Job

Opaque glass mosaic, designed by William Blake Richmond, executed by Messrs Powell of Whitefriars, completed by 1896



This mosaic is the first on the northern side of the clerestory and shows the suffering of Job, surrounded by his wife and three friends. The upper part of the mosaic is filled with abstract swirls in blues and glittering gold, which might symbolise the flood discussed in the Book of Job in the Gospel. The scene is set upon a cartouche which appears to elaborate the theme of the beasts in strictly of the entablature further: rather than wild beasts, this cartouches shows two tabby cats, maybe kittens, chase birds.



Brief description: Against a background of swirling waves, Job is leaning against the corner of the cornice in which the mosaic is inscribed; half-naked and with a long white beard and closed eyes; he is surrounded by a group of four, including one woman; underneath the scene is a rectangular mosaic cartouche depicting a symmetrical composition similar to the animal mosaics in the clerestory zone: around a vase two tigers, facing outwards, and birds are depicted among scrolling foliage, in contrast to the larger mosaics in the clerestory, the proportions of ornament and animals are reversed, giving this the feel of the depiction of miniature animals.



Related quotes:

Job 2:11-13: “So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home-Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads. They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.”



Browne 1896, pp. 13-14: “These spaces on the North side of the Choir represent the ancient world looking dimly forward into the future, with no limitation to Old Testament revelation. […] The very striking group on the west of the window shews Job and his three friends.”



Related work elsewhere: William Blake, The Book of Job, 1825.

Literature and references: Browne 1896, p. 14.