the early
examples they only occupy a portion of the window light, but later they
are found occupying nearly the whole of the surface and are surmounted
by large and elaborate canopies. Quarries are much used in this style,
sometimes quite plain, but more often with leaves or rosettes painted on
them in black lines, or painted with the vine and ivy leaves so arranged
that they form a repeating pattern over the whole window. At this
period, too, heraldry began to be employed in the decoration of the
windows to which it is always an appropriate and artistic adjunct, and
many authentic and valuable examples of our national heraldry have thus
been preserved for posterity.

With the advent of the Perpendicular style the glazing became more
uniform in character, the glass was thinner and lighter, the tints
paler, and the whole effect more brilliant and transparent. The
paintings for the most part consist of large figures under elaborate
canopies, frequently occupying an entire light, and in the patterns and
smaller decorations there is a greater freedom of design, and the whole
treatment is more harmonious and artistic than in any other period. The
use of heraldry became very common, and inscriptions on long narrow
scrolls were frequently employed. Among the best examples of this period
are the windows at S. Margaret's Church, Westminster; King's College
Chapel, Cambridge; Fairford Church, Gloucestershire; and Morley Church,
Derbyshire.

The Reformation, with its vast social and political upheaval, was not
conducive to the encouragement of the fine arts, and from this period
the art of glazing in England declined beyond measure, and was not the
only art that received its death-blow in the triumph of Puritanism. The
art has, however, revived greatly during recent years, thanks, among
other artists, to William Morris and Burne-Jones. A few words must
be said about the "Jesse" window found in some of our cathedrals and
churches. Strictly speaking, it is a representation of the genealogy of
Christ, in which the different persons forming the descent are placed on
scrolls of foliage branching out of each other, intended to represent a
tree. It was also wrought into a branched candlestick, thence called a
Jesse, a common piece of furniture in ancient churches. The subject is
found on a window at Llanrhaiadr y Kinmerch, Denbighshire, on the stone
work of one of the chancel windows at Dorchester Church, Oxfordshire,
and in carved st