THE Church of St. Martin's-on-the-Hill, Scarborough, built by
a clever architect,
and forming, by its stained glass windows
and the decorative paintings which it
contains, a sort of
decorative museum of pre-Raphaelite art, is but little known ;
as may be seen from the almost¹ complete lack of any
descriptions or
reproductions of the works of art which it
contains. If we remember that this
church, remarkable in itself, contains also
stained glass windows and decorative
paintings by Rossetti, Burne Jones,
Ford Madox Brown, William Morris and Webb, we
shall wonder that no
artistic English magazine has yet given it any attention, and
some interest
may therefore be found in these notes, which are a kind of abridged
catalogue
of the works of art decorating St. Martin's.
Well situated in the new part of the picturesque town of Scarborough, the
church
was built from the plans of Mr. Bodley, A.R.A., in 1863, and the
necessary funds
for its construction were subscribed by a local committee, at
the head of which was
Miss Mary Craven, who appears to be the principal
benefactress of the church. Of
early Gothic style as a whole, built of
Whitby stone, the Church of St. Martin's
is composed of an aisled nave, rather
short chancel, north-west tower, and large
choir vestry. It is, above all, the
interior of the church which pleases,
affording, by its simple and harmonious
lines and proportions, an impression of happy peace. The red tiles agreeably
replace the stone flags usually seen ; and the unpleasant severity of the
hideous
wooden benches, which disfigure many of the Gothic cathedrals in
England,
has been replaced by chairs which fill the church without interfering
with the
development of its lines. The church is well-lighted, and when a ray
of sun-
shine glances throngh one of the painted windows, it becomes animated
with
life, the whiteness of the stone takes a warmer glow, the stained glass
enshrined
in the Gothic windows becomes resplendent, and the reflection of its
bright but
velvety colouring flickers on walls and columns, and clothes in
rainbow lines
the pure whiteness of the Whitby stone.
Besides an elegant choir-screen and a brass lectern, both designed by the
architects of the church, Messrs. Bodley and Garner, and a very rich organ, the
panels of which are decorated with graceful figures of angels by Mr. Spencer
Stanhope, the church of St. Martin's possesses a small pulpit in wood. This
pulpit, built against the choir screen, is charming and simple ; it has three
sides, each side being divided into distinct panels, superposed. The two
panels
to the left were painted by Rossetti, and represent the Annunciation.
The
original imagination of the painter of the "Beata Beatrix" and of
"Dante's
Dream" is revealed by the poetical conception and arrangement of
the subject,
into which he had already found means of infusing fresh life and
youthfulness
in his "Ecce Ancilla Domini" of the National Gallery. This
picture, one of
Rossetti's most charming pictures, does not in fact resemble
any previous
Annunciation. The Angel has no wings, the Virgin has not her
arms crossed on
her bosom, the body humbly bent forward, as is usually
depicted, and yet there
is no need of the inscription to assure us that it is the
Annunciation which
the picture represents, but an Annunciation conceived after
a manner entirely
new and thoroughly characteristic of the temperament of
Rossetti. He was not
content,however, with giving simply one new arrangement
of a subject celebrated
by all the great Italian painters, he gives us yet another
in these two panels
of the pulpit of Scarborough, here reproduced. It must be
admitted that this
rendering more closely resembles the traditional rendering of
the subject ; but
it was not possible for Rossetti to depict even a traditional sub-
vject
without giving at least some detail entirely characteristic of his personality,
and this we see in these panels. They show, as will be seen, a high trellised
hedge, set with red roses and shining lilies ; at the foot of the hedge the Virgin
is seated, a book of prayers on her knees, and the angel appears above her, his
brown wings still half open, leaning upon the flowery trellis-work ; he speaks
to her, and bends towards her the tallest of the open lilies. She hears, rather
than sees him, for she does not dare raise her eyes to him ; but with eyes lost
in an ecstasy, with hands outspread, she seems to say
verbum tuum
This attitude of the Virgin is natural and charming, but what enchants
me most
in the composition of these panels is the exquisite gesture of the
Angel
bending towards the Virgin the tallest of the lilies. This gesture, so
full of
poetic meaning, is thoroughly new, and belongs to Rossetti. Never,
before him,
has the supreme purity of the Virgin been indicated by anything
so admirable,
as this choice of the tall flowering lily.
