'Man in a Red Hat': St Mary’s Church, Fairford, the creation of a remarkable late medieval glazing scheme

St. Mary’s Church, Fairford in Gloucestershire houses the remarkable survival of a late medieval glazing scheme contained within the twenty-eight windows. The dearth of documentary evidence relating to the creation of this glazing scheme has resulted in speculative proposals for the dating, patronage and authorship. This dissertation is written following close observation of the windows between 1986 and 2010 during their period of conservation and restoration by the author and his team at Barley Studio that revealed physical evidence to further our understanding of how this glazing scheme was created. The dissertation is in two parts, the first covering materials and techniques, looking at ferramenta support structures and their implication on the designs; vidimus and cartoons; glass, its manufacture, source, composition and use of speciality types; glass cutting, abrading and piercing; paint pigment and stain; glass painting techniques and method of application interpreted from discovered sketched outlines; kilns and firing and ending with lead, solder and construction. The second part covers a speculative proposal that Michel Sittow (c. 1469 – 1525) was the primary designer of the windows c. 1503 – 05, instigated by the discovery of discreet anomalies found within the windows. It covers the discoveries and their interpretation; the life of Michel Sittow, with reference to his training and resulting influences that can be compared with the glazing; other works of art in the media of paintings, Limoges enamel, tapestry and stained glass that have comparisons with Sittow’s attributed works; explanations as to why Sittow may have been in London and possible links between the Tames of Fairford and the court of Henry VII.