Laurence Walsh OSCO, Lumen Christi. the Stained Glass Windows Of
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Laurence Walsh OSCO, Lumen Christi. The Stained Glass W indows of Mount Saint Joseph Abbey, with Foreword by Nicola Gordon Bowe. Conceived and produced by Richard Purcell OCSO; photography by Sean Curtain and Jam es Fraher (Roscrea: Cistercian Press, 2009). xviii+238pp. Illustrations (m ostly colour) throughout. ¤50. ISBN 978-1- 900163-03-3 This beautifully illustrated and very handsom ely produced book on the thirty-nine stained glass windows of Mount St Joseph’s Abbey, Roscrea, is appropriately titled Lumen Christi, a term signifying the light of Christ as sym bolised by the Paschal Candle at Easter tim e which is ‘glowing to the honour of God...’ (p. 236). Here the them e is used specifically to highlight the im portance of stained glass windows as vehicles of God’s light conveying, in particular, the visual expression of the truths of the Christian faith through the sym bolism , light and colour of glass. In her excellent Foreword, Nicola Gordon Bowe also prom otes this them e of the educative dim ension and function of stained glass in churches. She provides a history of the m edium and its im portance for religious art. She further com m ents on the stylistic differences between the various stained glass studios whose work is represented in Mount Saint Joseph Abbey. The windows were com m issioned and installed during the period 1881–2003, and the im petus for this publication arose from restoration work carried out during the years 2004–06 by Abbey Stained Glass Studios. Dom Richard Purcell, Abbot of Mount Saint Joseph who, as bursar, supervised this restoration project, had the idea of sharing the beauty of the windows with a wider audience. He therefore undertook the production of the book, which is dedicated to the m em ory of Dom Athanasius Donovan (1837–1915, the first Superior of Mount Saint Joseph), who was also responsible for building the Abbey and for com m issioning the first twelve windows. His successor, Dom Cam illus Beardwood, elected Abbot in 1887, com m issioned the next seventeen. The publication is distinguished by the clarity of its production, and is divided into sections according to the different stained glass studios com m issioned to m ake the windows. These are the firm s of Earley & Powells (later John Earley, and ultim ately Earley & Co., 1, Cam den St Upper, Dublin), John Hardm an & Co., the Harry Clarke Stained Glass Studios, and Abbey Stained Glass Studios. The windows were not paid for by the Cisterican m onks but were funded through generous benefactions. The text written by Dom Laurence Walsh is instructive and illum inating and is am plified by historical and biographical m aterial on the lives of the saints depicted in the windows. Many illustrations of m aps, prints, m anuscripts and paintings are also included which help to throw further light on the religious subject m atter. The 1953 plan and guide to the windows in the church is also provided, as is a diagram of the layout of one window which explains som e of the vocabulary and term inology associated with the m edium . The strongly spiritual dim ension of this book is m ediated through the inclusion of prayers, quotations from Scripture, and Fr Walsh’s own reflections on the im ages, which are both pertinent and enlightening. In fact, one is encouraged to experience this book not only as an encounter with good art and stained glass, but also as a spiritual journey or pilgrim age. The background to the stained glass com m issions for the Abbey has been very thoroughly researched. Apart from account books in the m onastery, Walsh has also m ade good use of the Earley archives in NIVAL (National Irish Visual Arts Library) at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, and the Harry Clarke m anuscripts in the Library of Trinity College Dublin. Particularly interesting are the scale drawings from the m onastery collection and the Earley archives for unexecuted work. These provide a useful addition in that they dem onstrate the creative process involved in the designing and m aking of a stained glass window. In the first section of the book, which deals with the twenty-four windows put in by Earley & Powells from 1881 to 1893, Walsh 5 m eticulously docum ents the relig+ious them es and subjects depicted in those windows devoted to The Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary in the apse of the church. However, the richness of the iconography and its sym bolism could have been m uch m ore thoroughly teased out and further developed, which would have enhanced the com m unication of their religious m eaning. That said, in his discussion of the