It is therefore the composition I like above all, in these two panels of the
Annunciation, but their colouring also is remarkable ; the flowering hedge seems
to embalm the air, so fresh does it appear, the brown wings of the Angel
spread soft and velvety against the golden sky, the Virgin's dress is grey, her
mantle blue, and the hair of both Virgin and Angel is red, of that rich and
magnificent red that Rossetti alone has been able to render after the great
Venetian masters.
Although less beautiful than those of Rossetti, the paintings which deco-
rate
the other sides of the pulpit are none the less worthy of praise. They
were
painted by Mr. Campfield after the designs of the late Ford Madox
Brown, and of
Mr. William Morris, and they represent, on the side opposite
the Annunciation,
decorative subjects of birds and lilies, and on the principal
side, in
superposed panels, the Doctors of the Church and the Four Evangelists.
The
Evangelists, and especially the St. John, are remarkable ; these eight
panels
are of a warm and rich colouring ; they complete harmoniously the
decoration of
the pulpit, and contribute to make it one of the most precious
ornaments of the
church.
But if I admire the pulpit, and above all the delightful Annunciation
which
decorates it, I admire even more the splendid stained glass windows,
which
Rossetti designed for the East and West of St Martin's. It is these
windows,
and those of Ford Madox Brown, Burne Jones, and Morris, which
constitute the
principal wealth of the church. It is impossible to forget either
their
characteristic design or their magnificent and brilliant colouring. Taking
them
as a whole they constitute one of the best examples of this renaissance
of an
art which appeared to have been lost since the sixteenth century, and
which
Madox Brown and Rossetti first, Burne Jones and Morris afterwards,
have been
able to animate with fresh life, and to render one of the most
brilliant and
flourishing decorative arts in England. Before examining them
in detail I
should like to reproduce here a few lines which Madox Brown wrote
in 1865, in the very interesting catalogue of his work entitled, "Cartoons for
Stained Glass." These few lines contain the general rules followed by the
pre-Raphaelite painters in the design and execution of their stained glass
windows, and as the catalogue of the Exhibition of 1865 has become very rare,
these lines will perhaps prove interesting. Madox Brown speaks there of the
series of cartoons for stained glass, the subject of which was "The Life and
Death of St. Oswald," which are now to be seen in the South Kensington
Museum.
And this is what he says :
"The following nineteen cartoons have been executed for the firm of
Messrs.
Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co., for stained glass. With its
heavy lead
lines surrounding every part (and no stained glass can be rational
and good art
without strong lead lines), stained glass does not admit of refined
drawing ;
or else it is thrown away upon it. What it does admit of, and what
above all
things it imperatively requires, is fine colour : and what it can admit
of, and
does very much require also, is invention, expression, and good dramatic
action. For this reason work by the greatest historical artists is not thrown
away upon stained glass windows, because though high finish of execution is
superfluous, and against the spirit of this beautiful decorative art, yet, as
expression and action can be conveyed in a few strokes equally as in the most
elaborate art, on this side therefore stained glass rises to the epic height. So
in medals, it is well known grandeur of style arises out of the very minuteness
of the work, which admits of that and little else. The cartoons of this firm
are never coloured, that task devolving on Mr. Morris, the manager, who makes
his colour (by selecting the glass) out of the very manufacture of the
article.
The revival of the mediæval art of stained glass dates back now
some twenty
years in the earliest established firms ; nevertheless, with the
public it is still
little understood ; a general impression prevails that
bright colouring is the
one thing desirable, along with the notion that the
brightest colours are the
most costly. In an age that has become disused to
colour, the irritation pro-
duced on the retina by the discordance of bright
colour, is taken as an evidence
of the so coveted brightness itself. The result
of this is, that the manufacturers,
goaded on by their clients, and the 'fatal
facility' of the material (for all
coloured glass is bright) produce too
frequently kaleidoscopic effects of the
most painful description."
