instances wherein the whole window is a continued picture; but the former is the more frequent distribution,-a distribution which, while it is always attended with brilliancy of effect, is productive also of remarkable harmony of lines and of objects with those of the accompanying architectural masses.

of the age of Pope Leo III., that is, about the year | branch, on a ruby or other ground. There are indeed 800, when an extreme of magnificence was effected in the ecclesiastical establishments of the day; but it was not until several centuries afterwards that the use of stained glass became a matter of frequent occurrence. The manufacture of this article was for a long period exclusively continental, and pursued at no place with so much success as at Venice. Proportionate, however, to the advancement of national liberty in this country on the ruins of feudal tyranny was the progress of the British arts, and among them of that now under consideration. Accordingly we find that, by the time when the Pointed style of architecture had attained its zenith of splendour in our land, we had artists of our own fully qualified for the execution of all those "painted stories" with which the windows of our old ecclesiastical and other edifices are so "richly dight," without having recourse to foreign skill. As affording instances of this, we may refer to the fine windows of York Minster, executed by Thornton, about the year 1400; to several of those in the collegiate chapels and halls of Oxford; and to those also of the matchless chapel of King's College, Cambridge, the glazing of which last was performed in the time of Henry VIII. by Southwark artists, at the total price of one shilling and sixpence for every superficial foot, a pattern-sheet or “vidimus" having been previously prepared for all the various parts of the work, and submitted to the opinion of the official inspectors of the building.

In directing a critical attention to the characteristics of this department of ancient art, we shall find in the primary point of composition much that is both distinctive and appropriate. The construction of our old windows necessarily limited the arrangements of design, by affording for the most part only long vertical compartments, divided by substantial stone mullions.

But such being the nature of the old composition, the style in which the outlines so produced are filled up is characteristic and striking. With the general effect of chiaro-scuro, or the more detailed niceties of light and shade, our early artists were almost wholly unacquainted; and they endeavoured therefore to supply the want of these by the use of strong outline, and by a brilliant opposition of colours. Thus in the representation of niches, canopies, &c. so frequently borrowed from architecture, we find very sparing attempts at shadow, the whole object being usually boldly outlined in black and white, backed, it may be, by a bright ruby or azure ground; and, if further distiction of parts be wanted, it is gained by the substitution of various tints for some of the white or colourless. In the execution of the human figure, where the same minuteness of parts was not to be found, a more free use of shade in the features, limbs, and draperies, was unavoidable; yet this without any approach to the finished effects of modern art. This deficiency of course had a tendency to make colouring the great object of display, the brilliancy of which was further enhanced by the constant use of ground tints or carpetings, exhibiting rich diapers of foliage or of tracery, sometimes brought out on any colour by a darker shade of the same, and sometimes produced by blackening the piece of stained glass, and then removing the black in the required forms for the original tint to show through. To this we may add, that a glittering effect of colour was promoted, not only by the endless variety of heraldical achievements, but also by the circumstance of the ignorance of our old artists as to the means of using two distinct colours in conjunction on the same piece of glass; a limitation that obliged them, in sustaining the variety of their subjects, to add to their intricacy by making them masses of reticulated lead-work, the bands of which had the same effect as a distinct outline for subdivision and contrast.

Each of these compartments ordinarily contained one or more figures of patriarch, prophet, saint, king, warrior, founder, or benefactor, occupying frequently a sumptuous niche, whose rich canopy filled out the space above, while in that below were seen the armorial bearings either of the individual so depicted, or of some other of note, the whole being then circumscribed by a continued border of roses, oak or vine-leaves, fleur-de-lis, or other objects. A repetition of the same general features prevailed through- But besides originality of composition and vividness out the remaining lower compartments; and the head of colouring, there is, in the old productions of this of the window was then decorated, according to the description, much matter of general interest to engage forms produced by its ramifications, with, sometimes, a careful and minute attention. We have already similar devices of figures, grotesques, diapers of foliage, noticed the happy manner in which such subjects haror occasionally with the beautifully-flowing vine-monize and combine with the features of their asso

The chief occa

to imitate their works with success.
sion of this may be found in the imperfect acquaint-
ance which the modern artists have with the princi-

ciate architecture, producing, as they do, a succession of appropriate imagery, a subdued yet rich light, and a mysterious solemnity of effect, which give to some of our ecclesiastical interiors an air of enchant-ples of old English design, both pictorial and archiment. If we further investigate the same subjects in detail, we shall find abundant entertainment in contrasting the grace and freedom of outline displayed in some figures with the highly grotesque and even absurd management of others; in observing the peculiarities of costume and habiliment, ecclesiastical, domestic or military, characteristic of the different personages depicted; and in remarking likewise the high degree of finish often lavished on borders, carpetings, and draperies, not unfrequently too minute to be distinguished by the eye of an ordinary observer. To the antiquary and historian the armorial bearings also upon our old windows present on all occasions a valuable aid to the identification of individual characters, and to the discovery of family connexion; while the other subjects furnish them with constant information relative to the customs, the history, and the legends of the past, civil and ecclesiastical.

