John Thornton of
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
(
fl. 1405-1433) was a master
glazier
A glazier is a tradesman responsible for cutting, installing, and removing glass (and materials used as substitutes for glass, such as some plastics).Elizabeth H. Oakes, ''Ferguson Career Resource Guide to Apprenticeship Programs'' ( Infobase: ...
and
stained glass artist active in England during the 15th century. The output of his workshop includes some of the finest English medieval glass.
Biography
The first certain record of Thornton, apart from a possible 1371 reference in Coventry, is his 1405 contract with the Dean of
York Minster
The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...
to glaze the quire east window.
[Marks, R. ''Stained Glass in England during the Middle Ages'', Routledge, 1993, p.180] The
Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...
at the time was
Richard le Scrope Richard Scrope may refer to:
* Richard Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton (c. 1327–1403), English soldier and courtier, builder of Bolton Castle
*Richard Scrope (bishop) (c. 1350–1405), Archbishop of York
* Richard Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Bo ...
, a former
Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry
The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West M ...
, and the window was funded by
Walter Skirlaw
Walter Skirlaw (born Swine parish, Holderness, brought up at Skirlaugh; died 1406) was an English bishop and diplomat. He was Bishop of Durham from 1388 to 1406. He was an important adviser to Richard II of England and Henry IV of England.
L ...
, also previously Bishop of Coventry, so it seems possible both men would have recommended Thornton based on their knowledge of his work in his home town.
Thornton was made a
freeman
Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to:
* a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm
* Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies
* Free ...
of York in 1410, but was known to be back living in the St John's Bridges area of Coventry (now known as Burges)
by 1413. He appears again in 1433, when he received further payment from the dean and chapter of York, and was recorded as holding property there.
It has been suggested, though without any strong evidence, that Thornton was the son of a "John Coventre", a glazier in the royal glass-painting workshops at Westminster in 1351 and 1352, who later assisted in setting up windows at
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original c ...
for
Edward III of England
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ...
. Thornton could have worked as an assistant to his father before rising to the position of designer and draughtsman.
[Knowles, J. 'John Thornton of Coventry', '']Notes and Queries
''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inne ...
'', No. 140, 481
Works
Thornton was instrumental in disseminating the
International Gothic
International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by th ...
style in the north and Midlands of England. The products of his workshop can be recognised by their favouring of white glass and
yellow stain set against blue and ruby "seaweed"-patterned backgrounds, and by the very distinctive modelling of faces.
[Marks, p.183. Thornton's treatment of faces was expressive, using relatively heavy shading, and generally features small mouths and rather elongated noses with a bulbous tip.]
Thornton's masterpiece is the Great East Window of York Minster, the largest in the building and containing about of glass. According to the contract, much of the work was to be executed by his own hand, though specifically only to "pourtray
..the histories, images, and other things to be painted on the
indow; evidently some of the glazing would be carried out by apprentices or workmen.
[Blair, J and Ramsay, N. ''English Medieval Industries'', CIP, 1991, p.280] Thornton is likely to have recruited glaziers locally in York: he seems to have been an enthusiastic teacher, and his style quickly became dominant in the area.
[Marks, p.182]
Work thought to be by Thornton can also be found in several smaller churches, as well as in
St Mary's Hall in Coventry. His surviving windows for
Coventry Cathedral were removed before it was destroyed in the
Coventry Blitz
The Coventry Blitz ( blitz: from the German word ''Blitzkrieg'' meaning "lightning war" ) or Coventration of the city was a series of bombing raids that took place on the British city of Coventry. The city was bombed many times during the Sec ...
and have been preserved.
A rare glimpse of unseen cathedral stained glass
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...
.
The Thornton 'tradition' continued in York even after the middle of the 15th century, though many of the works produced show a coarsening or loss of quality compared with Thornton's authentic creations.
, a contemporary of Thornton and also a practitioner of the International Gothic style in stained glass.
...