Tom Denny’s Transfiguration Window, Durham Cathedral, 2010.
When you first see this window, you might not recognise that the subject is the Transfiguration. At first glance, its layers of amber, gold and flaming orange seem to flow like hot molten metal. At its centre, it becomes pure white. But once you see the details caught in this flow, it looks as if heavenly light has poured out into our world. In the upper area of the central band of white, there is the burning bush to the left and a barefoot man to the right, with a pattern of rocks extending downwards like a paved road. On either side there are two figures caught in golden amber. These are Moses and Elijah, and the barefoot man in white is the transfigured Christ standing beside the burning bush, his garments as white as light. Below, you can see the three apostles: Peter, James and John. One of them carries a staff, the emblem of the journey we must all make in this life. To the right stands St Cuthbert, in front of a cliff upon which stands an ancient stone cross. Directly opposite, you can just make out Durham Cathedral itself, but it is shown in amber glory, with a road leading up to it through a deep wooded valley. At the entrance to this wooded valley, a man speaks to two figures. Are they pilgrims on their way to the shrine of the saint? Or are these Adam and Eve, no longer in Eden, but longing to return? Is the transfigured Durham Cathedral the symbol of the new and heavenly Jerusalem, among whose citizens we hope to be numbered one day? Something of the world we actually live in is shown at the very bottom of the window. To the right, a mother leans over a young miner who seems to writhe in pain on the ground. This surely recalls the scene in the Gospels which follows the Transfiguration. After their descent from the mountain, they encountered a boy who was convulsed by a demon, which the other disciples could not cast out. A figure in silhouette in the window leans over the mother and looks like the earthly Jesus. But the reality of suffering and tragedy below is matched by another figure at the very top of the window. There, held between the great up-stretched arms of white and glorious light, is Christ on the cross, his head lowered in death. This window is as complex in detail as the title page from an insular Gospel book, and merits a journey south to Durham, or at least a visit online. You can see much of the detail at https://www.thomasdenny.co.uk/durham-cathedral-the-transfiguration-window. But even if you cannot see everything, the message of this window is a clear and simple one.
Dear Lord Jesus, you have made us part of a world which is ailing and wounded, and yet cannot but show forth its beauty and your glory. Help us to see your light in the world and in the people around us and may we place all our hope in you. Amen.
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