tectural. They seem to forget that these principles are totally distinct from those observed in the paintings of the later Italian masters, whose figures and groups are not unfrequently copied for the embellishment of our windows in the pointed style, but always without success. Strict simplicity, solemn dignity, and appropriate costume are primary points for consideration in imitating the figures of our old windows. In the imitation also of those architectural decorations, with which such figures were anciently surrounded, it is worse than puerile to suppose that mouldings and foliage borrowed from the Greek and Italian systems can by any possibility be so arranged as to bear a resemblance to the characteristic features of the old English style, a style as isolated as it is magnificent. Errors such as these can only be avoided by means of patient and attentive study, both of actual remains In a and of the numerous explanatory works now rendered generally accessible by the invaluable labours of able antiquaries and draughtsmen. But after an adequate acquaintance with the principles of design is attained, those of execution are no less to be observed; all the subjects of the painting, and especially those of an architectural character, being relieved more by strong black outline and variety of colour than by the use of decided shadows. Modern imitations are frequently injured by displaying too much of modern art; the work by being too highly finished, and that in few pieces, often loses the glittering effect that attends its more simple prototype. An additional precaution to be observed consists in the avoidance of excessive depth of colour; a consideration, the neglect of which has given to some modern imitations a vulgar gaudy appearance, totally dissimilar to the equalised and subdued yet lively colouring observed in the best cimens of the middle ages.

country like ours, abounding with antique examples of vitrified painting, any one of which may be to some extent illustrative of the preceding remarks, it would be needless to particularize specimens beyond those already instanced. We have not yet indeed to lament the paucity of subsisting ancient productions; but we have to regret another, and scarcely an inferior, evil in the almost universally unsatisfactory attempts of modern times to restore or to imitate the old remains: a subject to some notice of which the foregoing observations naturally lead. Captivated with the vivid hues of the antique, persons have remarked with more frequency than judgment, "Such colours certainly cannot be equalled in the present day." With the exception perhaps of its reference to the ancient ruby, which appears to have been lost for the past two centuries, this assertion may be altogether denied; and, more than this, besides commanding all the resources of the old artists, ours of the present day are in possession of many practical advantages which the former had not, among which is that of their being able to lay every variety of colour on one and the same piece of glass, and thus often to execute with nicety, in ten pieces, a subject on which a hundred formerly would not have been so well bestowed. With these opportunities, therefore, and with greatly improved ideas upon the science of painting in general, our artists should be qualified for productions of a higher order than those of their ancient predecessors; and it remains then to be asked on what account they fail

spe

But from observing what this beautiful art has done, and may do, after the ancient mode, a mode greatly deserving of attention, now that the public mind is somewhat awakened to a sense of the transcendent merits of the pointed style of architecture, we may pass on to welcome the successes of modern skill, in its more accustomed walk. In this department of the subject great advances toward perfection have latterly been made. It is not indeed in the trite decorations of sash doors and staircase windows that we shall find much proof of this; but we shall be better satisfied of the fact upon a stroll through the show-rooms of some

of our principal glass painters. Many of their copies On the other hand, in edifices of the Italian class, of the historical productions of the old masters are so where variety of composition, redundancy of ornaeffectively executed, as to have all the appearance of ment, and picturesque distribution of masses are so well-lighted works on canvas, except that they surpass predominant, the subjects of the windows may be more them in brilliancy and permanency of colour. The elaborate in design, and lively in colouring. The inperformances of the late Mr. Muss afford a fine illus- troduction of stained or painted glass will thus be tration of the extent of cultivation to which the art of made useful in preserving a consistency of character, vitrified painting has recently been carried; of this while it most successfully remedies the defect of coldone excellent and well-known example may be ad- ness of colour complained of in some of our larger duced, in the east window of St. Bride's Church, Fleet interiors, a defect which it is not in the province of Street, copied from the "Descent from the Cross" of architecture or sculpture generally to obviate. For Rubens. We may mention an interesting specimen the latter purpose, we occasionally see the utility of of a different style, in the instance of a popular western this article, even in its simplest form, as used in lanexhibition, descriptive of one of the latest displays of tern lights, wherein the introduction of orange or chivalrous pomp during the reign of Henry VIII. It amber-coloured glass diffuses, at all times, an effect is indeed in the treatment of historical subjects that of sunshine, which, while it gratifies the eye, has a this art is eminently calculated to succeed, distin- tendency to exhilarate the spirits. For the exclusion guished as those subjects are, by the greatest breadth of unsightly objects from the view in our domestic of effect and variety of colouring. But in compositions buildings, the utility of ground and painted glass has of a more domestic character, and in those of land-long been approved, an application which might often scape, many productions are now executed on glass, be made with increased success, if a greater regard which give promise of excellence; and in the repre- were paid to the principles of panoramic effect in the sentation of the minor objects of fruit, foliage, and representation of regular subjects in nature or in art. flowers, we have scarcely anything left to wish for. Opportunities, however, for the introduction of works Indeed, to notice all the varieties of pictorial compo- of this kind, more numerous than we can here partisition in which the art in question has of late been cularize, will occur with the suggestions of fancy or successfully employed, would be to enumerate and to convenience. In availing ourselves of these, the chief review all the schools and productions of painting in considerations to be observed are, that the designs general; and we have therefore only to offer some re-adopted should be in conformity with the purposes to marks on the use and application to which the productions of this art may be advantageously directed.

