Imaging the Saints of Wales
Images of saints were widespread in all medieval churches, in the form of wall painting, sculpture, soft furnishings and stained glass. Most of this medieval imagery has not survived, after it was destroyed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with more losses into the second half of the nineteenth century.
By the mid-nineteenth century, saints again found their place in the decoration of the church. A greater number of Welsh saints are found from the 1880s. Most imagery of saints consists of standing figures, sometimes in groups. A smaller number of images show hagiographic scenes, from the medieval Lives of the saints and later traditions.
Many of the images of saints indexed on this site are found on complex stained glass windows and reredoses, and in some cases the saints are more incidental (and small!) in relation to the whole work. Details have been provided where possible, and it is hoped that the number of images found on this site will continue to grow with the help of further funding.
For a survey of the imagery of Welsh saints and summaries of the depictions of around forty saints see Martin Crampin, Welsh Saints from Welsh Churches (Y Lolfa, 2023), and Depicting St David (Y Lolfa, 2020), which contains many images not yet available on this site.
Martin Crampin
University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies
