Christ the King Stained Glass West Window by Henry Holiday

From the Holy Trinity website:

"20 feet by 15 with a stony arch-like frame, the west window has 15 panels divided into three rows of five columns each.

The bottom row are representations of our earthly life and the middle row life in heaven or paradise. On the bottom row, from left to right, the first panel represents philosophy and poetry with a man holding a piece of parchment and the woman standing by his side and holding a stringed instrument. The next panel is science and agriculture portrayed by a man holding a telescope and a man and woman grasping firmly some agrarian implements. The central panel is the church and government represented by a man in ecclesiastical garb and a king and queen.

The fourth panel symbolizes art and industry with an artist sitting with his brush and painting board; industry is shown by a woman holding some flax and a man clasping a hammer and some steel. The last panel is of music and mathematicsóa young woman is playing a violin while at her side sits a young man with ruffled brow and in his hands a long paper covered with geometrical figures.

The middle row pictures men, women and children strolling happily in a sort of Garden of Eden.

The top row of panels shows Jesus sitting, clothed in the robes of a ruling king, and holding the orb, the symbol of power. His angelic helpers stand on either side of the throne.

The highest part of the window, in the shape of a large four-leaf clover, has four small rosette windows each picturing a knight clad in armor."

There are 17 stained glass windows created by Henry Holiday of London, all memorials to various members of the Rhinelander family. Holiday made all 17 except for the west window, which was completed by his daughter after his death. The windows are the only complete cycle of windows remaining by Holiday, and the church is one of a few churches in the world in which all windows are designed by one artist, according to church website.

Henry Holiday (1839-1927) was an English historical genre and landscape painter, stained glass designer, illustrator, and sculptor. He is considered to be a member of the Pre-Raphaelite school of art, according to Wikipedia.

Holiday was born in London and at age 15 was admitted to the Royal Academy. Through his friendship with several artists there, he was introduced to artists of the "Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood". This movement was to be pivotal in his future artistic and political life. From Wikipedia: “The group's intention was to reform art by rejecting what it considered the mechanistic approach first adopted by Mannerist artists who succeeded Raphael and Michelangelo. Its members believed the Classical poses and elegant compositions of Raphael in particular had been a corrupting influence on the academic teaching of art, hence the name "Pre-Raphaelite".”

In 1861, Holiday accepted the job of stained glass window designer for Powell's Glass Works. During his time there he fulfilled over 300 commissions, mostly for customers in the U.S. He left in 1891 to set up his own glass works in Hampstead, producing stained glass, mosaics, enamels and sacerdotal objects.

Holiday's stained glass work can be found all over Britain and some of his best is at Westminster Abbey according to Wikipedia.

In addition to his stained glass work, Holiday was a painter; his works include The Burgess of Calais, The Rhine Maiders, Dante and Beatrice. He was commissioned by Lewis Carroll to illustrate The Hunting of the Snark. He remained friends with the author throughout his life.

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