St Joseph of Arimathea and St Mary Magdalene

Photo © Martin Crampin larger image

about 1892 Two-light window with standing figures of Joseph of Arimathea and Mary Magdalene. The risen Christ commissioning Peter is shown below. technique: stained glass firm/studio: C.E. Kempe Church of St John, Barmouth, Gwynedd south wall of the sanctuary The Corpus of Kempe Stained Glass dates this window, and that adjacent, to 1872. However, the church was not built until the 1890s, and it is likely that both were installed around the time of the other stained glass in the chancel and north chapel, for which the Corpus gives the date of 1892. The Corpus also lists the female figure as Margaret of Antioch, which may be suggested by the many-headed dragon below. However, the large jar of ointment that she holds, her pairing with Joseph of Arimathea, together with the post-Resurrection scene below, seem to support the identification of the saint as Mary Magdalene. The theme of the early church is continued with the saints Paul and Stephen in the neighbouring window. However, the iconography of the trampling of the dragon is unusual for Mary Magdalene, and is more commonly associated with the Virgin Mary, as well as being appropriate for Margaret.  (ObjectID=4930 ImageID=9491) Original File Name=BarmouthStJohn_DSC1208B.jpg

This artwork is indexed under the following main subject(s):
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• mission of Peter ('Pasce oves meas')  [John 21:15-17]
• the Jewish councillor Joseph of Arimathaea 
• the penitent harlot Mary Magdalene 

Martin Crampin, Stained Glass from Welsh Churches (Talybont: Y Lolfa, 2014), p. 134.

Philip Collins, The Corpus of Kempe Stained Glass in the UK and Ireland (Kempe Trust, 2000), p. 330.

Photo © Martin Crampin