In the best days of the Pointed style of architecture, our forefathers seem to have considered their edifices as incomplete without some display of painted glass in their windows; and in this particular, we might frequently borrow a hint from their practice with benefit. An eminent living architect has observed that, if the windows of St. Paul's Cathedral were thus decorated, its internal effect would equal that of our most admired edifices of the older style. Without going the length of this assertion, we admit that a greater approximation would thus be gained to the splendour of the antique, and the same in the case of our modern churches in general. We are not, however, to sup

which the building they are intended to adorn is applied; and, being so, that a perfect harmony of style and feeling should subsist between them and the architectural decorations with which they are associated. In conclusion, we may observe, that the art of painting on glass commands effects which, while possessed of unrivalled brilliancy, are the least altered, if altered at all, by the lapse of time; and, on this account, as well as for the advantages already considered, we must allow it to be an art, in the highest degree, worthy of assiduous cultivation and liberal patronage. E. T.

IN THE TIME OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.

pose, that an interior must necessarily be improved by WARDROBE OF A COUNTRY GENTLEMAN the introduction of stained glass, whatever be its style of embellishment, though the contrary of this is too frequently assumed. To answer the purposes of harmony, a Grecian interior undoubtedly requires that any accessories of this kind should be chaste, simple, quiet, and dignified, and, in richness, suited to the more or less decorative character of the architecture.

THE following curious extract, transcribed verbatim from a will, dated 1573, preserved in the registry of the prerogative court of Canterbury, is now first printed.

"I give unto my brother Mr. William Sheney my

best black gown, garded and faced with velvet, and my velvet cap, also I will unto my brother Thomas Marcal my new shepe colored gowne garded with velvet and faced with cony, also I give unto my son Tyble my sherte gown faced with wolf and laid with Billement's lace, also I give unto my brother Cowper my other shorte gown faced with foxe (skin), also I give unto Thomas Walker my night gown faced with cony, with one lace also, and my ready (ruddy) colored hose, also I give unto my man Thomas Swaine my doublet of canvas that Forde made me, and my new gaskins that Forde made me, also I give unto John Wyldinge a cassock of shepes color edged with ponts skins, also I give unto John Woodzyle my doublet of fruite canvas and my hose with fryze bryches, also I give unto Strowde my frize jerkin with silke buttons, also I give Symonde Bisshoppe the smyth my other frize jerkin with stone buttons, also I give to Adam Ashame my hose with the frendge (fringe) and lined with crane coloured silk, which gifts I will to be delivered immediately after my decease."

chapel or church, as it is styled, is the original Norman fabric, and must be regarded as curious, from containing an intermixture of both circular and pointed arches. It is a small edifice, consisting of a nave, with side aisles, chancel, and a square tower at the south-western angle. In the window of the north aisle is a good painting, on glass, of St. John Baptist, with a banner, displaying the Agnes Dei. The Font, which is represented in the annexed wood-cut, and is

ST. NICHOLAS' HOSPITAL, HARBLEDOWN.

Ar the little village of Harbledown, near Canterbury, is an hospital, dedicated to St. Nicholas, which was originally founded in the year 1084, by Archbishop Lanfranc, for leprous persons, male and female; and endowed, conjointly with St. John's Hospital, at Can

form; and on the different faces of the lowest moulding are sculptured eight figures of animals, roses, &c., in high relief.

terbury, with lands to the amount of £70. annually; probably of the time of Henry VI., is octagonal in Erasmus, in his "Perigrinatio Religionis ergo," terms this hospital Mendicabulum, or Alms-house, and states, that it was customary for its inmates to present the upper leather of the shoe of St. Thomas à Becket, which was bound with brass, and set with a piece of glass, like a gem," to all horsemen (passengers) to kiss.

66

After the Dissolution, this hospital was re-established by Edward VI., and all preceding grants were confirmed by letters of inspeximus. Its present yearly revenue, which includes the benefactions of several centuries, amounts to upwards of £450. The entire establishment includes a master, a reader, who is a clerk in orders, fifteen in-brothers, and the like number of sisters, (one of the former being called the prior, and one of the latter the prioress,) and the same number of out-brothers and sisters. The hospital buildings, which are principally of brick, were mostly re-erected in the reign of James II., but the

HISTORICAL PROPRIETY IN PAINTING.

TUDOR ARCHITECTURE.

THE greatest master of colour amongst the painters of the present day is at the same time the most remarkable for propriety in his architectural backgrounds, these frequently exhibit designs that may be studied with advantage by the architect, and in expressing my admiration of Turner, I wish to avoid the appearance of advocating that servile imitation, which an antiquary is generally supposed to require. Much has been said about taste in domestic architec