The Four Rivers of Paradise
Photo © Martin Crampin
1883
Four-light window. Each main light is headed by youths pouring water above four scenes representing baptism: Moses striking the rock in the wilderness, the cleansing of Naaman in the Jordan, Peter baptising and Philip baptising the Ethiopian. Angels and symbols of the evangelists in the tracery, with John the Baptist in the uppermost quatrefoil.
firm/studio: C.E. Kempe
Church of St Mary the Virgin, Monmouth, Monmouthshire
baptistry
The window was given by Charles Henry Crompton Roberts, and unveiled on Easter Sunday 1883.
It is illustrative of the originality and quality of Kempe's work in the 1870s and 80s, and also shows how formulaic much of the work of his Studio had become by the turn of the century.
The four rivers that the youths pour out are the Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel and Euphrates. A smaller four rivers window was made for the Church of St Bridget, West Kirby (1889). Adrian Barlow points out that these youths are not angels, but figures perhaps more Hellenic than Christian. Their design is more reminiscent of the work of Kempe's designer Wyndham Hope Hughes, although he left Kempe's employment in 1878.
Four-light window. Each main light is headed by youths pouring water above four scenes representing baptism: Moses striking the rock in the wilderness, the cleansing of Naaman in the Jordan, Peter baptising and Philip baptising the Ethiopian. Angels and symbols of the evangelists in the tracery, with John the Baptist in the uppermost quatrefoil.
firm/studio: C.E. Kempe
Church of St Mary the Virgin, Monmouth, Monmouthshire
baptistry
The window was given by Charles Henry Crompton Roberts, and unveiled on Easter Sunday 1883.
It is illustrative of the originality and quality of Kempe's work in the 1870s and 80s, and also shows how formulaic much of the work of his Studio had become by the turn of the century.
The four rivers that the youths pour out are the Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel and Euphrates. A smaller four rivers window was made for the Church of St Bridget, West Kirby (1889). Adrian Barlow points out that these youths are not angels, but figures perhaps more Hellenic than Christian. Their design is more reminiscent of the work of Kempe's designer Wyndham Hope Hughes, although he left Kempe's employment in 1878.
Record added by Martin Crampin. Last updated on 21-11-2023
This work is indexed under the following main subject(s):
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- Naaman comes to the Jordan, dips himself seven times and is cured [2 Kings 5:14]
- Philip baptizes the Eunuch [Acts 9:38]
- St John the Baptist
- water pours from the rock - Moses striking water from the rock [Exodus 17:5-6; Numbers 20:11]
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Further reading
John Newman, The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire (London/Cardiff: 2000), p. 397.
Margaret Stavridi, Master of Glass: Charles Eamer Kempe 1837-1907 (Hatfield: John Taylor Books, 1988), p. 89.
Adrian Barlow, Espying Heaven: The Stained Glass of Charles Eamer Kempe and his Artists (Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2019), pp. 60–3.
ReferencesMartin Crampin, Stained Glass from Welsh Churches (Talybont: Y Lolfa, 2014), p. 134.
Click to show suggested citation for this record
Martin Crampin (ed.), Stained Glass in Wales Catalogue, University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth, 2023.
https://stainedglass.delweddau.cymru/object/619 (accessed 27 December 2024)
https://stainedglass.delweddau.cymru/object/619 (accessed 27 December 2024)
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