Of the trio just mentioned, Grand-Andely is much the most interesting,
in fact it deserves greater renown for its glass than it at present
enjoys. Unfortunately only one side of the church retains its original
glazing, but we find ample compensation for this, because the entire
southern half is filled with brilliant sixteenth century subjects, not
only along the chapels below, but also in the clerestory. After a
delightful hour spent here one readily credits the tale that a youth of
the neighbourhood, by constantly contemplating their glories, so
developed his love of colour that he determined to devote his life to
painting. This youth was Nicolas Poussin. The great width of the
embrasures, as well as their number (six in the nave and four in the
choir, on each side, both above and below), provide ample scope for the
display of the glazier's skill. Among so many of such excellence it is
difficult to select which to praise the most, but the third on the right
in the nave clerestory (dated 1560), because of Abraham's gorgeous
yellow robe, as well as the blue canopy with red draperies above the
aged Isaac, will linger longest in the writer's memory. Even when
viewed on a dull, grey day, one cannot escape from the impression that a
bright sun is shining outside, because of the brilliancy of this
window's hues. It is one of the few examples of this epoch to possess
that peculiarity, which, by the way, is so common among the mosaic type
of the thirteenth century. This tendency towards the ornate, everywhere
apparent throughout this series, finds its ultimate expression in the
sixth nave chapel on the right, where the stonework of the Renaissance
canopies is heavily overlaid with golden designs. The choir's four
southerly clerestory windows each contains a large figure under a canopy
of the time, the treatment varying in each case. Below, in the south
wall of the choir, the tracery lights of the two easternmost windows are
filled with diminutive angels, eleven praying or playing musical
instruments in one of them, and in the other, nine, each carrying a
symbol of the Passion. The way in which each angel is adjusted to the
small pane it occupies is very graceful.
The apse end is square, in the English fashion. Its great east window
contains good fourteenth century canopy work, in bands across a
grisaille field. The subsequent addition of a Lady Chapel to the east
has injured the effect of this glass, not only by an entrance being cut
through it below, but also because the second tier of canopies is
entirely shut off from the light by the wall of this later chapel built
against it outside. There is thus left only the third, or upper tier,
for our inspection. If the northern side of this church were as
fortunate as the southern in the possession of its original glazing,
this would rank among the best French glass shrines, which is high
praise.