List of works in stained glass by John Piper

This is a list of works in stained glass designed by the English artist John Piper between 1954 and 1985, the majority realised in partnership with glassmaker Patrick Reyntiens.

Background

Already an established artist working primarily in the medium of painting and printmaking, Piper only began designing for stained glass in the 1950s when he was aged over 50 years old. It would become a major, though far from exclusive, avenue of artistic expression during the second half of Piper's career.

From the outset, Piper forged a productive professional relationship with the glassmaker Patrick Reyntiens, who realised the large majority of Piper's completed designs for glass. Despite Piper being more than 20 years' older than Reyntiens, and by far the more established artist, in general this was a reciprocal and collaborative partnership. Though always structured by Piper’s origination of an overall design, they resisted a hierarchical model of artist above craftsman in favour of interdependent creative exchange. This allowed Reyntiens significant interpretative agency, which was particularly true for large-scale and experimental commissions, such as the Crown of Glass for Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

Together, Piper and Reyntiens completed over 60 individual stained glass commissions over a period of more than 30 years, their reputation forged early, particularly after the contemporary critical praise afforded to the baptistry window at Coventry Cathedral. Commissions were primarily - though not exclusively - intended for religious settings, benefiting from widespread reconstruction efforts following the Second World War. Piper designed in both figurative and abstract styles interchangeably throughout his career according to the individual commission and the brief from the client. Nevertheless, his works in stained glass - and his artistic practice more generally - are united by their modern painterly style.

Piper set out his ‘philosophy’ on the medium in his 1968 essay Stained Glass: Art or Anti-Art?, reflecting on the uneasy position that stained glass occupies between fine art and architectural craft. In it he questioned whether modern trends risked stripping the medium of its expressive depth. He critiqued both nostalgic imitation of historical styles and overly abstract experimentation, arguing that either could disconnect stained glass from its essential dialogue with light, space, and setting. Ultimately, Piper advocated for a balanced, context-sensitive approach in which contemporary design is rooted in the medium’s unique and timeless qualities while still embracing innovation.

In the same essay Piper also emphasised the importance of maintaining a clear separation between the artist-designer and the craftsman-manufacturer, seeing this distinction as vital to preserving both creative integrity and technical excellence in modern stained glass practice. This conception of creative division can certainly be read as an endorsement of the particular nature of Piper’s own collaborative partnership with Reyntiens. It has also been read as a strategically performative piece of reputational positioning in relation to his contemporaries working in the medium, most of whom practiced as both designer and maker, such as John Hayward, Keith New and Harry Stammers.

List of works in stained glass The following list is taken primarily from June Osborne's 1997 book John Piper and Stained Glass, considered the definitive text on the subject.All of the locations listed below are in England except where otherwise stated. Piper completed only two stained glass commissions for settings outside the United Kingdom (in the United States and New Zealand).

