Tea at Trianon: Restoration of Medieval Windows

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, June 23, 2019

Restoration of Medieval Windows

From the BBC:

The windows are part of a sequence of eight and the 11-year project in the cathedral's South Quire aisle will see all of them removed and restored. They will also be given protective glazing to prevent future damage in the £11m scheme. Exposed to the elements for centuries, the glass has cracked and buckled in places and allows water in.

Dating from the early 1400s, the windows are about 70ft (21m) from the ground. "The windows in the South Quire Clerestory have been unprotected for 600 years and are now heavily corroded, with extensive paint loss, fire damage and even holes in places," said Sarah Brown, director of York Glaziers Trust. The glass will be cleaned and repaired and the lead, which keeps the glass in place, will also be stabilised.

"Once complete, the panels will be returned to the Minster with new, state-of-the-art protective glazing to prevent further decay and preserve the irreplaceable glass for future generations," Ms Brown added. The windows are believed to have been created between 1404 and 1414 and tell the story of the triumph of Christianity in the north of England, and the crucial role played by York Minster. (Read more.)