Minster windows revealed

Experts have completed work on half of the panels from the window, recognised as some of the finest medieval stained glass in existence. The window was designed by John Thornton, with its main section an illustration of the Apocalypse, and was completed in 1408.

Sarah Brown, the director of York Glaziers Trust which is carrying out the work, said: “This is a significant landmark in the restoration project, as each of the 108 panels require painstaking research, documentation, examination, conservation and repair of the many thousands
of components that make up 
this incredible glass master-
piece.

Each panel is a work of art in its own right, each piece painted with the skills of a Van Eyck or a Vermeer, with an amazing delicacy that can now be fully appreciated as we look at the panels up close.”

The work is part of the five-year York Minster Revealed project and the overall restoration of the cathedral’s East Front, which is backed by the Yorkshire Post.

The York Minster Revealed scheme has received £10.5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and is due to be finished in 2016. But visitors who cannot wait until then will have a chance to see some of the restored panels this year when a new exhibition space, The Orb, is installed in the Minster’s East End.

The acting Dean of York, Canon Glyn Webster, said: “The scale of the building, and the abundance of beautiful stained glass in it can often mean that it becomes somewhat overwhelming – there is such a huge amount of glass to look at, and the scale is so great, it is not until you take some time to look at some of the individual windows that you begin to appreciate these great works of art.”