“What Light Through Yonder Window Breaks?” The Window as Protagonist in British Architecture and Visual Culture

This display accompanies a conference organised by the Paul Mellon Centre on 21-22 November 2024, convened by Rebecca Tropp, Archivist at Crosby Moran Hall in London and an affiliated lecturer in history of art at the University of Cambridge.

From the romantic “balcony scene” in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to the visceral tension of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1954 film Rear Window; in paintings, prints and photography; in architectural drawings and their realisation in three-dimensional form, the window has played a significant role in almost every medium of artistic expression.

The window serves, both literally and figuratively, as a boundary between interior spaces and the external world. More than a boundary, however, the window also acts as a frame, helping to define and mediate how we see and interact with the spaces around us, not least providing a view of the world outside from a place of relative protection from the elements. Conversely, from the other side, passersby may catch or be actively provided with a view into a space, be it a private home or a shop window.

With objects from the Paul Mellon Centre’s Archives & Library collections, this exhibition showcases just a few of the physical and symbolic resonances of the window across the history of art and architecture.

The Window as Visual Culture

Windows are in themselves a form of visual culture, involving shape, size, and structure. These factors often connect to a specific architectural style or movement, such as pointed windows with the Gothic, rectangular sliding sashes with Classical Georgian, or small latticed windows with picturesque cottages. They also demonstrate shifting ideas about privacy, security and the value of light. Modernist designs by architects such as Connell, Ward & Lucas, for example, espoused a new way of living focused on ‘sun, light, air’. To this end, their designs incorporated the use of larger windows, often made by Crittall. Alternatively, through harnessing the stability of glass and the power of the sun or artificial light sources, painted and stained-glass windows – such as those richly illustrated in 19th-century books or in the drawing shown here by the Victorian architect G.E. Street from the Paul Joyce Archive – treat the medium as a canvas for both conveying specific messages and eliciting emotions in the viewer.

The Window in Visual Culture

As amply demonstrated in the holdings of the Paul Mellon Centre Photographic Archive, windows often appear in two-dimensional form in paintings, photographs, drawings and prints. At times, the window itself is shown and, at others, the viewer simply surmises that one must exist by the direction from which light hits the objects illustrated. The window may frame the subject, provide views of a space beyond, or contribute more generally to the mood of the scene. While light flooding into a room may connote feelings of hope, shattered windowpanes immediately conjure questions of power imbalance or social unrest. The figure at the window is a particularly common motif across art history, recently showcased by Prof. Jennifer Sliwka in her exhibition ‘Reframed: The Woman in the Window’ (Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2022), in which she highlighted contrasting meanings and responses in various cultures and times, ranging from empathy to voyeurism.

The Window as Facilitator of Visual Culture

In addition to their place within visual culture, windows are also important to the creation and display of visual culture. The design and arrangement of artists’ studios speak to the centrality of natural light in artistic practice. A consistent level of light might be required in a painter’s studio, such that windows are often north-facing, whereas early photography and film depended on maximizing the amount of light, employing skylights or even entire roofs made of glass. The latter solution is a feature of many museums and galleries, where there is a particular challenge in the need to balance illumination with usable wall space. In the commercial context, with improvements in the manufacture of plate glass in the nineteenth century came large shop windows to display goods. Rather than facilitating looking out, or maximising light for those within, these large windows serve to frame the tableau within a shopfront as viewed from the outside.

Make sure to check our opening hours before visiting the display.