Audio described tour of the stained-glass windows at Birmingham Cathedral. The triptych of windows in the nave . The Ascension, The Nativity and The Crucifixion, and the last Judgement window at the west end.

• Track one – A description of the nave.
• Track two – A history of the windows
• Track three – Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris
• Track four – The recent conservation of the windows.

The windows

• Track five – The Ascension.
• Track six – A description of the Ascension.
• Track seven – The Nativity.
• Track eight – A description of The Nativity.
• Track nine – The Crucifixion.
• Track ten – A description of The Crucifixion,
• Track eleven – The Last Judgement,
• Track twelve – A description of The Last Judgement.

The Cathedral Church of Saint Philip was consecrated as Birmingham’s second parish church in 1715 – built in response to the town’s growing population. St Philip’s became the cathedral of the newly formed Diocese of Birmingham in 1905. The church was designed in the English Baroque style by architect Thomas Archer. Archer was influenced by the Italian churches of Borromini, resulting in a building infused with the elegance of Italianate classicism, though in a less ornate English style. The tower, at the west end of the church has a lead-covered dome, topped with a lantern, a short structure on slender pillars, supporting a domed cupola.

Another important contemporary influence on the building was the high church Oxford Movement which had grown substantially within the Victorian Church of England.  The configuration and focus of the Cathedral was altered to create more space at the east end, moving the choir and organ into the chancel to reflect the increase in the use of music in services, and the ceremonial character of the Eucharist – also known as Holy Communion.

The apse at the east end of the church was extended, creating an enhanced chancel and sanctuary, dominated by classical columns and an ornate, coffered ceiling with gilded flower detailing. The columns were marbled and the capitals gilded in a restoration undertaken in 1980. The organ, with its original eighteenth-century case, was moved from a gallery across the tower at the west end of the church, to the north side of the new chancel. The fine gilded wrought-iron rail at the sanctuary step is part of the original furniture and was made by Robert Bakewell in 1715.

The lofty, airy, rectangular nave of the church has two lines of pillars with square bases and fluted columns, separating the side aisles from the central space of the nave. The wood-panelled galleries on either side are part of the original church. Daylight streams in through rows of large, tall windows, filled with clear and etched glass panes dating from the mid-nineteenth century.

The three stained-glass windows at the east-end are arranged from left to right, depicting scenes from the Nativity, the Ascension and the Crucifixion. The Ascension was originally planned to be the only stained-glass window; and the images on either side were decided upon only after the full completion and installation of the first.  All the windows have tall, arch-topped rectangular frames. The glass is supported by the iron frames and the absence of stone mullions gives a huge expanse of uninterrupted glass and light.

Unusually, the side windows curve along with the walls. The view of these windows from the nave is partially obscured by the columns in the apse, as the architect had not conceived these windows to be filled with stained glass. However, this gives a fascinating theological effect for worshippers coming forward to receive Communion at the High Altar. The Christian faith is revealed as you approach, before being confronted by the Last Judgement when you turn around and look towards the tower at the west end.

Sunlight projects the colours of the stained glass across the floor and into the church.  The position of the sun at various times of the day, highlights different views through the glass.

By the late 1800s, Birmingham had become a rich and important city through the success of the Industrial Revolution. The three stained glass windows at the east end of the cathedral were completed in 1887, as part of a ten-year project to extend the church and build a new chancel. They were designed by the Birmingham born Pre-Raphaelite artist, Edward Burne-Jones, and manufactured by William Morris and his craftsmen – a key figure of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Initially, the commission was for a single stained-glass window, representing the Ascension, for the central opening. It was installed in 1885. When Burne-Jones saw the window in situ for the first time two years later, he was so overcome with the emotional impact of the finished window, that he suggested designing two further windows to fill the spaces on either side.  After discussion between artist, architect, funder, Rector and manufacturer, it was agreed that the two further windows should represent the ‘Nativity of Christ’ and the ‘Crucifixion of Christ’. Burne-Jones aspired to create artworks that enhance ordinary people’s ability to connect with Christian faith.

