Of Harry Clarke’s four windows for Dowanhill’s chapel, The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin is arguably the finest in terms of composition and ambition and, fittingly, the window remains in Scotland – the only one to do so, writes David Caron
One of the challenges over the coming years will be how to secure the future of the many fine stained-glass windows in religious institutions, particularly convents, which may be closing their doors for a final time. Ideally, all windows should remain in the location for which they were created as the artists took careful consideration of the architectural setting, the orientation of the window, its height from the viewer etc. However, in many instances the only option is for the window to be removed and installed elsewhere, sometimes artificially lit in a lightbox. The principal windows on display in the relatively new stained-glass room in Ireland’s National Gallery all came from convent chapels, such as Michael Healy’s five beautiful single lights from Ballyhaunis and Harry Clarke’s magnificent three-light window from Glasgow, the latter dominating the space.
Rose Jane Leigh’s importance as an early pioneering Wexford landscape painter and her choice of studying in Antwerp placed her at the centre of the major art movements of the 19th and early 20th century, writes Mary Stratton Ryan
