FDA-A.486:1-2017
Parts
Object number
FDA-A.486:1-2017
Object type
Identification
Title
Ante Chapel North Window: Crimea Memorial
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
Description
Stained glass window, with 14 lights and tracery; much of the window is in fact clear glass
Comments
'The Etonian officers who fell in the Crimea were commemorated by stained glass in the northern and southern windows of the 'ante-chapel,' and by illuminated coats of arms and scrolls on the blank walls below these windows.'
[Source: Sir H. C. Maxwell Lyte, 'A History of Eton College, 1440-1884', 1889, pp.488-489]
Stained glass Crimea Memorial windows can be found on the north and south walls of the Antechapel of Eton College Chapel. There has been some speculation that this, the South window, includes a portrait of Florence Nightingale at the lower centre. However, this window was very damaged when a WWII bomb exploded nearby in 1940 and was reconstructed from surviving parts. A description of the window in the 'Morning Post', 31 October 1859, when it first installed, describes the lower level, where ‘three subjects of British soldiers receiving the consolation of religion from the hands of their ministers' could be seen. It would seem that there is now one surviving example, possibly showing a soldier taking communion, and this is the image that has been mistakenly identified as Florence Nightingale nursing a solider.
This window was funded by subscription and installed in 1859. It is part of a memorial to the 47 Etonians who fell in the Crimean War.
The window was badly damaged when a bomb fell nearby in 1940. Elements of the original window have been reconstructed from surviving parts, which were re-arranged (against a background of white glass) by Miss Howson in 1951.
Lights 1a to 1g (lower row) and 2a to 2g (upper row) with subjects including:
Light 1a: St Andrew
Light 1b: St David
Light 1d: Christ crucified
Light 1g: St Aidan
Light 2a: St Matthew
Light 2g: St John
The tracery lights for this window are now all plain glass (Tracery lights A1-8, B1-10, C1-2)
[Source: Sir H. C. Maxwell Lyte, 'A History of Eton College, 1440-1884', 1889, pp.488-489]
Stained glass Crimea Memorial windows can be found on the north and south walls of the Antechapel of Eton College Chapel. There has been some speculation that this, the South window, includes a portrait of Florence Nightingale at the lower centre. However, this window was very damaged when a WWII bomb exploded nearby in 1940 and was reconstructed from surviving parts. A description of the window in the 'Morning Post', 31 October 1859, when it first installed, describes the lower level, where ‘three subjects of British soldiers receiving the consolation of religion from the hands of their ministers' could be seen. It would seem that there is now one surviving example, possibly showing a soldier taking communion, and this is the image that has been mistakenly identified as Florence Nightingale nursing a solider.
This window was funded by subscription and installed in 1859. It is part of a memorial to the 47 Etonians who fell in the Crimean War.
The window was badly damaged when a bomb fell nearby in 1940. Elements of the original window have been reconstructed from surviving parts, which were re-arranged (against a background of white glass) by Miss Howson in 1951.
Lights 1a to 1g (lower row) and 2a to 2g (upper row) with subjects including:
Light 1a: St Andrew
Light 1b: St David
Light 1d: Christ crucified
Light 1g: St Aidan
Light 2a: St Matthew
Light 2g: St John
The tracery lights for this window are now all plain glass (Tracery lights A1-8, B1-10, C1-2)
Description
Inscription
Lettering along the bottom of the three central lower lights (lights 1c, 1d and 1e): 'THIS WINDOW, PART OF THE MEMORIAL TO THE 47 ETONIANS WHO FELL IN THE CRIMEAN WAR / WAS DAMAGED BY AN ENEMY BOMB ON + DEC 1940. THE SURVIVING GLASS WAS REARRANGED IN 1951'
Material
glass
Production
Person
Powell, John Hardman, 1827 - 1895 (Artist)
Organisation
John Hardman & Co. (Designer)
Date
1859
History and association
Associated object
FDA-A.486:2-2017 (associated object)