The strong views of the benefactor Emma Villers Wilkes, who provided the finance for the project, were influential in the design of the two side windows.  She was a devout High Church Anglican who regularly attended services at St. Philip’s, and the donated funds were in memory of her brother. She insisted that the traditional representation of oxen in Nativity scenes was un-Biblical, and that the Crucifixion should not be blooded and gory, as was often the case in medieval scenes. Burne-Jones’s slender, beautiful elongated figures echo medieval images observed on the façades of the French cathedrals such as Chartres, which he had visited as a young man.

A fourth commission was provided in 1898 to fill the west window with ‘The Last Judgement’ as a memorial to Rector, Henry Bowlby who had died in 1894. It is considered to be Burne-Jones’ greatest masterpiece, though he never saw the finished window as he died in the year it was installed. The design, manufacture, and installation of the windows took thirteen years and produced some of the largest and most spectacular pieces of Pre-Raphaelite art in the world.

From the outside, the east-end windows are the same height as the other plain glass windows in the cathedral, but inside they are shorter. This is because there are steps leading up to the sanctuary level. Consequently, the lower parts of all three windows can only be seen from outside. Before their conservation, panels of glass fragments were in place under the Ascension window and square green and yellow panes of ‘pub glass’ under the other two.  These ‘bit box’ glass panels were common in churches during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Experts have suggested that these particular panels were added when the windows were put back in place after World War II, probably by the local firm of Hardman & Co. – who made the plain lead windows around the rest of the building.

The stained-glass windows at Birmingham Cathedral were designed by Edward Burne-Jones. He was born in 1833 into a middle-class family at the heart of Birmingham’s industrial success.  They lived in a house in Bennetts Hill just across from St Philip’s, and he was baptised here as a baby. His mother, who was a jeweller, died within six days of his birth. He was a pupil at King Edward’s School before attending the University of Oxford. As part of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, he reacted against many de-humanising aspects of the industrial world of the Victorians, looking instead for inspiration from medieval art, religion, myths and legends.  Burne-Jones was one of the later members of the movement and his superlative talents ranged across paintings, stained glass windows and tapestries.

The windows were manufactured in the workshop of William Morris, the textile designer, poet, artist, writer and socialist activist, who was one of the central figures of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Morris was born in Walthamstow, east London in 1834, into a wealthier family than that of Burne-Jones. The inheritance of his middle class surroundings gave him the freedom to use his talents in the pursuit of his own desires. He became a key figure in the Arts and Crafts movement, championing a principle of handmade production that didn’t chime with the Victorian era’s focus on industrial ‘progress’. 

Morris and Burne-Jones met at Oxford University and they became lifelong friends. Burne-Jones introduced him to a group of students who became known as ‘The Birmingham Set’ and ‘The Brotherhood’, and who enjoyed romantic stories of medieval chivalry and self-sacrifice. They also read books by contemporary reformers such as John Ruskin, Charles Kingsley and Thomas Carlyle. Morris and Burne-Jones had both begun training for the priesthood, but after an architectural tour of northern France, they realised that their gifts and energies would be better spent in the expressiveness of art than in ordained priesthood.

In 1861, Morris, along with Burne-Jones and other leading members of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, set up their own decorative arts firm, which later became Morris & Co. The prospectus announced that the firm would undertake carving, stained glass, metal-work, paper-hangings, printed fabrics known as chintzes, and carpets. The decoration of churches was an important part of the business.

Morris died in 1896 and Burne-Jones in 1898.

In 2023, The Divine Beauty Project restored the cathedral’s four stained-glass windows to their original beauty, ensuring they can be enjoyed for many more years to come. Before the conservation work, the windows displayed signs of dirt buildup, cracked glazing, and damaged stonework. Conservators found evidence of previous attempts to repair cracks, leads, and to touch up damaged areas. The project thoroughly cleaned and repaired the ironwork frames and addressed the long-term weather damage to the surrounding stonework. The works also involved installing new external grilles on all four windows for protection and to improve the view of the windows from the outside.

The restoration process took over 500 working days to complete. The project was made possible thanks to a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, as well as donations from various organisations and individuals. In addition to the physical conservation work, over 3400 visitors were able to take part in scaffolding tours. School children took part in special workshops, street art inspired by the windows was created, and public drop-in sessions with the conservation team brought the work to life for a new audience.