These effects, which Madox Brown had reason to fight against, and which
it may
not be useless to mention here that they may be definitely abolished,
are not,
happily, those which he has produced in the two windows at Scar-
borough, the
subjects of which are taken from the legend of the life of St.
Martin, but rather the three qualities he recommends as a principle, "invention,
expression, and good dramatic action." All these are to be found, with the
somewhat strange and humorous characterization which Ford Madox Brown
put into
all his designs. The first window represents the episode of the
"Golden
Legend," in which St. Martin cuts his cloak in two, to give half to the
beggar.
Half turning on his horse, bearded, helmeted, and covered with a
coat of mail,
the Saint is here still only the brave and courageous soldier of the
Emperors
Constantine and Julian ; the cloak which he cuts with his sword is
brilliant
and magnificent, strewn with rings and stars of gold, and forms a
violent
contrast to the poverty of the lame beggar, nearly naked, as the legend
says,
who, leaning on his crutches, stupefied but delighted, looks at the Saint
who
is despoiling himself; in the background, a uniform blue sky, green pines
clearly defined, and two soldiers talking, who appear to be ridiculing the foolish
pity of the good Saint. The neighbouring window is not less attractively com-
posed. Kneeling in a green field studded with flowers, the Saint, who wears
on one shoulder the half of his glorious mantle, sees appearing above him the
Saviour, seated on a rainbow, and surrounded by angels, holding spread out in
front of him the other half of the cloak with which the Saint had unconsciously
clothed him. Of a firm and energetic design, full of character and spirit,
these
two windows, charming by the unexpected but artistic strangeness of their
composition, as much as by their good colouring, leave only one regret, that
of not seeing other more important windows by Madox Brown in the same
church.
The interest of the notes by Madox Brown brought me quite naturally to
search,
and find, in this window, the qualities which he considered as being
essential
to good stained glass. I ought, instead of beginning with him, and
with this
detailed examination of the windows of St. Martin, to have first
indicated the
position of the different windows in the church, giving a general
idea as to
their arrangement. Here, then, is how they are placed, following
exactly the
order in which they occur. West end of St. Martin's : two Gothic
windows, Adam
and Eve, by Rossetti, and above them in a rose window
surrounded by nine
smaller ones, "The "Annunciation" and "Angels playing
Musical Instruments," by
Burne-Jones. North side aisle : stained glass windows
by Campfield and
Marshall, representing "Characters of the Old Testament."
Choir : in a Gothic
window of three compartments, above the altar, "The
Parable of the Vineyard ;"
in the centre "The Crucifixion" by Rossetti ; in the
four circular side windows
"The Emblems of the Evangelists," by Aston
Webb. South side aisle : four
windows representing "Saints of the New
Dorothy" by Burne Jones, and "Saint Martin" by Ford Madox Brown.
