436 APPENDIX TO PART II

grey; whereas the modern blues were much more transparent-like the blues of a druggist’s bottles-and instead of tending to grey, tended to purple.

Again, the yellows of the old glass were always pale, passing into grey-sometimes stained with black, the yellows of the modern glass invariably orange in a very high degree. Again, the reds of the old glass were pure crimson in their general tone, and occasionally so dark as to pass into black, while the reds of the modern glass were invariably a tone more inclined to scarlet, and more pale. Now I want you to go to Ward, and insist especially on this want of transparency in the old glass, which it appears to me is a very, very important point. I find universally that the eye rests on it as on a quiet picture, while with the modern it is tormented by violence of transmitted light.

I imagine, therefore, the modern glass is much thinner, and that there is less lead in it. The old glass seems opaque without grinding-by actual body of colour.

Again, let me beg of you to criticise the colours of the glass which Ward shows you most strictly, and in the yellows, to avoid like poison the orange tint, in the blues, to shun with equal horror the purple tint, and choose rather a dead grey or black than a bright purple. In the reds, look for pure crimson, and avoid scarlet, though real scarlet is used in some places sparingly-only take care that your crimson be crimson, not scarlettish. In the whites, take them very dark and green in hue. And in the greens themselves, don’t take grapy hues, but doubtful, greyish, blackish, sea-water looking tones.

Lastly, I find the iron bars twice as thick in the old glass as in the modern, and running through every bit of the window. If ever Ward gives you a bit of whole glass, four inches over, make him smash it, and stick it together again. I think the putty, or the rust of the iron, gives quality to the edges of the glass. I am quite certain, from what I have seen, that Ward will make a mess of the window, but if you hold tight in these points of colour it will be at least endurable. I thought, when I made the design, that I had filled it too full of little bits, but I find the windows here are divided and divided again, down to even smaller fragments. So don’t stand any nonsense about making the figures larger. If you do, you will spoil all. Break it well up, stick it together with iron, and select dirty colours, blacks, and greens, and greys, and browns, to fill up gaps with. In my design all the colours are too intense-too gaudy, rather-they want chastening-all but the little bits in the angles.

So much for general principles. On Monday, we stay here till twelve o’clock. All the morning I shall be drawing from these windows. I will send you the results straightway. They are of the thirteenth century, and by the same man who did the windows at Chartres. I hope to be at Chartres on Tuesday, and the whole of Wednesday, and then I will send you fillings for the circles, etc., which Ward must not alter. My father says the old whites are fishy.

All send their kind regards.

Yours ever very truly,

J. RUSKIN.

Make Ward put iron into the smallest circles, bind the winepress with it, and the door-posts, and the ark-or with strong, painted black lines

[Version 0.04: March 2008]