Some sections of the windows were in such poor condition, that twenty panels, mostly located at the top and bottom of each of the four windows, had to be removed. These panels were taken to the conservator’s workshop in Wells for restoration. Conservators used a solution of acetone and deionised water to clean the glass – effectively removing grease and soot without damaging the paint. 

Some panels required new leading, which had been intricately shaped to create definition and details in the images, such as folds in cloaks. Malleable lead cames were shaped by hand and come in different sizes, depending on the glass thickness. Before dismantling, rubbings were taken of the panels to copy the design accurately. There are two main methods of taking rubbings – either using a crayon-like substance or ink. The crayon method provides a more detailed final rubbing, whereas ink can be more efficient over larger panels.

Conservators cut the lead cames to size with a chisel and aligned them with the outlines from the rubbings taken from the panels to recreate the windows in the workshop – ensuring the correct tension was achieved during this process, so that the windows could be returned to their original size, shape, and strength when the cames were soldered together. A putty was inserted into the small gaps between the lead caming and the glass to ensure the windows remained weatherproof.

Conservators also hand-touched some paintwork, which proved challenging when matching the paint colours to the windows’ original. Many of the colours had not faded over the years due to high quality craftsmanship in their original creation.  The detailed features of the windows were painted on with ground glass, stabilised with oil and water and re-fired, bonding them into the structure of the glass, reducing the amount of colour fading over time.

The Ascension window was the first stained-glass window to be created for St Philip’s, and intended to be the only one. It was installed in 1885, in the newly extended chancel at St Philip’s.

Located at the east end of the Cathedral, the window’s central position, height and dazzling colour palette, immediately commands the attention of anyone who walks into the nave. A close to life-size image of Jesus is depicted at the top centre, ascending to heaven forty days after his resurrection at Easter. He wears bright red robes to further reflect his movement towards heaven.  This is in contrast to his white robes in the Last Judgement window where his movement is from Heaven coming down to Earth. His bold red and white halo includes patterning similar to the St George’s cross – symbolising resurrection victory. Under his red robes he wears blue, which can just be seen – the colour reflecting his humanity as well in addition to his divinity.

Like all the windows, the design is divided into two halves across the centre. Vivid blue circles represent the effortless movement of Christ from earth up to heaven. This is shown just above the heads of the crowd at the bottom of the scene. Burne-Jones wanted to portray heaven as he saw it – starting just a few inches above our heads!

The woman who stands gazing up at Jesus is believed to be either Mary the mother of Jesus, who is often depicted in blue robes, or Mary Magdelene. Her eyes are fixed on Jesus, with her hands clasped at her breast.  Her white robe covers her head and drapes down over her pale blue gown.  More research is being undertaken to confirm which Mary this figure represents, as no women are described in the scripture as being present at The Ascension, but one is often depicted as present in artistic interpretations.

The level of detail and expert craftsmanship has lasted the test of time in this window, with outstanding examples of many stained-glass techniques evident today. Many features in this window are double-glazed to add depth of colour. Intricate paintwork including individual toenails on the feet, and Morris’ acanthus leaves and daisies on the clothes of the disciple St Peter are just some examples. The lack of fading points to the stained-glass being fired at an appropriately high temperature – the mark of quality craftsmanship.

When Burne-Jones saw The Ascension window in place, he was inspired to create two more, which took much further deliberation to reach the three scenes we can see today at the east end of the cathedral.

Christ stands tall and straight at the top of the window as he rises towards heaven. His face is tilted downwards, gazing through heavy-lidded eyes.  He has brown hair and short beard, his head framed by a cream and red halo. He wears scarlet robes, draped in long folds over a navy blue, ankle length tunic. His feet are bare.

Six angels stand either side of him, pale skinned with light brown hair, their hands clasped in prayer. Their robes are pastel colours, pale blue, rose pink, dark blue, and pale green, all draped over light-coloured gowns, and their feet, too, are bare.  There are at least eight curved halos and wisps of hair in amongst the tightly packed crowd of deep red wings above them, reaching to the top of the window. Amongst this jumbled pattern of crimson are a couple of blue wings, one navy and the other a soft powder blue.