The two west stained glass windows, by Rossetti, representing Adam
and Eve, are
in my opinion the most beautiful and impressive windows in the
church. An
intense life animates them, the thought of this first existence,
happy, free,
without care, or possible remorse, has made Rossetti depict these
two bodies
radiant with strength and health. Unlike the beings consumed
with love and
passion who dwelt habitually in his thoughts, these are con-
sumed and
tormented by no passion, they are content to live ; and the power
with which
this life, free from care, is rendered, is almost disconcerting. One
is struck
by the ingenious arrangement of the branches and leaves by which
Rossetti veils
the nudity of the bodies of Adam and Eve, for the rosy colours
of the flesh
look brighter in the violent contrast of the large leaves of a sombre
green, and
again by contrast with the uniform blue of the sky seen behind
them ; and these
ingenious contrasts give to these two nude bodies a vividness
of life which is
rendered by no other stained glass window which I have ever
seen. These two
resplendent bodies of Adam and Eve animate the church,
and seem to give it some
of their own life. The composition is no less
original and new in its details
than in the beauty of its colouring. Adam is
depicted standing, picturesquely
leaning on a branch of a tree with large
sombre leaves, a fig-tree I think ;
with the tip of his foot he amuses himself
by tickling a small bear curled up
at his feet, the blue sky is seen behind him,
and sunflowers, flowering at the
end of their long stems, expand at his right
hand ; in the branches of the tree
above him a curious and familiar squirrel
watches him. Standing also, Eve has
stopped in the middle of a field richly
studded with small flowers and red
tulips ; of the same fairness as the hair
and beard of Adam, her unbound hair
falls in an opulent stream over her
shoulders. In her arms she holds, tenderly
pressed to her bosom, a white
dove, and in the sombre tree above, his eyes
fixed and shining, an owl surveys
her. The predominant colours of this admirable
window are, flesh colour,
dark green, and light gold. Above the windows of Adam
and Eve "The
Annunciation" of Burne Jones, which decorates the large rose
window, and
the "Angels playing Musical Instruments" of the nine smaller roses
which
surround it, form with the windows of Rossetti a remarkable and charming
contrast. In the subject he here depicts, Burne Jones has adopted the con-
ventional manner, dear to Fillippo Lippi and to the painters of his school.
The Virgin is kneeling in the middle of a diapered field, which is
surrounded
by a well-cut hedge, bedecked with roses ; the Angel has just
alighted, and,
surprised and enraptured, in a delicious gesture of astonishment, the Virgin
joins her hands, hardly able to believe the "good tidings." That which
makes
the charm of this window, and of the nine others surrounding it, is the
virginal
grace and the exquisite purity of its conception, and of its design and
colour.
White, azure blue, and ruby are the colours principally and almost
exclusively
used ; they blend admirably with the white stone walls, and indeed
it seems
impossible to find anything more fitted to harmonize in the decoration
of
churches than the white Whitby stone, and the graceful and spiritual figures
of
Burne Jones and Morris. The windows of Adam and Eve give an
impression of life,
strength, and luxuriant health, those of the Annunciation
and the Angels an
impression of grace and purity.
The first impression given by the window of the "Parable of the Vine-
yard,"
which lights the choir, is an impression of colour, dazzling and mag-
nificent,
velvety and harmonious, resembling the Flemish stained glass windows
decorating
the Gothic cathedrals. From the point of view of stained glass,
this is the one
I consider to be the most perfect. It has all the qualities
which we have seen
were considered essential by Madox Brown, the "beauty
of colour, inventive
expression and good dramatic action," and all these
qualities are united in a
high degree of perfection. In fact, when we approach
this window and examine it
in detail, we perceive that it is no less remarkable
for its ingenious and
original composition than for the sensation of opulent
colour which it at first
gave us. This astonishing Rossetti was made to
succeed, and to show himself an
accomplished master in everything which he
undertook. He appears here to have
found the secret of composition of the
old Gothic masters, and the arrangement
of his subjects is as clever and
complicated, the drawing as powerful and
precise, as characteristic and appro-
priate to stained glass as that of his
great predecessors. For those who look
at the great stained window of the choir
of St. Martin's, one subject stands
out before all the others, "The
Crucifixion," which occupies the centre of the
window, and which Rossetti has
intentionally made larger and more apparent
than the subjects of the Parable of
the Vineyard, because it resumes them, and
also because it is the one which
ought the most vividly to impress the faithful.
