St Joseph of Arimathea and St Mary Magdalene
Photo © Martin Crampin
about 1892
Two-light window with standing figures of Joseph of Arimathea and Mary Magdalene. The risen Christ commissioning Peter is shown below.
firm/studio: C.E. Kempe
Church of St John, Barmouth, Gwynedd
south wall of the sanctuary (window number: sIII)
The Corpus of Kempe Stained Glass dates this window, and that adjacent, to 1872. However, the church was not built until the 1890s, and it is likely that both were installed around the time of the other stained glass in the chancel and north chapel, for which the Corpus gives the date of 1892.
The Corpus also lists the female figure as Margaret of Antioch, which may be suggested by the many-headed dragon below. However, the large jar of ointment that she holds, her pairing with Joseph of Arimathea, together with the post-Resurrection scene below, seem to support the identification of the saint as Mary Magdalene. The theme of the early church is continued with the saints Paul and Stephen in the neighbouring window. However, the iconography of the trampling of the dragon is unusual for Mary Magdalene, and is more commonly associated with the Virgin Mary, as well as being appropriate for Margaret.
Two-light window with standing figures of Joseph of Arimathea and Mary Magdalene. The risen Christ commissioning Peter is shown below.
firm/studio: C.E. Kempe
Church of St John, Barmouth, Gwynedd
south wall of the sanctuary (window number: sIII)
The Corpus of Kempe Stained Glass dates this window, and that adjacent, to 1872. However, the church was not built until the 1890s, and it is likely that both were installed around the time of the other stained glass in the chancel and north chapel, for which the Corpus gives the date of 1892.
The Corpus also lists the female figure as Margaret of Antioch, which may be suggested by the many-headed dragon below. However, the large jar of ointment that she holds, her pairing with Joseph of Arimathea, together with the post-Resurrection scene below, seem to support the identification of the saint as Mary Magdalene. The theme of the early church is continued with the saints Paul and Stephen in the neighbouring window. However, the iconography of the trampling of the dragon is unusual for Mary Magdalene, and is more commonly associated with the Virgin Mary, as well as being appropriate for Margaret.
Record added by Martin Crampin. Last updated on 16-05-2018
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- mission of Peter ('Pasce oves meas') [John 21:15-17]
- St Joseph of Arimathaea, Jewish councillor
- St Mary Magdalene
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Further reading
Martin Crampin, Stained Glass from Welsh Churches (Talybont: Y Lolfa, 2014), p. 134.
ReferencesPhilip Collins, The Corpus of Kempe Stained Glass in the UK and Ireland (Kempe Trust, 2000), p. 330.
Click to show suggested citation for this record
Martin Crampin (ed.), Stained Glass in Wales Catalogue, University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth, 2018.
https://stainedglass.delweddau.cymru/object/4930 (accessed 23 November 2024)
https://stainedglass.delweddau.cymru/object/4930 (accessed 23 November 2024)
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