Canadanne wrote: ↑26 May 2014, 13:55
It is also possible that they scanned it from a book or something. I would just love to know, one way or the other!
The difficulty lies in that we don't know who the figure in the image is. To speculate though, let's consider what we can see, and maybe draw conclusions from that; -
The figure appears to be female due to the long mane of hair flowing from under the crown. There appears to be a heart-type clasp holding her cloak in place, which might suggest 'the Queen of Hearts.' In the earliest known playing card decks, the QoH is meant to be based on the Biblical figure of Judith. However, those originated in France. In Britain, the 'QoH' is drawn in tribute to Elizabeth of York, "mother" of the Tudor Dynasty. This possibility is enhanced by what appear to be possible "White Rose of York" badges framing the arch around the edge of the picture (although they are too blurred for us to be certain). There also appears to be one of the stars from the end of the Dungeon in the same semi-circle, although I doubt there is any importance in that.
Elizabeth's husband, Henry VII, was descended from Welsh aristocrats, and so often tried to win support by claiming to be descended from the ruler of the Ancient Britons, King Arthur. That might explain the prominence of the Sword in the picture. The right hand of the Queen/Princess figure is holding either a Holy Grail upside down, and a droplet appears to be falling from it.
***OR***. It might be a bell, with the clapper just visible inside the waist. There also seems to be a comic-book star effect behind it, suggesting either it shines blindingly, or some kind of violent impact or loud sound.
If this is a pro-Tudor image, the question is why the Yorkist emblem is on it. Why not a semi-circle of Tudor roses? And why does the shield have no symbol on it? (In Julian's quest, the image of the Talisman has been superimposed on it, but in Mark's quest and in season three, there is nothing there.) In fact, the shield is much more blurred than the rest of the picture, and doesn't appear to be in a natural position on the figure's arm, so I doubt it is part of the SGW. It was probably a feature added by the production crew for the programme, so we can ignore it.
It is curious that the figure holds the sword in what appears to be her left hand, which suggest, quite literally, something 'sinister' about her. However, we need to remember that it would appear to be in her RIGHT hand when viewed from the other side.
But if we assume it is the left hand, AND we assume Elizabeth is holding the Grail and emptying it of its life-giving waters, we can assume that this is an image designed to defame her. She is using Excalibur for sinister purposes, and draining the Grail so it cannot heal the wounds of Britain.
My suspicion therefore is that this is an image produced by a Yorkist faction that rebelled against the Tudors after Henry overthrew Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. The two most notable rebellions against Henry were of course by the Pretenders, Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck. Both of them mustered support in Ireland - Simnel was in fact crowned as 'Edward VI' (he claimed to be the Earl of Warwick, cousin of the missing Princes In The Tower) at a messy coronation ceremony in Dublin in 1486 - and Warbeck also had considerable dealings with James IV of Scotland, whose court he lived at for some years. He then also mustered a large Cornish force in the south-west in an attempt to overthrow Henry. The rebellion started to falter on trying to seize Exeter, a siege that was only partly successful and that only after days of fighting, all of which allowed Henry's army time to march into the south-west peninsular and cut off any route Warbeck had to London. Warbeck deserted his army and the rebellion collapsed shortly after that.
So, on reflection of these possibilities, the best places to search for this stained glass window, if it really is genuine, would be Cornwall, Edinburgh, or the lands around Dublin ('the olde English Pail' as it was known in the Medieval era). These were the high points of loyalty to the two pretenders, and so where propaganda in their support would have been most likely to be produced.
I don't know if that makes the task any easier, but they are good places to start looking.
Sigh, the level of detail we are trained to analyse when doing a History Degree.......