But little by little around the
central figure the different episodes of the
parable stand out in the gorgeous
colours with which they are clothed, and we
find that conception and
arrangement of the figures peculiar to Rossetti, as
the different scenes of the
parable succeed one another in the seven compart-
ments of the window. There is
first the planting of the vine, then the letting
it out to husbandmen, then the
stoning of the servants sent to receive the
first fruits, the feast of the vintage, with its delightful figure of the young
woman in a white dress dancing in the midst of the husbandmen, and again
the
arrival of the heir, young and unarmed, in their midst, while they are
already
plotting against his life, and then their judgment and condemnation
by the
master, weary of their ingratitude. Magnificent and striking in itself,
the
parable of St. Matthew could not be embellished, but it could be pre-
sented
under a plastic form which, while bringing out certain details, would
engrave
it more profoundly on the memory ; and it is this which has been
done by
Rossetti. Sumptuous in colour, ingenious in composition, the window
of the
Parable appears to be of a design more entirely and peculiarly Rossetti's
than
that of Adam and Eve, of which certain details seem to show the
influence of
Madox Brown ; this statement, of which the only object is to be
exact, takes,
however, absolutely nothing from my admiration of the stained
glass window of
Adam and Eve. Rossetti, who, as is well known, was during
some time the pupil
of Madox Brown, was occasionally influenced by the
painter of the frescoes of
the Town Hall at Manchester. He on his side
underwent, without suspecting it,
the influence of the painter poet, who was
more his friend than his pupil. This
mutual influence can only be for good
when brought to bear upon minds so richly
endowed as were those of Madox
Brown and Rossetti, and the works of both are
there to testify to the fact.
Perfect from every point of view, this
interpretation of the Parable of the
Vineyard by Rossetti does not alone
embellish the choir of St. Martin's. Four
circular windows adorned with stained
glass by Aston Webb decorate the side
walls. The subjects represented are "The
Emblems of the Four Evangelists,"
and by the vigour of their drawing, as well
as by the beauty of their colour,
they are worthy of being mentioned at the
same time as those of Madox Brown.
Burne Jones, and Morris. In indicating the
positions of the windows in the
church, I have pointed out in the windows of
the side aisles those of Madox
Brown, Burne Jones, Campfield, and Marshall, and
have described the St.
Martin of Madox Brown. The windows of Campfield and
Marshall, visibly
inspired by the works of Burne Jones and Rossetti, are not
unpleasant, but
are only really valuable for the character of ensemble which
they help to give
to the decoration of the church.
There remains, therefore, now only the window attributed to Burne
Jones. It
represents "St. Dorothy" and "St. Theophilus" separated by an
angel carrying in
a basket the "three apples," as the "Golden Legend "
describes it. We find this
window mentioned by Mr. Malcolm Bell in the very
complete catalogues he has
drawn up of the works of Burne Jones. It is there
stated to have been done in 1873, and the catalogue also mentions an Aaron,
Daniel, and Stephen, which is found in the north side aisle of St. Martin's. For
my part I do not consider that an exaggerated importance ought to be
attached to these windows simply from the fact that they are ascribed to
Burne-Jones. I do not believe that they were done by him exclusively, as
was,
for example, the " Annunciation," but, most probably, drawings of his
were
enlarged by Mr. Campfield for the windows at Scarborough, and in
copying them,
though he has not taken away all their grace and artistic
character, he has
nevertheless lost much. This is why, although acknow-
ledging their graceful
and decorative character, I cannot place them in the
same rank as the others I
have mentioned. To terminate this rapid
examination of the stained glass
windows of St. Martin's, I wish to notice,
from among the row of south windows
above the door of entrance, one
representing St. John the Baptist, designed and
carried out by Mr. William
Morris. It is, above all, remarkable for the
richness of its colour, and in this
connection I think it well to call to mind
that the windows of Madox Brown,
Rossetti, Webb, and Burne-Jones, of which I
have spoken, were all carried out
by Mr. Morris, who, at the great exhibition
of 1862, gained a medal for the
execution of the "Parable of the
Vineyard."¹
It will be seen that the artistic interest of the church of St. Martin's
consists in this, that it constitutes, not merely a handsome church, but a sort
of pre-Raphaelite museum. And the collection of stained glass windows
which it
possesses is especially precious, for when, in a few years, a real pre-
