Thomas Denny: St Thomas Chapel windows
Title: St Thomas Chapel windows
Artist: Thomas Denny (b. 1956, British)
Location: Chapel of St Thomas , Gloucester Cathedral (C of E)
Date: 1992
This triptych of stained glass windows in a Chapel off the South Ambulatory of Gloucester Cathedral is the first of three major commissions from the Cathedral. The central window recalls the story of doubting Thomas, while those either side are abstract articulations of Psalm 148 which praises God’s creation. Pamela Tudor-Craig remarks on this work as ‘a new attitude to the structure of stained glass, the ferramenta and especially the leadlines.’ She goes on to note the ‘extraordinarily inconspicuous and fluid underpinning of he direction of the compositions of the flanking windows.’ (Glory, Azure & Gold: The Stained Glass of Thomas Denny eds Antonia Johnson and Josie Reed, Reed Contemporary Books, 2016) A seemingly watery landscape of dark rich blues is interspersed by yellows and green wherein forms of life populate the swirling forms. In the central window Thomas kneels before Christ who is in a shadow of deep blue. The sun and the moon preside over the scheme with dramatic shafts of golden light providing a rhythmic pulse to its composition.
Thomas Denny (b. 1956, British) is a leading British stained glass artist. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art and now lives in Dorset. His work can be seen in around thirty British churches and cathedrals.
His windows are noted for the distinctive way in which light and colour move across the surface. He achieves this remarkable effect by acid etching and silver staining each small piece of glass, which results in very subtle colour distinctions. In an interview with Ann Wroe for 1843 (formerly Intelligent Life), Denny explained that ‘beauty in its own right’ determines his use of colour, rather than any symbolic significance. Likewise his detailed depiction of natural objects such as in his Bolton Percy window, are simply ‘nature expressing the glory of God, or perhaps the “insideness” of God in creation.’
Further Information
Medium: Stained glass
Permanent display
See ‘St Thomas Chapel windows’ on the Ecclesiart map here.
Nominated by Nicholas Bury, former Dean of Gloucester, who writes: ‘In 1993 Thomas Denny created three windows in a beautiful small chapel in Gloucester Cathedral, inspired by the psalmist’s image of the whole creation praising its creator and the story of his namesake Thomas meeting the risen Christ. As I gaze at this mysterious swirl of blue, yellow, white and green, I find myself asking questions and the questions get deeper and deeper. Is that the sun in the blue sky or the moon at night? Are those stars or foam from the windswept sea? Are those people coming down the hill? Is that a cypress tree or a cross? Is that Christ I can see against the light? Is that Thomas fallen on his knees in wonder? Is this a dream? Is it true that he is risen? Can I really believe my eyes? Or can I only begin to approach this mystery with the eye of faith? Can I meet the God who created the heaven and the earth, the sky and the sea? Thus this profoundly contemporary image brings me to my knees in this space where thousands down the centuries have knelt before. I close my eyes and like R S Thomas try to grasp the fact that “Life … is turning aside like Moses to the lit bush, to a brightness that seemed as transitory as your youth once, but is the eternity that awaits you.”’
Other artworks in churches by Thomas Denny: Windows in: St John’s, Tralee, Co Kerry; St Peter’s, Wallsend; Leicester Cathedral; St Paul’s, Shurdington; St James’s, Stanstead Abbots; All Saints’, Woodford, Wilts., St Catherine’s College Chapel, Cambridge; St Edburga’s, Leigh; St Hedda’s, Egdon Bridge; St Mary’s, Temple Guiting; St Michael’s, Abenhall; St Peter’s, Ipsley; St Margaret’s, Millington; Sunderland Minster; Hereford Cathedral; Malvern Priory; St Peter’s, Martley; Tewkesbury Abbey; Three Windows of Light; Grafton Underwood Parish Church.
Learn more about the artistic and architectural heritage of Gloucester Cathedral here.