried to find a straight-on viewpoint. Holding the camera higher than you naturally would sometimes helps, as does using the grid most cameras have. Still, if you look back the first picture, the top right does not mirror the top left.