Description
Book SynopsisA lavishly-illustrated exploration of the work of the Victorian church artist Charles Eamer Kempe and the team of artists he led and inspired.
Trade Review'Perhaps the best response to Kempe's critics, and the best tribute we can pay to him now, is to take our cue from those who knew him and worked for him, and see what it is he was teaching. This is exactly where Espying Heaven is most helpful, allowing us to 'read' the details in his windows as well as to appreciate the artistry involved. Both books are beautifully produced.' - Jacqueline Banerjee, Associate Editor of The Victorian Web, February 20th, 2019 there is no question about the debt which all lovers of stained glass owe to Adrian Barlow for this volume and [Kempe: The Life, Art and Legacy of Charles Eamer Kempe] Whether the Kempe style appeals to you or not, once you have read this study you will never look casually at a Kempe window again.... Beyong question it is a book to buy and treasure. Barry A Orford, New Directions, March 2020 clearly wrtten, exhaustively researched, strong on descriptive and biographical detail, generously illustrated, and with a very useful gazetteer locating most of Kempe's oeuvre, at £25 it is also exceptionally good value. Graham Howes,Theology 122 (4) [Barlow] provides his readers with a deeper understanding of a central figure of british stained glass Vidimus 132, 2020 Barlow's exceptionally lucid biographical and thematic commentary not only embrace the entire corpus of the Kempe Studio; they may even reactivate, for our own time, the powerful immediacy that such work would have had for many Victorians Graham Howes, Theology 2020, Vol.123, pp 380-382 The book does undoubtedly have a significant value for its illustrations, which provide a fairly comprehensive visual record of stylistic and iconographic developments (or sometimes the lack of them) in the Kempe studio's oeuvre from 1868, when the enterprise began, until its closure in 1934. This is a valuable study, admirably well-researches and presented. It is also (which is rarer) an enjoyable read.
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Foreword and Acknowledgements 1. Kempe and the Kempe Studio Charles Eamer Kempe Alfred Edward Tombleson Wyndham Hope Hughes John Thomas Carter John William Lisle Walter Ernest Tower 2. Style and Techniques Reading a Kempe Window The Evolution of the Kempe Style A Note on Silver Staining 3. Themes and Subjects Angels Allegorical and Symbolic Figures: The Virtues Jesse Tree Windows 4. The Life of Christ The Annunciation The Nativity and Early Childhood of Christ The Passion and Crucifixion 5. Gallery St Michael and St George Adam and Eve King Solomon Disciples and Apostles Saints: St Stephen Saints: St Catherine and St Margaret 6. Espying Heaven Kempe and George Herbert Kempe at Southwark Cathedral Glossary Index
