The Royal Mail is to mark the impact of the Pre-Raphaelite movement on church stained-glass windows in its Christmas 2009 stamp collection.
The first class stamp features Madonna And Child, by Pre-Raphaelite artist Henry Holiday. The image was taken from a stained-glass window in the Church of Ormesby St Michael, in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
The second-class stamp, Angel, is taken from a stained-glass window that was designed by 19th century artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones in the Church of St James at Staveley, in Kendal, Cumbria.
Two more stamps taken from windows by Holiday also feature in the collection — the 56p, Joseph, taken from the Parish Church of St Michael in Minehead, Somerset, and the £1.35, Shepherd, taken from a window at St Mary’s Upavon, Wiltshire. The 90p stamp, Wise Man, is taken from a design by Sir Edward Burne-Jones for a window at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Rye, East Sussex.
Close up photo of part of the East Window at Staveley by P. Neil Ralley - www.stainedglassphotography.com
In Cumbria we are blessed in that many of our churches have windows by the following three Pre-Raphaelite window artists:
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Sir Edward Burne-Jones, was a pupil of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and a protégé of John Ruskin. He belonged to the second generation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, creating a narrative style of romantic symbolism steeped in medieval legend and fused with the influence of the Italian Rennaissance. He became one of the most sought-after painters in Europe. |
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William Morris (1834-1896) was born in Walthamstow, Essex, the son of a wealthy city stockbroker. He was educated at Marlborough public school, then went to Oxford, where he met Edward Burne-Jones and Philip Webb (1831-1915), both of whom became lifelong friends. Both Morris and Burne-Jones intended entering the Church, but they gained inspiration from the writings of John Ruskin, and decided they wanted to become artists. Ruskin saw the work of Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood as 'the dawn of a new era of art'. |
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Henry Holiday was born on 17th June 1839 in London. In 1855, aged 16, he made his first journey to the Lake District. Throughout the rest of his life he was to make many more trips, often holidaying for long periods of time. Henry Holiday was a frequent visitor to the studios of Sir Edward Burne-Jones at his home in London, and Burne-Jones' influence on him can be felt in his work. At Burne-Jones' home aesthetic problems were discussed and exchanged by a group of artists, who pooled their ideas, and whose work had much in common. He took over as stained glass window designer at Powell's Glass Works, after Burne-Jones left in 1861 to work for Morris & Co. |
Click on each name to find out where you can see their work in Cumbria.
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