ARTWORKS

Tree of Life (cartoon for Peter Fleming Memorial Window)

John Piper (1903–1992)

The Stained Glass Museum

Tree of Life

© the Piper Estate / DACS 2024. Image credit: The Stained Glass Museum

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

John Piper (1903–1992) was an established painter, printmaker and stage designer before taking up stained glass at the age of 48. Piper greatly admired the work of Henri Matisse, who used colourful paper cut-outs to make maquettes for stained-glass windows. This cartoon for a window for St John's Church, Nettlebed, Oxfordshire, was made by Piper using paper cut-outs, watercolour, pen and gouache. Piper has designed a Tree of Life, one of his favourite motifs, by using the sculpted masonry of the central mullion of the window to represent a tree and branches. Lively birds, cut from marbled paper, inhabit the luxuriant foliage and overhead the earth and heavens appear in the tracery light. The final window was made by Patrick Reyntiens (1925–2021), a talented stained glass artist who produced a number of Piper's windows.

The Stained Glass Museum

Ely

Read more on The Stained Glass Museum
Title

Tree of Life

Date

1976

Medium

mixed media including watercolour, wax crayon, graphite pencil & paper cut-outs

Measurements

H 222 x W 136 cm

Accession number

ELYGM:1980.18

Acquisition method

gift, 1980

Work type

Mixed media & collage

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

Learn more Tag this
Normally on display at

The Stained Glass Museum

South Triforium Ely Cathedral, Ely, Cambridgeshire CB7 4DL England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue

Artist or maker

John Piper

1903–1992

View profile
  • Autumn at Stourhead
    Autumn at Stourhead Manchester Art Gallery
  • Ruined Cottage, Tomen y Mur, North Wales
    Ruined Cottage, Tomen y Mur, North Wales Manchester Art Gallery
  • Shingle Street
    Shingle Street The Red House, Aldeburgh
  • Portland Foreshore
    Portland Foreshore The Red House, Aldeburgh
  • Aldeburgh Church
    Aldeburgh Church The Red House, Aldeburgh
  • Haswell House, Goathurst
    Haswell House, Goathurst Somerset Heritage Centre
  • Royal Holloway College
    Royal Holloway College The Red House, Aldeburgh
  • 119 more