New College , Oxford , Wykeham ’ s other great foundation , which was also dedicated to the Virgin . Both were designed by William Wynford , and both had chapels enriched with glass made by Thomas Glazier .
Content . This association between the two colleges is reflected in the choice of subjects for the glass in the college chapels , which was demonstrably the result of Wykeham ’ s personal interests , and in the similar style and format of some of the figures ( figs 8 and 10 ).
An impressive seven-light window depicting the Tree of Jesse dominated both chapels . The subject was a favourite of Wykeham ’ s : he bequeathed twenty copes depicting it to Winchester Cathedral . 4 It was a visual representation of Isaiah ’ s prophecy : ‘ And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse , and a flower shall rise up out of his root ’ ( Isaiah 11:1 ), combined with Christ ’ s genealogy which opens the New Testament ( Matthew 1 ). Jesse is shown reclining , with a tree growing from his body , containing his descendants ( accompanied by prophets ), and culminating in Christ , usually with the Virgin , at the top .
This complex image was perfectly suited for the monumental size and compartmentalisation of a window in practical terms , and could also signify a variety of meanings . At both New College and Winchester , the tracery lights were filled with a representation of the Last Judgement . This was a recognised form of the Tree of Jesse ( used in stained glass elsewhere , including at Wells Cathedral in the 1340s ) representing , with the Crucifixion , a complete history of Christ ’ s role as redeemer , predestined from the Old Testament to save humanity , and to provide judgement at the end of time . The Winchester window was organised around a particularly large Virgin and Child , where Mary is shown offering her breast to Christ ( fig . 11 ). This emphasised the importance of the Virgin , patron of both colleges , as the means of mankind ’ s redemption through her nurturing of Christ .
In both chapels , the Jesse window was set in a wider context by the surrounding windows , which contained figures of prophets , apostles and saints ( New College also had Old Testament patriarchs ). The selection and arrangement of these figures at Winchester over eight side windows was meticulously planned . The two eastmost
Figure 7 : Interior of Winchester College Chapel , watercolour by James Cave , 1802 ( Winchester College , Aw406 )
windows on both sides contained prophets and apostles , while the two westmost windows on each side depicted a series of saints . It is here that we can see clearly Wykeham exercising his personal preference , choosing saints who reflected his clerical background at Winchester , and royal service to England . Out of twenty-two saints depicted , eleven were archbishops , bishops or abbots , six of whom were English and four Benedictine ( Winchester Cathedral was attached to a Benedictine house ), with a further three deacons . Three were saintly pre-Conquest English kings : Edmund , Edward the Confessor and Oswald . The remaining five figures were the Virgin ( patron of the college ) and her mother St Anne , Mary Magdalene ( possibly
6 Medieval Glass at Winchester College