The perfect example of the Arts and Crafts movement, Cherubim and Seraphim by Christopher Whall, 1905.
Another Trinity Chapel treasure, the stained-glass window Cherubim and Seraphim by Christopher Whall.
The design of this window is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) which you can access on the V&A website, where many of his designs have been digitised - I encourage you to check them out.
This window was installed in 1905; Whall had become the foremost stained-glass artist in this England between the 1880s and 1920s, and this window is a testament of how important the foundation of Trinity Hospital was to the community of Leicester.
Whall studied at the Royal Academy Schools, London and was influenced by the works of the Pre-Raphaelites as well as Early Renaissance artist Botticelli.
Whall is the perfect example of the Arts and Crafts artist, growing frustrated by the minimal involvement allowed to him in the technical process of executing his own designs. He soon set about learning the entire craft. He perfected each step from drawing, cutting, painting and leadwork and by 1905 had established his own studio in London.
Cherubim and Seraphim is a four-lancet window with beautifully drawn figures that stand on a bed of autumnal foliage - or maybe holy flame - set against 'patterned quarries' (the backdrop of diamond shapes).
Whall employed a technique, invented by E. S. Prior in 1889, called "Slab Glass". Slab Glass produces an uneven thickness that emulates luminosity and Whall was perhaps the greatest at making use of its character. The Oxford Dictionary of Art describes his windows as "emphatically glassy rather than purely pictorial" which I think sums up this window nicely.
If you would like to see this work please join us on a Heritage Sunday, on the last Sunday of the month between May and October, 11am-3pm, or if you have any enquiries drop us an email at museum@dmu.ac.uk.