Church parade on Sunday (Part I)

Lots of colour in this stained glass window.  At shoulder height is the label of St John.  With his back facing North, this window is besieged by mid day light.  Augustus Pugin might be the clue to the origins of this beautifully detailed image.  Augustus is acknowledged as the reviver of Gothic styles in the English church.  Our time line is not so long ago - early 19th century.  The proud owner of the stained glass window is the St Johns Church of Wynberg.  Built in the 1830's, it is very likely that architects of the time were in some way influenced by the work and designs of Augustus Pugin.  Architect Pugin reintroduced a Gothic style to the English Church.  He was instrumental in the reconstruction of the houses of parliament after the devastating fire of 1834.  But back to St John.  History is sketchy and facts are mostly heresay.  Old thinking is that St John was one of the 12 apostles, apparently a favourite of the carpenters son.  After much drama St John fled Eretz Israel to the Greek Isle of Patmos, where in a cave, he composed much of what we know to be the book of revelations.  Over the subsequent many years St John, known in various churches as St John the evangelist, was seen to be reading a book, holding an ornate cup and often pictured with an eagle close at hand. Patmos was not the end of the road as St John lived a long life that ended in Sulcek in modern day Turkey.

St John at Patmos as seen through the paint brush of artist Jean Fouquet.  This work was commissioned in the mid 1400's by French royal treasurer, Ettienne Chevalier.  The work is part of a collection of miniature paintings bound together in a small volume known as a book of hours.  A habit long since dropped, the book of hours was a devotional book comprising a collection of biblical texts, prayers and psalms.  The book of hours was usually a personalized manuscript assembled for wealthy patrons.