Stained Glass of the Church of All Saints, North Street, York: Picture 3(c) THE PRICKE OF CONSCIENCE WINDOW

The iconography of this window, unique in Europe, is based on an anonymous Middle English (14th century) poem called the Pricke of Conscience whose text is concerned with the final fifteen days of the world. It is dated from ~1410-1420?, and each panel illustrates a day and paraphrase of that section of the poem is added at the bottom. It is likely that the Henryson and Hessle families paid for the window. The window reads from bottom left to top right and below is a key to the 3 x 6 panels of this dreadful apocalyptic story!.

13th day: The stars fall from heaven with a blinding light. 14th day: A bed with a man and woman dead. Death appears as a skeleton with a spear 15th day: Finally, fire devours everything.
10th day: Only the bare earth and the sky are to be seen. 11th day: Men and women come out and pray 12th day: The bones in coffins come again to life.
7th day: An earthquake shakes the building (and the recently constructed spire of All saints crashes down!). 8th day: The rocks and trees are consumed by fire. 9th day: In fear, people hide themselves in holes in the earth.
4th day: Sea monsters rise up and roar and invade the earth. 5th day: The sea catches fire and burns and then the earth catches fire. 6th day: The trees are on fire and the fruits drop off.
1st day: The sea rise and overflows the earth. 2nd day: The sea falls. 3rd day: The sea recedes and leaves the earth dry again.
The donors who paid for the window look on in horror at the events portrayed of the final 15 days!

HOMEPAGE York ScenesHOMEPAGE for all of Phil and Molly's PicsCity of YORK SCENES - back to page 3. The Church of All Saints, North Street

*  previous page <-> next page  *

docspics Yorkshire England images pictures © Phil Brown * top class luxury hotels dining out travel tours top tourist destinations tourist information weekend breaks mini-breaks family holidays restaurants touring coach trips pleasure cruises on the River Ouse Tourist information, Walks, Holidays in the City of York, Top tourist attractions, bargain accommodation in York, B&B, pubs, bars, restaurants, guided walks of York, touring coach tours