LET THERE BE LIGHT

When ‘sunlight’ illuminates 300 stained glass windows in various places in Wallonia and Brussels, described both textual and photographically in Commémorations dans la Lumiére et la Couleur. Vitraux de guerre et patriotiques en Wallonie et à Bruxelles you realize that ‘true light’ always conquers ‘darkness’.

In addition to history, this richly illustrated monograph shows the inventiveness and the variety of stained glass windows and tells of the wealth of the workshops and master glassblowers in Belgium in the 20th century.

(click on thumbnail to enlarge the pictures)

photo intro: Namur, Palais de Justice, atelier Colpaert d’après Anto Carte, 1949 ©Yves Dubois

row left to right: Enghien, collége Saint-Augustin, atelier Ganton-Defoin, 1923 (détail) ©KIK-IRPA Bruxelles,

Sceau de l’atelier Ganton-Defoin 1923 et signature de restauration par l’atelier Bakelants, 1980, Enghien collège Saint-Agustain (détail) ©KIK-IRPA Bruxelles,

Embourg, monument aux morts, atelier Osterrath, 1938 ©Isabelle Lecocq

Of the 300, one glass window commemorating the First World War caught my eye. Not only because of the colors and the special design with the symbol of the dove. But as in The Custodians, my latest publication, the most amazing things are in the small details, in this case it’s the red poppies, which figure not only a role in John McCrae’s poem about Flanders Fields. Poppies are also mystical flowers that always need ‘TRUE LIGHT thus SUNLIGHT’!!

row left to right: Ixelles, église presbytérienne, St. Andrew, atelier Majerus, 2000

Koekelberg, basilique du Sacré-Coeur, atelier Crickx, Anto Carte Concepteur, 1953

Weywertz, église Saint-Michel, atelier Osterrath, J. de Bellefroid concepteur, 1959, all ©Isabelle Lecocq

When we read that the craftsmanship of stained glass windows is part of our cultural heritage and that now more than ever it is important to worry about preserving this heritage, I am reminded of the words of the late Al Ghassany in his book Dhofar, Land of Frankincense and quoted in The Custodians:  “In the past, the time we were alive and still can be remembered.”

Ultimately, that’s what commemoration is all about.

row left to right: Limerlé, église Saint-Ėtienne, atelier Rotta, 1941 ©Isabelle Lecocq

Montage photographique sur la fabrication de vitraux aux ateliers de peinture sur verre Joseph Osterrath et André Biolley (Photo Cristel, Liège), v.1935

Courcelles, mémorial du Rognac, atelier Crickx, L. Crespin concepteur, 1946 ©Isabelle Lecocq

 Isabelle Lecocq et Yves Dubois,

Commémorations dans la Lumière et la Couleur. Vitraux de guerre et patriotiques en Wallonie et à Bruxelles, 2018, Namur.