various saints depicted in the side chapels and aisles of the church (including SS Joseph, Stephen, Cronan, Patrick, Bernard, Michael, Brigid, Dom inick, Ita, and Malachy) Walsh dem onstrates his grasp of sym bolism , hagiography, iconography and the cults associated with them . It is good that com parisons are m ade with two illustrations of SS Colum cille and Malachy for The Capuchin Annual of 1945–6 and 1946–7 painted by the distinguished stained glass artist and illustrator Richard King (1907–74). He becam e principal designer in the Harry Clarke Stained Glass Studios after Clarke’s death in 1931, and eventually also m anager of the Studios during 1935–40. In the section on the window in the side chapel, which depicts the salient them e of The Sacred Heart (also by Earley & Powells), good illustrative m aterial and helpful inform ation are used to dem onstrate the im portance of this subject in Irish religious culture and tradition. During 1899–1901, the firm of John Hardm an & Co. produced twin-light windows depicting The Annunciation, St Christian O’ Conarchy and Blessed Felix O’ Dullany. The influence of Hardm an’s work for and in association with Pugin (1812–52) is shown in the design inspired by the Gothic Revival as well as in the colour and pattern of these works. Further windows which show im ages of SS John the Evangelist and Francis were put in by John Earley during 1893–5. The form er Infirm ary Oratory has windows by the Harry Clarke Stained Glass Studios which depict The Sacred Heart flanked on either side by SS Colm cille and Colum banus. The design is attributed here to Charles Sim m onds and the windows are dated to 1931. Another set of windows 2 by these Studios for the College Chapel, erected in 1942, depict the Blessed Virgin Mary flanked by SS Bernard and Joseph. The elongated figures, decorative detail and stylistic idiosyncrasies of the Clarke Studios tradition provide a contrast with those provided by the Earley Studios. The latter firm , whose work is also distinguished by rich colour, strong com positions and good design, does not, however, have the sam e visionary dim ension. Indeed, writing about the first series of Clarke Studio windows of 1931, Nicola Gordon Bowe describes them as distinguished by Harry Clarke’s ‘unm istakable style: dream y saints robed in striking colours with attenuated fingers set am idst sem i-abstract floral ornam entation.’ (p. x) The Abbey Stained Glass Studios contributed two windows representing Blessed Gabriella of Unity and Blessed Cyprian Tansi which were erected by 2003. The final section of the book deals with the set of Stations of the Cross in opal glass com m issioned from the Harry Clarke Stained Glass Studios in 1943 according to a design attributed to William Dowling (1907–80). Use of this m edium reveals another dim ension of the craftsm anship associated with the Clarke studios; and m oreover, these Stations also show the high standard, sincerity and integrity which was a hallm ark of its religious art. The focus on sym bolism , strong design, econom ic com positions, and an expression which is also restrained, suggests the possible influence of Eric Gill (1882–1940) on the work of the studios during this period. In that regard, these Stations are exam ples of religious art which com bine the tradition of Christian iconography with an idiom which is both m odern and innovative. Useful com parisions are m ade here with illustrations of the Stations of the Cross painted by Richard King and published in The Capuchin Annual of 1941, which also dem onstrate the increasing trend towards an interest in m odernity in Irish religious art of the 1930s and 40s. The practice in the Com m unity of delivering a m ore personalised serm on on a chosen topic by one of the m onks on m ajor feast days is an . old m onastic tradition. For his serm on, Dom Laurence chose the topic of the stained glass windows which he also includes at the end of the book. In a m oving reflection he takes up the them e of Lumen Christi when he states that: ‘No art form acknowledges the goodness of God’s light so fundam entally as stained glass, the im ages of which are not m erely illustrated, but are articulated through light. No art form takes its spiritual role so seriously, with its m oody changes of tone and colour, controlled by no hum an agency but by the finger of God.’ (p. 237). Dom Laurence Walsh and Dom Richard Purcell are to be congratulated on having produced a book which is m editative, well illustrated and stim ulating. Credit m ust also be given to the two photographers, Sean Curtain and Jam es Fraher, for the stunning im ages which highlight m any details and convey the visual power of the wonderful m edium of stained glass.