The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1881-01-18 00:00:00

THN SHAXESPERIAN WINDOW.

It will well repay the trouble of any one who will
take a walk to Greenhill, to have a look at this beauti-
ful work of art, which is to be seen over the entrance
door of Greenhill House, the residence of the Mayor,
R. N. Howard, Esq. On an evening, from the hall
being lighted outside, the public can obtain goo
of it trom the outside, audit can also be seen by day
alit. It if =woad to be one of the finest .pecimens
jou. „winning in existence, and formerlT was in
&ankles Castle, where it was "the sight' of the
castle, every one going to see it, and persons have come
long distances of late to see It; in fact it ought to be
one of the sights of the town. For the information of
these who are not acquainted with Its history, wo give
It , as follows

In the Great Bxhibftiost of 1861, one of the meet
beautiful object+ in that treasure-bruise of the World
was the enamelled stained glass of Mr. F. Beißich who
had selected for his subject that of Shakspeare reading
his KS. of " The Merry Wives of Windsor" to Queen
Elie 'loth. It will be remembered that" Goad Queen
He.," who relished fun with a somewhat stronger
tvour than ii t the taste of the present day, was so
tickled by the character of the fat knight, Sir John
Falstaff in " King Henry," that she laid her commands
on the great dramatist to write a comedy, showing
Fdisteff in love. The recruit of Shakepeare'e labours
was "The Merry Wives of Windsor, " which brought
the illustrious playwright the further honour of her
commands to read the comedy to Her Mejety in
private. This is the soene which Mr. Bejaia has
immortalised, and the accessories he has iottsoduowd
have made up • most artistic picture. The Virgin
Queen is seated in • chair of state, wearing many and
costly jewels, her throat surrounded by the immense
ruffled collar of the age, the rest of her attire, as
well as that of her attendant ladies, being in the
f mhion of the time. At her right is pretty Lady
Nansden, while behind her are the historically
famous Conntessee of Southampton and Nottingham.
Opposite is the immortal bard, his face at once
recdgnised by the excellence of the portrait, as com-
pared with theee handed down to us ; on hie right
etmls the then envied and powerful favourite of the
Queen—Sir Walter Raleigh, rapt in attention, and
over their shoulders peers Earl Southampton. Her
Majesty's drew, is a white satin, with a crimson
stom tcher, studded with pearls, and Sir Walter and
Shakespeare ale in slashed doublet and hose, one wear-
ing ale a crimson velvet cloak. The light and shade
I. admirably managed, the folds of the drapery being
so correctly painted as to be quite realistic, and this
effect in heightened by the extreme delicacy and truth
with which the velvet and satin textures are repre-
sented, for they shins with their peculiar elegem, and
It appears as if the touch wmdd confirm the witness of
the eye th ,t the t-xtttrect are real and could be felt and
moved. The colou, are of the greatest purity, and
they harmonise Itsautiltille with the whole, while
thel pearl. are vere delicate in their mild radiance.
We understind lean is magazine contemporaneous
with the exhibition that in producing the lifelike
colours of a portrait, orange, red, blue, rose, &c., Were
in the process mod by Mr. &Lillie, vitrified till they
became a portion st the glass on which they were laid,
some of them requiring to he burnt four or five times
before the painting was complete. The picture is •
treat to gaze upou in any light, sad except Bertlal,
Mr. Baillie was considered to have produced in it the
coloured glass In depth and richness of oolouring ; it
tbeiot,siPet Ceminegn of
fu enamelledbeyondtegslaaurrotnthdine Great
gEhi
specimenszbiol.
was, in faze the must effective production by far in the
English collection. Having been purchased for a very
large sum of money, it was removed entire to the
Mayor's.