Christ’s left hand is raised, one finger extended, in the traditional iconic symbol of blessing. His open right hand reaches down to the people, the symbol of his invitation to draw near. 

Beneath Christ and the angels is a sea of blue circular patterns resembling water or smooth clouds. This surface forms the distinction between Heaven and Earth. Apart from a narrow line of distant blue sky and brown hills, the heads of the people on earth seem almost to brush the foot of Heaven.

Below, a crowd of people, including eleven of his disciples, are gathered in fear and wonder, looking upwards, many also with their hands clasped. The disciples’ robes are a variety of colours; on the left a group is in red; others are in white, dark blue and dark green. Some are bearded, with brown, grey or white hair, others are youthfully clean-shaven. Their skin tones are a more accurate representation of the diversity of the population from which the disciples emerged.  Their bare feet are in sandals; they are standing on flat grey stones, with little tufts of greenery poking through the gaps.

The crowd includes a figure at the centre thought to be one of the Mary’s from scripture – either his mother Mary or Mary Magdelene. She wears a white robe, but with glimpses of blue on her arms.

The Nativity window tells the story of the birth of Christ, as recorded in Gospel of Luke. 

The scene takes place in a cave rather than the more modern interpretation of a stable.  There were many caves around the hills of Bethlehem, which were used for housing animals, or people in some cases. There are no animals near the baby Jesus, such as cattle or sheep. This was a stipulation of the benefactor Emma Villers Wilkes, who also stipulated no oxen in the scene at all.

The shepherds are placed in the upper half of the scene, above the cave. While they were outsiders in their society, Burne-Jones has placed them in this position, showing that with the Coming of Jesus, the world is turned upside down, as it says in Matthew 20:16  “So the last will be first, and the first will be last”. 

In Luke 2:8-10, it says: ^“there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people”.

The angel of the Lord stands above the sheep surrounded by other angels filling the top left of the scene, in line with the reference from Luke 2: 13-14, which says “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest…”

A section of wintery woodland between the angels and shepherds has a very similar look to Burne-Jones’ painting of ‘Dark Wood’ which can be found at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Burne-Jones and Morris were very well versed in scripture due to their religious upbringing. Rather than showing the Magi, who arrived to the Messiah much later, angels are shown worshipping baby Jesus, alongside an elderly Joseph.

An interesting (and probably accidental) feature of the design is that when the sun is low in the sky during the winter months, the sun shines through and illuminates the baby from both inside and out at different times of day. Since the conservation of the windows in 2023, the new external grilles enable this to be even more visible from the outside.

A crowd of scarlet-robed angels curve around the top left of the window. Their pale faces and golden hair are framed by halos as they look down onto the rustic scene below. Through the crowd some hands are visible and some of the faces partially obscured by a mass of red wings. An angel at the forefront of the crowd wears jewels, and bright pink robes, speaking to the Shepherds below who shield their eyes to look upwards. Three shepherds stand curved around the right hand side of the scene in distinctively coloured golden, deep purple and navy blue robes. Two shield their eyes and a third leans on his staff. Their flock of sheep is to the left below them – a mass of small white creatures said to resemble ‘maggots’ by visiting school children!

Between the angels and shepherds, a wintry forest of light brown tree trunks contrast against a twisting mass of dense dark brown branches. Each branch is divided by complex lead cames to give the image depth.

There is a wonderful sinuous quality to this image because the dividing line is not horizontal but formed by the slope of the cave, with lines of yellow-brown stones dividing the upper and lower parts of the scene. Below we see the baby Jesus, his mother, father and more worshipping angels in a dark cave.

Mary, clothed in dark blue robes, kneels on a flat ledge of small rocks, leaning tenderly over the baby. Her head is veiled in white, framed by a scarlet halo patterned with delicate roses. She holds her clasped hands just under her chin. Joseph, depicted as an older man, is to the left dressed in red, bending reverently over the tiny new-born baby. He is flanked by three angels worshipping the baby. One angel is dressed in pale red, one in blue and one in emerald green. Each has a small jewel on their heads.

