Illustration: Edward Burne Jones. The Marriage of Tristram and Iseult, 1862.
Edward Burne Jones is probably best known for three forms of art discipline, fine art painting, tapestry and stained glass design. That he produced others is not in dispute. However, the work he produced for stained glass design in particular can still be seen at various points across Britain as well as at a number of locations outside of the country.
Burne Jones work seemed to lend itself to the perceived formality of stained glass design. The artists work always appeared, in whatever medium he chose, to be somewhat studied producing compositions that appeared to be frozen moments in time or even dramatic pauses in long running and sometimes complex narratives. That many of these dealt with the medieval, particularly the stained glass design has perhaps more to do with Burne Jones links with William Morris and ultimately Morris & Co than it does with the particular and personal creative journey of the artist.
Illustration: Edward Burne Jones. Madness of Tristram, 1862.
Burne Jones supplied large amounts of cartoon work for the use of Morris & Co which, at one point in its early history was almost exclusively a supplier of stained glass for both domestic and ecclesiastical use. In this respect, the choice of medieval inspired compositional work proved to be highly successful and the partnership of Burne Jones with Morris & Co proved to be both creatively and financially productive.
The five stained glass designs shown in this article were produced by Burne Jones in 1862 for Harden Grange in Yorkshire. The windows, which were produced by a range of artists including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown, Val Princep, Arthur Hughes, William Morris and Burne Jones, were produced for the music room of Harden Grange and all were part of a continuous narrative on the theme of Tristram and Iseult as interpreted by Tennyson in his Morte d'Arthur. The theme itself had inevitably and perhaps predictably been chosen by Morris himself, rather than any of the other collaborators.
Illustration: Edward Burne Jones. The Attempted Suicide of Iseult, 1862.
As a full project the stained glass pieces don't work terribly well together as the artists involved, even though perhaps fully committed to both the project at hand and the medieval theme in general, have a disparate and differing artistic capability. The gulf between the working style of Rossetti and Burne Jones for example is obvious, as is true of that between the hesitant style of Morris and the much more accomplished and confident stand taken by Madox Brown. It all becomes acute when the imagery is placed next to each other.
To be fair it is unknown to me at least, how the windows were arranged in the music room at Harden Grange and they might well have been carefully chosen in order to highlight the positive aspects of each artist, rather than to dwell on the sometimes stark differences in working style between the six men.
Illustration: Edward Burne Jones. The Recognition of Tristram by Iseult, 1862.
While these are certainly not examples of the most accomplished of Burne Jones stained glass output, they do have an early charm about them. In some respects they seem closer to some of the more rustic remnants of true medieval glass work rather than that of the later Victorian stained and painted variety, that while very accomplished, tended to appear a little overly decorative and divorced from the medieval originality and craftsmanship that had initially seemed so important to the Victorians. This is particularly evident when looking at later Victorian stained glass design when seen in the context of a simple rural church setting, which was often the case. The glass often looks incongruous and far too accomplished for its setting. There seems little if any craftsmanship attached to the windows and certainly very little sympathy with the building itself. Some of the work appears remarkably close to giving the impression of a mass produced format, which in some cases was not entirely far from the truth.
Illustration: Edward Burne Jones. The Tomb of Tristram and Iseult, 1862.
In contrast, Burne Jones five examples look rustic and certainly less showy than could have been the case. It is perhaps the guiding hand of Morris that also helped when overseeing this project. His determination to highlight the craft element of design and decoration, placing the hand made structure above even the compositional or creative aspect of the work, helped to keep these five stained glass examples within the context of their medieval lineage.
The early charm of these pieces gives some idea as to what was trying to be achieved by the early collaborators at Morris & Co along with the later followers of the English Arts & Crafts movement. The highlighting of craft and the perceived continuation of that craft from medieval to Victorian, although not strictly true, does reflect the need in the industrial England of the mid-nineteenth century for some form of continuity from the abrupt and tangential quality often associated with the rapid and continuing development of the industrial world. The ideal of a pre-industrial and pre-commercial community that worked hard to produce objects of lasting beauty through the honesty of materials and true creative skill, was a powerful and addictive combination that found much common ground in nineteenth century England. A theme that was to reverberate through generations, and although waxing and waning, is still very much with us today.
Further reading links:
Edward Burne-Jones: The Earthly Paradise
Burne-Jones: The Life and Works of Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898)
Sir Edward Burne-Jones (Pre-Raphaelite painters series)
Hidden Burne-Jones: Works on Paper by Edward Burne-Jones from Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
Edward Burne-Jones: Stained Glass in Birmingham Churches
Medieval and Renaissance Stained Glass in the Victoria and Albert Museum
English and French Medieval Stained Glass in the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Corpus Vitrearum)
Medieval Stained Glass in Suffolk Churches: "Let the Stained Glass Speak"
Studies in Medieval Stained Glass and Monasticism
English Stained Glass
Medieval Stained Glass
The Medieval Stained Glass of Wells Cathedral (Corpus Vitraearum Medii Aevi)
Life, Death and Art: The Medieval Stained Glass of Fairford Parish Church A - A Multimedia Exploration
Medieval and Renaissance Stained Glass 1200-1550 (Catalogue, 30)
Images in Light: Stained Glass 1200-1550
