Autumn Lecture 2018 | The Stained Glass Centre

‘Building the Picture: Investigating the Life of St Cuthbert Window, York Minster’

by Katie Harrison, WRoCAH-funded Doctoral Student, The University of York

Thursday 15th November, 6.30pm (doors open 6pm). Tickets £6, concession tickets £5, entry free to SGC Friends

The fifteenth-century Life of St Cuthbert Window in York Minster is one of Britain’s largest narrative windows, with seventy panels showing scenes from St Cuthbert’s life. The scale and past rearrangement of panels make it difficult to unravel the original narrative and its significance. To accurately identify the original design of the window requires an understanding of past production and repair approaches, as well as close analysis of surviving physical evidence and documentary sources. This lecture will discuss how different types of evidence are combined to confirm the subjects of the panels and their place within the narrative, bringing new light to this monumental window.

Katie has a BA in English Literature and History of Art and an MA in Stained Glass Conservation and Heritage Management, both from The University of York. After graduating she received a forty-week travelling scholarship from Worshipful Company of Glaziers, through which she gained experience working in stained glass conservation studios across Britain and Germany. Her interest in stained glass of all periods has led her to undertake an interdisciplinary investigation of the fifteenth-century Life of St Cuthbert window at York Minster. Through her doctoral research at The University of York, supervised by Sarah Brown and Tim Ayers, she hopes to establish and better understand the narrative of the window and its significance as a hagiographic cycle.

The lecture will begin at 6.30 pm. Tickets are sold on the door for £6 (£5 concessions) and include refreshments, available from 6 pm. Entry is free to Friends of the Stained Glass Centre.