Jesus lies on the rock floor, tightly wrapped in white swaddling bands, his pink arms emerging, and his tiny rounded face framed with golden curls and a halo.

The crucifixion window depicts Jesus’ death, with many references to descriptions from the Gospel of John. The striking design of the third window on the right hand side is a powerful piece of storytelling. The central image of Christ hanging on the cross draws Heaven and Earth together, with the sturdy wood of the cross powerfully portrayed, occupying the height of the window.  The head of the cross pierces up through the pattern of blue circles depicting the floor of Heaven, fulfilling Burne-Jones’ intention for the huge cross to become a bridge between things heavenly and earthly.

A parchment with the letters INRI has been pinned to the top of the sturdy dark wood cross. These stand for Iesus Nazarenus, Rex lauaeorum which translates as Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

The benefactor of the new chancel, Emma Villers Wilkes did not originally want the Crucifixion scene as a subject of the windows. When she was persuaded to agree to the Crucifixion window, she insisted that there was no blood showing in the image. However Burne-Jones’ use of a blood red banners flanking the crossbeam suggests to the viewer the blood pouring out of Christ. On the far right a helmeted soldier in a red cloak, aims a tall spear towards Jesus’s side, in a further reference to St. John’s Gospel, which says in 19:34:  “Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water”.

Jesus’s beloved disciple John stands with Mary on the right, at the foot of the cross, clearly following the text of John 19:26-27, which says: “so when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then He said to the disciple ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household”.

Particularly interesting are the William Morris textile designs that pop up unexpectedly: Jesus’s loincloth in The Crucifixion window is more or less exactly Morris’s famous Willow Boughs design.

Some of the details of the superb craftsmanship are only apparent in close-up: for example, the feet of the Apostles, complete with individual toenails in The Ascension window, or the wonderful leggings and chain-mail bindings of the centurion on the far right of The Crucifixion window.

The use of silver stain, a technique of adding a mixture of silver compounds and firing, on the little windows and the crenellations of the buildings, adds to the powerful 3D effect of the image.

The top of the cross reaches into the floor of Heaven itself, depicted here as rich blue, patterned with circles, matching the floor where Christ stands in the Ascension image. In the distance a broad sky merges different shades of blue, above the crenellated towers of the walls of Jerusalem.  Little yellow windows glow in the brown walls, the emanating lights indicating that people in Jerusalem were carrying on with their daily lives, whilst the crucifixion takes place outside the city walls.  

Christ’s head is turned sideways and a narrow green crown of twisting thorns encircles his brown, shoulder length hair.  His solemn, dignified face has a short brown beard, his eyes are looking down to those at the foot of the cross. A glowing white halo frames his head, and in that halo are faint pale blue lines and the three arms of a cross symbol used in Byzantine Icons of Christ.

Christ’s bare torso is robustly muscled; the pieces of glass depicting his chest appear to be wrongly arranged with mismatching anatomical shapes and shades of colour. This disarray and dissonance suggests the artist is powerfully representing the man’s anguish as his beaten, nailed body, carries the burden of the sins of the world.  He wears a white loincloth decorated with delicate William Morris designed floral patterns. His arms are stretched along the crossbeam; small marks show on the palms of his hands where the nails have been driven in.

Clusters of tall red banners stretch across the background, framing Christ, and a crowd of faces gathered at the foot of the cross look upwards. On the far right a helmeted soldier in a red cloak, aims a tall spear towards Jesus’s side, in a further reference to St. John’s Gospel.

At the foot of the cross a mass of faces tilted up to the figure of Christ, stretches into the background, among the banners. Their darker skin tones representing the Middle Eastern population. In the foreground on the left, three grieving women cluster close on the rocky ground around the base of the cross.  Two have their heads veiled in white; one wears a navy robe, the second a rose-coloured robe; the other is in crimson; they reach tender hands to Mary, Jesus’s mother.  She stands closest to the cross, just below Christ’s nailed feet. Her distinctive blue robe covers her head and drapes above her white dress.  Her clasped hands lift her face to gaze up at her son.

