Jesse Window

The Jesse Window remains an important example of French Medieval stained glass in this country. It is the only complete window in England of its period to remain intact. There are only single panels held at the V&A and the Burrell Collection. It is 13.5ft wide and stands 30 ft high situated in the north window of the Great Hall and of the castle. A large proportion of the 3 central panels are from the small parish church of St Vigor, Rouen, France, and are dated 1547.   The church of St Vigor was damaged during the Seige of Rouen in 1562, partially destroyed during the French Revolution and finally ruined in 1944 during WWII. The other pieces of stained glass which fill the window space are thought to be French, dated around 1500-1550. 

 

The theme of the window details the genealogy of Jesus, and depicts his connection with both earth and heaven. At the base of the tree we see Jesse, believed to be the father of David, a prominent character in the bible and ancestor of Jesus. Above features the tree of life with kings and cherubs, above the tree are the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. At the top we see Jesus Christ sitting in judgement in all his glory surrounded by angels, showing his wounds from being nailed to the cross (Stigmata). The many figures which surround the main theme depict kings, prophets, saints, cherubs, angels, and donors. The oldest figure depicted in the window is St Michael who is situated at the very top of the window in the centre. He is dated, second half of the 15^th century and represents Archangel St Michael, leader of the Hosts of Heaven against Lucifer when he revolted against God. The red dragon represents Satan. It is said that St Michael will be the weigher of souls at the Last Judgement when he will lead the blessed into heaven.

 

It is not clear how or when Lord Stuart de Rothesay acquired the glass. It might have been during his time spent as Ambassador following the secularisation of churches and monasteries brought about by Napoleon and the French Revolution. In the early 19^th century large quantities of stained glass was disseminated from the continent across the channel to England. There was a growing industry and many stained glass dealers were operating during this time. One such dealer was a German wool merchant called John Hampp who lived in Norwich and dealt in vast quantities of  material from Switzerland, Germany and France, namely from Rouen, some of which is in Norwich, York, and Wells Cathederal. Specialists are sure that the glass passed either directly or indirectly through Hampp.

 

In 1838 the stained glass was installed into the north window of the Great Hall by the glazier Charles Holloway of Christchurch. Holloway has scratched his name on one of the pieces of glass and dated it 9/6/1838. Lady Waterford writes about her involvement with the installation of the glass, and how the space was four times the size of the stained glass panels. They proceeded to fill the outer areas with other pieces of glass matching halos, heads, hands and feet with bodies to make whole figures.

 

The alternating two heraldic shields at the bottom of the window were present when the glass was installed in 1838 and are of that period. They represent the Yorke and the Stuart family. It is not certain whether these were made by Holloway.

 

World War II caused some damage to the window, with a grant from the government the window was restored during and after the war. It was dismantled and restored again in 1953 and in 1984 the sum of £55,000 secured the re-installation of the window by specialists King of Norwich. Mr Dennis King rescued the glass from the castle in 1969 when the building was under threat of being demolished by a group of developers. Mr King considered the glass to be amongst some of the most interesting he had ever seen, he took sections of the window with him on his European lecture tours. Much research has been made by King and his team of specialists in London and France, this included viewing examples of other stained glass windows in France as well as searching through archives.