Raphaelite museum is originated at the National Gallery, when there will be
(as
there is now a Turner room) a Rossetti room, and in the adjoining rooms
are
collected the finest pictures of Ford Madox Brown, Watts, Holman Hunt,
and Burne Jones ; if it is acknowledged, then, that these artists have formed the
most remarkable school of painting of this century, it will be regretted at the
same time that we are unable to see represented in a museum certain produc-
tions connected with the branches of art which this school has rendered
particu-
larly flourishing. After their pictures, it is in stained glass
windows that the
pre-Raphaelite painters have best succeeded. Rossetti, Madox
Brown, Burne
Jones, and Morris have renewed and revived the art which appeared
for a long
time to be lost. When, later on, their works become classic, and are
studied,
it will be in the churches that we shall need to seek them. Then
churches
like St. Martin's will be of a special interest on account of the
works which it contains. However, if,
as I have shown, this collection of
works at St. Martin's is remarkable, it is
not, from a pre-Raphaelite point of
view, either complete or perfect ; the two
rows of clerestory windows, with the
exception of one by Mr. Morris, have
nothing in common with this school, nor,
as we have seen, have the decorative
paintings of the choir benches ; while no
work represents at St. Martin's three
important members of the pre-Raphaelite
school, Watts, Millais, and Hunt. It is
true that I am unaware if they have
done painted windows, but if it was
desired, as I should imagine, to represent
a pre-Raphaelite ensemble, they
might have been asked to paint, in default
of stained windows, votive pictures
or decorative paintings. In thinking what
might have been the church of
Scarborough if these faults and failings
which I point out had been avoided, I
thought, while writing these lines, that
it might still be possible to build a
church and to render it unique in artistic
interest by decorating it with a
collection, complete this time, of pre-
Raphaelite pictures and stained glass
windows; and surely this idea which
comes to me of a pre-Raphaelite church is
not, when one thinks of it, either
fantastical or impossible to realize. There
is in England a man whom all
artists reverence for the splendid architectural
work he has done. Admirer
and friend of Rossetti, intimately acquainted with
all the artists of the pre-
Raphaelite school, Mr. Philip Webb seems the one
designated to construct
such a church, which, while being all that is required
for public worship, would
yet present under the most favourable light the
stained glass windows and the
religious paintings of the pre-Raphaelite school.
The windows of Rossetti
which can be admired at Scarborough, and which could be
reproduced in this
ideal church, are not the only ones he designed ; there is,
notably, the
magnificent series of cartoons illustrating the Legend of St.
George, which is
possessed by Mr. Fairfax Murray, and which is one of the most
finished works
of Rossetti in this style of decorative painting. By Ford Madox
Brown there
is the characteristic series of cartoons illustrating the life and death of St.
Oswald, which is now exhibited in the collection of water-colours and drawings
at the South Kensington Museum. Burne Jones and Morris have done (a
tremendous
thing when one thinks of the enormous work they have pro-
duced in other
branches of art !) more than five hundred stained glass
windows ; there is,
therefore, in that which concerns them, but
choix
Burne Jones and Morris consider as their best work in glass the "Adoration
of the Shepherds" and "The Crucifixion," which decorate the church of
St.
Philip at Birmingham. To the names of Rossetti, Madox Brown, Burne
Jones, and
Morris, I would add the less known name of Mr. Selwyn Image,
who, by the poetic
and religious character of his stained glass windows, and
notably those which
he has designed for the church of St. Luke's at Camber-
well, has revealed
himself in this style of art a master as accomplished as any
of his
predecessors ; and the interest of such a church would be complete, and
as I
previously said, unique, if to these windows were added decorative and
votive
paintings by Rossetti, Madox Brown, Watts, Millais, Holman Hunt,
and Burne
Jones.
Why should this project be but the dream of an enthusiastic poet? It is
not
money that is wanting in England ; I have proved that it is not the
materials,
nor yet the men ; it is then nothing but the goodwill which is required,
and as
this goodwill would have for object the raising of a useful and durable
monument, witnessing to the height to which English art has risen in this
century, I do not despair of seeing this idea one day realized by some
generous
men justly proud of an art which has so magnificently flourished in
their
country.