Title / Image Date Location (sortable by English county) Maker Two Kings 1954 River and Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire Patrick Reyntiens Description: Rectangular panel depicting heads of two kings, made by Reyntiens based on watercolour painting provided by Piper and inspired by glass seen at Chartres Cathedral and Bourges Cathedral. Notes: Trial piece made by Reyntiens ahead of Piper accepting Oundle commission, its success sparking 30-year partnership between designer and maker. Christ in Nine Forms 1954–56 Chapel of St Anthony, Oundle School, Oundle, Northamptonshire Patrick Reyntiens Description: Across three windows and nine lights, Christ is shown in nine forms, from left to right: The Way, Truth and Life; The True Vine, Bread and Water; The Judge, Teacher and Shepherd. Notes: Three triple-light windows with corresponding tracery in eastern apse wall. Piper's first completed public commission in stained glass. Commissioned by The Worshipful Company of Grocers, who patronage dates back to the school's founding, for the 400th anniversary of the school. Christ flanked by Saints 1955–60 Victoria & Albert Museum, London Patrick Reyntiens Description: Semi-abstract representation of Christ seated and in long robes flanked by St Peter and St Paul. Notes: In style of windows for Oundle School and Llandaff Cathedral, but seemingly unrelated to either. Purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1981 from John Piper. Abstract composition 1956 Stained Glass Museum, Ely Cathedral, Ely, Cambridgeshire Patrick Reyntiens Description: Abstract panel of mainly rectangular pieces of glass in variety of colours. Notes: Experimental panel designed and manufactured as part of Coventry Cathedral commission. On long-term loan to the Stained Glass Museum since 2003.Instruments of the Crucifixion 1957–62 Minster Church of St Andrew, Plymouth, Devon Patrick Reyntiens Description: Multicoloured five-light window with corresponding tracery above, depicting the Instruments of the Crucifixion, most prominently the ladder used for the Deposition, crossed against the Holy Lance and Holy Sponge set on its reed. Notes: Situated under west tower, dedicated to the memory of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor. The first of six individually designed windows for church. Baptistry Window 1958–62 Coventry Cathedral, Coventry, West Midlands Patrick Reyntiens Description: Monumental and complex 21.9m high, 18m wide floor-to-ceiling window comprising 198 multicoloured lights set into a convex concrete chequerboard frame designed by Cathedral architect, Basil Spence. Though each pane is unique and abstract, they combine to provide the impression of a dazzling yellow sunburst to the centre. The primarily blue glass above and green below are reminiscent of sunrise, an appropriate metaphor for its setting in the Cathedral baptistry. Notes: Baptistry Window to south east of Cathedral, commissioned by the Coventry Cathedral Reconstruction Committee in 1955. Piper and Reyntiens concluded that, to create unity, dazzling colour and an abstract pattern was required. Piper produced individual mixed media designs for all 198 lights, each one numbered according to its intended position, between 1958 and 1960. The stained glass was made over three years with installation starting in May 1961. It is widely considered the masterpiece of both Piper and Reyntiens. Miracles of Jesus 1959–64 Chapel of Eton College, Eton, Berkshire Patrick Reyntiens Description: Eight windows of ten lights each, five upper and five lower, plus corresponding tracery. Four figurative depictions of the Miracles of Jesus depicted in north windows successively show the Miraculous Draft of Fishes, the Feeding of Five Thousand, the Stilling of the Waters, and the Raising of Lazarus. Four Parables of Jesus are depicted on south side successively showing the Light under a Bushel, the House built on Rock, the Lost Sheep, and the Sower. Notes: Piper's unified scheme of eight windows fill all four bays on both sides of nave. They are designed to be in dialogue with Evie Hone's huge Crucifixion window in the east wall, installed in 1952, Hone's death in 1953 prevented her from completing the entire glazing scheme.Sanderson Hotel screen 1959–60 Sanderson Hotel, London Patrick Reyntiens Description: Rectangular Abstract composition with multicoloured biometric forms, measuring 9.75m x 6.4m. Notes: Built in the 1950s as the headquarters of the decorative interior design company Arthur Sanderson & Sons, since converted into a hotel. Piper's glazing fills back wall of central staircase on ground floor, backlit and hung to disguise the lift shafts.Evangelists and Antecedents 1960–61 All Hallows Church, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire Patrick Reyntiens Description: Four-light window with corresponding tracery above, filled with figurative symbols of the Four Evangelists above and their Old Testament antecedents below. From left to right, Matthew and Moses, Mark and Judah, Luke and Aaron, and John and Elijah. Notes: Located at west end of north aisle, window dedicated to Helen Wells Chapman. First of three individual commissions Piper and Reyntiens completed for church. Flackwell Heath rose 1961 Christ Church, Flackwell Heath, Buckinghamshire Patrick Reyntiens Description: Rose window with fifteen individual panels of glass, each abstract, multicoloured and fragmentary, seemingly bearing little relation to seven-petal rose outlined in the tracery. Notes: Rose window in west wall of nave. While Reyntiens is certainly the manufacturer, there is some debate as to whether the design is by Piper or is from Reyntiens' own hand. Church claims it is by Piper, but it is absent from June Osborne's 1997 catalogue.Five Wounds of Christ 1961 Chapel of Nuffield College, Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire Patrick Reyntiens Description: Three-light window in north wall depicts the Five Wounds of Christ, with the feet, hands and heart isolated, drawn in outline with the only colour being the gashes of blood. At either end of the Chapel are opposing recesses in the east and west walls, four in total, each with a two-light window with an abstract design. Those towards the north are more vivid, while, those towards the south are in paler hues. Notes: Brutalist chapel built 1959–61, commissioned from architect Thomas Barnes as part of wider college campus. Piper also provided designs for the chapel furniture. Abstract composition 1961–62 Victoria & Albert Museum, London Patrick Reyntiens Description: Panel of stained glass in shades of blue and turquoise painted in black with an abstract design. Notes: Made for Baptistry Window at Coventry Cathedral, but never installed. Donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1976 by Lord Beaumont of Witley.Supper at Emmaus 1961–62 Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff, Wales Patrick Reyntiens Description: Three light window with corresponding tracery above, depicting the Supper at Emmaus. Christ is seen seated in centre light, flanked by two disciples to left and right. Upper panel in tracery depicts Jesus' walk to Emmaus. Set in wall directly above is a roundel with quatrefoils filled with glass abstractions, part of the same commission. Notes: Commission comprises two windows set one over the other above the chancel arch. Commissioned to replace Victorian glass blown out during Second World War. Four Elements 1963 Minster Church of St Andrew, Plymouth, Devon Patrick Reyntiens Description: Six-light window with corresponding tracery above. Semi-abstracted representations of the four elements are shown horizontally across all six lights. From bottom to top, water is shown as a green ocean with coloured waves, earth is shown as a collection of rocks on yellow background, the red and white flames of fire climb above into tracery, while air is represented by the blue that climbs to either side. Notes: East chancel window, memorial to Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor. One of six individually designed windows for church. All Hallows rose 1963 All Hallows Church, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire Patrick Reyntiens Description: Six-petal rose window containing 13 individual panes of glass that collectively form red and yellow star composition on blue background.