The art of stained glass, a photo from Staffordshire, England

Photographer's Note

A delve into my archives for a series of pictures featuring Lichfield Cathedral in Staffordshire, United Kingdom.

Some words about the cathedral from Wikipedia:

The cathedral is dedicated to St Chad and Saint Mary. Its internal length is 113 metres (370 feet), and the breadth of the nave is 21metres (68 feet). The central spire is 77metres (252 feet) high and the western spires are about 58metres (190 feet).

The stone is sandstone and came from a quarry on the south side of Lichfield. The walls of the nave lean outwards slightly, due to the weight of stone used in the ceiling vaulting; some 200–300 tons of which was removed during renovation work to prevent the walls leaning further.

It was built on the site of a wooden Anglo Saxon church, which in its turn had been replaced by Norman cathedral built in stone. Building of the present Gothic cathedral was begun in 1195. It was completed by the building of the Lady Chapel in the 1330s. The Choir dates from 1200, the Transepts from 1220 to 1240 and the Nave was started in 1260. The octagonal Chapter House, which was completed in 1249 and is one of the most beautiful parts of the Cathedral with some charming stone carvings, houses an exhibition of the cathedral's greatest treasure, the Lichfield Gospels, an 8th-century illuminated manuscript.

Lichfield suffered severe damage during the English Civil War in which all of the stained glass was destroyed. In spite of this the windows of the Lady Chapel contain some of the finest medieval Flemish painted glass in existence. Dating from the 1530s it came from the Abbey of Herkenrode in Belgium, in 1801, having been purchased by Brooke Boothby when that abbey was dissolved during the Napoleonic Wars. It was sold on to the cathedral for the same price. There are also some fine windows by Betton and Evans (1819), and many fine late 19th century windows, particularly those by Charles Eamer Kempe.

The cathedral also suffered extensive damage to its fabric. Repairs to the damage caused by the Civil War were not fully completed until the nineteenth century.

pajaran, papagolf21, Fis2, alvaraalto, Royaldevon, ChrisJ, pierrefonds, mcmtanyel has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

papagolf21 (152607) 2017-11-30 1:05

Bonjour, cher Stephen,
Vous avez très bien fait de nous présenter ce vitrail de toute beauté.
La qualité des détails est excellente.
Un grand merci pour la note également.
Amitiés.
Philippe

Fis2 (171849) 2017-11-30 1:19

Witaj Stephen!
Very curious stained glass.
Good frame and colors.
Interesting shot from your archive.
Warm regards.

alvaraalto (42804) 2017-11-30 2:08

Hello Stephen
Stained glass windows are always irresistible for a talented photographer. The image is always interesting and the colours bright. The perspective distortion can be a problem, but I’m glad you solved this problem.
Well done
Have a nice day. Groet Rob

pajaran (116971) 2017-11-30 2:09

Dobar dan.
Lep pogled, interesantan i odbar tekst ...
Lepo pokazan vitraz, dobar kontrast i ostrina, lepe boje.
Lep vitraz i detalji.
Zelim vam lep i uspesan dan, sve najbolje.
Paja.

Good day.
Nice look, interesting and frustrating text ...
Beautifully stained glass, good contrast and sharpness, nice colors.
Nice stained glass and details.
I wish you a beautiful and successful day, all the best.

Nicou (193814) 2017-11-30 2:24

Hello

Merveilleux vitraux et vue quelle iamge et captage fantastique quelle couleur et vue ce dessin et ce jeu de lumière splendide.
Bravo et amitié
Nicou

Royaldevon (86392) 2017-11-30 2:55

Hello Stephen,

Can there be more attractive, informative features from the past, than stained glass windows!
With the light coming from outside, they really show up against the much darker interiors! However, that can cause real lighting problems. Often, I have to up the ISO considerably!
This is a lovely rendering of the windows. They are crisp, bright and detailed and very well cropped to fit the frame.

Have a lovely day,
Bev :-)
Yes, it's bright here, but very cold!

ChrisJ (172378) 2017-11-30 3:43

Hello Stephen

It is much more difficult to photograph stained glass windows than you would think. I usually have to use manual settings so that the highlights are not blown out. Good result here with no oe and a perfect exposure. Wonderful red vs blue colour contrasts too. Tfs!

pierrefonds (115462) 2017-11-30 4:27

Hi Stephen

The subject is well framed. The point of view is showing the details of the sained glass. The light coming through the glas is bringing out the colors. Have a nice day.

Pierre

dkmurphys (79209) 2017-11-30 5:16

Hello,
Nice view of the religious scenes of stained glass. A genuine work of art, well taken.

Daniel

Sergiom (117241) 2017-11-30 6:50

Bonjour Stephen,

C'est un art qui se perd. Probablement parce qu'il coûterait beaucoup trop cher de nos jours sans parler de l'entretien. Mais c'est tellement beau. Beau cadrage précis.

Amicalement

Serge

rychem (72187) 2017-11-30 8:26

I like such an art of stained glass windoes, beautiful piece of art, very neatly done.
Above the main window are three small windows with angels, it seems these angels ride bikes :)
very good photo
regards Ryszard

Tue (93340) 2017-11-30 23:44

Hello Stephen,
Beautiful and most successful photo of these splendid stained-glass windows. The clarity is excellent and the colours are at their very best, I particularly like the deep tones of the red and blue parts.
Lars

abmdsudi (95869) 2017-12-01 1:31

Hi Stephen
Gorgeous glass that you've retained the vibrant colours and detail so well and some wonderful history to go with. It's bright, crisp and superb contrast to black bg. A well judged exposure. Congrats
Best regards

Silvio1953 (222811) 2017-12-01 7:23

Ciao Stephen, great view of fantastic stained glass, excellent exposure, fine details, wonderful colors and splendid light, very well done, my friend, have a good week end, ciao Silvio

Cricri (176) 2017-12-01 9:27

Hello Stephen
Bonne prise des vitraux, couleurs et un cadrage parfait,
bonne réalisation
Belle soirée
cricri

Periko (9107) 2017-12-07 16:06

Hello Stephen
A beautiful art indeed.
I read an article about stained glasses in a magazine, many years ago, when young. Very interesting.
This photo nicely shows several characters with bright colours, sharpness and perfect exposure. I like it.

Tfs & regards

mcmtanyel (69127) 2017-12-13 21:04

Hello Stephen,
The details of the stained glass are well shown, nicely done!
Regards,
MT