Apocalypse: The Great East Window of York Minster

by Sarah Brown

This is the tale of a medieval masterpiece. York Minster boasts one of the great artistic achievements of the Middle Ages - a stunning expanse of stained glass of unparalleled size and beauty in Britain. The Great East Window, created by the 15th-century glass painter John Thornton, contains over 300 glazed panels, including a remarkable sequence depicting that most inspiring and controversial Biblical text, the Revelation of St John. The four horsemen, the Archangel Michael and the dragon, the whore of Babylon, the coming of the new Jerusalem - all of the famous phantasmagorical images of John's vision are here in searing colour and detail. Specially commissioned as the Minster received a generous grant to clean and preserve this masterwork, Apocalypse reproduces the entire cycle in colour for the first time. Expert commentary by medieval stained glass expert Sarah Brown is supplemented by a chapter on the interpretation of the Apocalypse by theologian Paula Gooder and an introduction by the Dean of York.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 2014

About the author

Sarah Elizabeth Brown (1958–) is an art historian who specializes in the history and conservation of stained glass of the Middle Ages and Gothic Revival. She is particularly interested in the intersection between art and craft and in the history of stained glass restoration in Great Britain. Currently, she is a Professor in the Department of Art at the University of York, and Director of the York Glaziers Trust.

Reviews

[Carissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thus far, this is my favorite book I've read this year. It is worthwhile for the beauty of the photographs alone. However, it really enabled me to appreciate the stained glass of York Minster in a new and deeper way. Although I'm relatively familiar with the book of Revelation by contemporary American standards, I wouldn't have understood most of the panels without the accompanying verse text. It also gives a window into the vanished medieval world, where people commissioned devotional works of art like this. A culture that creates a work of art like the Great East Window is very different from the one we live in.