by Olivier Georges Destree.
Originally published in The Savoy (Leonard Smithers) vol.1 #6 (Oct 1896).
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 almost[1] 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the unpleasant severity of the hideous wooden benches, which disfigure many of the Gothic cathedrals in England, has been replaced by chairs which fill the church without interfering with the development of its lines.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 sunshine glances through 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 subject 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 Fiat mihi secundum 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 decorate 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 produced 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 Scarborough, 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 composed. 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 Testament and of the Catholic Church" by Campfield and Marshall, "Saint 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 consumed 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 conventional 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 Vineyard," which lights the choir, is an impression of colour, dazzling and magnificent, 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 appropriate 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 compartments 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 presented 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 6f 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 acknowledging 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."[2]
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 productions connected with the branches of art which this school has rendered particularly 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 ensemble of 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 produced in other branches of art!) more than five hundred stained glass windows; there is, therefore, in that which concerns them, but l'embarras du choix, and this difficulty even need not exist, for it is well known that 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 Camberwell, 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.
1. There is, indeed, a pamphlet by the Rev. Newton Mant, but, interesting as it is, it is written more from a parochial than from an artistic point of view; only one chapter is devoted to the church, and that chapter contains numerous errors. The only reproductions which have appeared are two remarkable woodcuts, executed after the cartoons of the stained window by Rossetti, the subject of which is the Parable of the Vineyard. These reproductions figured in one of the first volumes of the "Hobby Horse."
2. In his pamphlet on St. Martin's the Rev. Newton Mant mentions some paintings which are harmless and insignificant in themselves, and of which I should not speak were it not that he attributes them by mistake to Burne Jones and Morris. Too many indifferent works will probably be generously attributed to these painters in the future for me to think it unnecessary to lighten their reputation at least of these works with which they have no connection. Neither Burne Jones nor William Morris has ever worked at Scarborough; they could not therefore have painted either the Adoration of the Magi or the Angels which decorate the walls above the altar, and which Mr. Mant ascribes to them. This decoration was painted originally by Mr. Campfield, a decorative painter from the firm of Mr. Morris. That Mr. Campfield used at this period drawings by Burne Jones from which to paint in distemper is possible, but in any case the original decoration fell into a ruinous state, and in 1889 this part of the church was entirely repainted by a Mr. Farren, a painter of Scarborough, assisted by his sons and daughters. Let it here be fully understood that these paintings of the East end have nothing to do with Sir Edward Burne Jones or Mr. Morris.