The devastated Mary Magdalene, one of Christ’s most devoted followers, who was erroneously identified in the Middle Ages as a penitent prostitute, originating a long-accepted tradition, has fallen to her knees at the foot of the cross, her face buried in her hands as she weeps.  She is dressed in red; the colour, and the curve of her bowed back give her an immediacy in contrast to the stillness of those standing around her. A golden halo frames her head.

Jesus’s disciple John stands with Mary on the right, at the foot of the cross; John’s scarlet cloak drapes in folds around his green robe. His brown hair falls to his shoulders, under a green halo that matches his robe. His smooth, youthful face is lifted up to Jesus, his hands clasped at his chest.

The Last Judgement window shows Christ’s return to judge humanity at the end of the world, as described in the book of Revelation. It is a memorial to Henry Bowlby, former suffragan bishop of Coventry, who was rector at St Philip’s from 1875 to 1894. It is regarded as Burne-Jones’ finest work in stained glass, although neither he nor William Morris ever saw the finished piece, which was completed in 1897 around the time of both their deaths.  In the afternoon, the sun shining through the window casts vibrant and intensely colourful reflections across the cathedral.

Burne-Jones would have seen plenty of ‘Last Judgement’ windows in France, and frescoes in Italy. Usually, these images aimed to terrify the viewer into goodness. Instead, Burne-Jones offers a compassionate Christ by comparison – although those waiting to be judged still appear very afraid.  Christ is sat at the top of the scene on a rainbow – a symbol of hope and of a new relationship between God and humans through Jesus.

Revelation 4:3 says: “And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance”.

Christ’s white robes show his movement from heaven to earth, in contrast to the red robes depicted in The Ascension as Jesus moves upwards towards heaven. In the centre of the scene, perhaps more prominent than Christ himself, is the Archangel Michael, blowing a long gold trumpet. Traditionally, Michael is the chief of archangels, a spiritual warrior in the battle for good versus evil.

The mass of detailed angels at the top of the scene is a key feature of the window, including detailed lead work and Morris patterns throughout. As with the other windows, the angels in ‘The Last Judgement’ are based on a sketch of the head of Margaret, Burne-Jones’ beloved daughter – hence their similar appearance. The items held by the angels include the leather-bound Book of the Judgement, one of three mentioned in Revelation, Judgment Before the Great White Throne. Another angel holds the key to the gates of Heaven on a long double golden chain, which is a reference to the binding of the dragon in Revelation 20.

Seven others hold vials, which reference the seven bowls of God’s wrath, as described in Revelation 16 – which include painful sores, seas and rivers turning to blood, people being scorched by the heat of the sun, darkness, the Euphrates drying up, earthquakes and hailstones.

Revelation 20:11-13 says: “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 

And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done”. 

At the top of the window, Christ, clothed in white robes, sits atop a rainbow,. He wears a green crown of thorns, backed by a bright red halo. His bearded face shows a calm expression, with his left hand open and reaching towards the scene below.  The palms of his hands clearly show the stigmata, the wounds left by the crucifixion nails. 

Below, and central to the scene, the Archangel Michael is framed by his majestic and powerfully spread red wings, as he sounds his long golden trumpet. 

The top of the scene behind the main figures is filled with red angels, holding various objects. These include the leather-bound Book of the Judgement, the key to the gates of Heaven on a long double golden chain, and the seven vials of god’s wrath, referred to in Revelation chapters 16 and 20.

A dark brown band divides the scene into two and depicts a ruined cityscape. This includes industrial Birmingham and what is understood to be the Town Hall.

Below the city, a crowd of fearful people huddle anxiously together. A young family stands centrally. The husband enfolds his wife in his arms. She shields her eyes with one hand as she gazes up to the heavens, whilst clutching her baby in the crook of her other arm. A small child dressed in white, clings tightly to his father’s burgundy robes. Another two apprehensive women on the left of the scene clasp one another, standing on top of a stone tomb.

A barefoot man with his back to us, wears an elaborate gold crown. The range of people from all walks of life, reflects that Jesus has returned to judge both the rich and the poor.

At the very bottom of the window, there are gravestones, with people appearing, crawling out from below.