Copyright (c) 2013 Mathew Jenkins
One of the most striking features of early Renaissance domestic architecture was the window, especially the large bay, which, introduced towards the close of the fourteenth century and increasing in size until the time of Henry VIII., was externally a commanding feature, and internally lent variety and interest to the hall or chamber it lighted. The living rooms of the early Renaissance were almost too well lighted and aired, so that Lord Bacon protested against the " fair houses so full of glass that one cannot tell where to become to be out of the sun or cold."
Until the reign of Henry VIII. Glass, except in churches and gentlemen's houses, was a rarity, horn or framed blinds of cloth or canvas called fenestrals being used instead. By the close of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth century, glazing cheapened, and became so plentiful in the reign of Elizabeth that horn was "quite laid down." It was still, however, carefully preserved, and as late as 1567 removed from Alnwick Castle when its owner was absent lest it should suffer from "extreme winds." Different qualities of glass were imported: "some brought out of Burgundie, some out of Normandie, much out of Flanders, besides that which is made in England, which would be as good as the best, if we were diligent and carefull to bestow more cost upon it."
In 1613 a Booke of Sundry Draughtes iron. Diamond panes and intricate variations, such as Gedde illustrates, were in general use up to the latter part of the sixteenth century, but in the seventeenth century squares or oblongs were used. Open work quarries of cast lead for ventilation were occasionally introduced among the glazed panes. They occur at Hampton Court and Haddon Hall, and fragments of such lead work have been found at Fountains Abbey. It is a device that might well be revived both as providing an inlet of air, and for its decorative effect against the light.
The bulk of the quarries were filled with white glass, since the admission of light was a prime necessity. So large, however, was the glazed surface, that small panels in coloured glass could be glazed into the quarries without rendering the interior unduly dark. The insertion of coloured glass often took the form of a panel depicting an escutcheon or family badge, while the motto of the family was sometimes repeated in diagonal lines, as the Norreys motto in the hall windows at Ockwells. The effective composition of the royal arms with supporters and mantling was often inserted by loyal subjects in their windows. In the early period under Italian influence' the ornament consisted of scrolls, candelabra, and grotesques.
Towards the end of the century strapwork from the Low Countries is prominent, and it is significant that the finest existing display of glass of this period, in the great chamber of Gilling, is signed by a Dutch artist, Bernard Dininckhoff, and dated 1583. Aubrey writes that the gallery of Gorhambury contained " glass windows all painted, every pane with several figures of beast, bird, and flower "; but this, and much painted glass of the early Renaissance, has disappeared. In the Betley window the quarries are filled with figures of Morris dancers, and in the centre quarry a Maypole with the legend, "a merry May." Enamel painting upon glass came into use about the middle of the sixteenth century, superseding to a great extent the process by which local colours, each outlined by leading, were cut out of sheets of pot metal. Enamel painting could, in consequence, disregard the limitations of lead work, and a whole composition occupy a single sheet of glass. A distinct type of Renaissance glass painting is the minutely finished pictorial medallions painted in various shades of brown and yellow stain, enclosed in a wreathed or strapwork border.
In church windows there was a revival of the art of glass painting towards the close of James L's reign, and a certain number of Low Country- glass painters settled in England, among them Baptista Sutton and the two van Linges, whose work is seen in Oxford Colleges. The east window of Wadham College Chapel was glazed by Bernard van Linge, a Frieslander, and in this instance not only the executants, but the pot metal was imported from abroad.
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Mathew Jenkins works with the Woodcarvers Guild preserving the history & finesse of period furnitre and architectural fittings. Would you like to have your own piece of captured history whether it be wall panelling, four poster beds, furniture, etc? Go to http://period-house.org/ for more information and for a free ebook.
http://period-house.org/
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