The Union of Science and Art: Stained Glass Windows for the South Kensington Museum

This article traces the history of a number of stained glass windows designed for the world’s leading museum of art and design, the South Kensington Museum, which opened in 1857. During the expansion of the museum in the 1860s and 1870s under the directorship of Henry Cole, several large-scale windows celebrating the union of science and art formed part of an ambitious interior decorative scheme that reflected the museum’s collection, its unique history, and evolving role as a national institution for the promotion of artistic and technical education. Although most of these windows were later removed, and some have been lost, the rediscovery of some windows in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s store, and the reinstatement of others, provides an opportunity to consider the original scheme, its context, and significance. Drawing on themes of religious and moral instruction, as well as knowledge and learning, combining allegorical and figurative scenes with ornamental motifs, institutional devices, and royal mottos, the iconography of the windows demonstrates a peculiarly British approach to stained glass design for secular public contexts. Interpreting these windows reveals how the decoration of public museums and galleries articulated institutional aims and helped to define and shape nineteenth-century visual culture.