Dublin Core
Title
‘St George’ Stained Glass Window, Tolarno Hotel, St Kilda
Subject
armour, armor, border, dragon, Ferguson & Urie, knight, Melbourne, rose, Saint George, St. George, St George, saint, saints, St. Kilda, St Kilda, stained glass, staircase, Tolarno Hotel, Tudor rose, Union Jack, valour, VIC, Victoria
Description
This elaborate staircase window in a converted St Kilda mansion is probably by Ferguson & Urie and dated c.1884. The window depicts a red-cloaked and fully armoured St George standing on the head of a dragon. Images of St George and the Dragon were popular in the nineteenth century, with this appeal being especially aided by Sir Walter Scott’s reawakening of popular notions of chivalry in his writings. The outer border contains red and white Tudor roses interspersed with green leaves on a blue ground, while the solid looking pillars hold small medallion-shaped imprints of the Union Jack. Overall, the window represents a calm ‘manly’ Victorian assurance in the face of determined opposition. Such a window can be interpreted as “an expansive declaration of the values and … institutions inherited from Britain†(Beverley Sherry, Australia’s Historic Stained Glass, Sydney, Murray Child, 1991, p.44). Although little information is available regarding the mansion’s original owner, it is thought that the house was built for someone engaged in local politics. Thus, St George killing the dragon makes an ideal theme for a grand staircase window in a house where integrity and propriety must be readily observable.
Creator
Brown, Ray (Photographer)
Date
11 February 2001 (image)
Rights
© Ray Brown
Format
Hyperlink