Harry Clarke and the Eve of St. Agnes: A Guide to His Stained Glass Windows

Few artists have left as luminous a mark on Irish cultural life as Harry Clarke (1889–1931). A master of stained glass, book illustration, and decorative art, Clarke transformed the medium of leaded glass into something otherworldly — dense with jewel-like colour, intricate symbolism, and an almost hallucinatory intensity. Among his greatest achievements is the series of windows inspired by John Keats's poem The Eve of St. Agnes, a work that continues to captivate visitors to Dublin to this day.

At the Hugh Lane Gallery, we celebrate Clarke's legacy through our Harry Clarke Collection — from window clings to essential books on his life and work. This guide tells the story behind the windows, what each panel depicts, and where you can experience them in person.

Who Was Harry Clarke?

Born in Dublin in 1889, Harry Clarke grew up surrounded by the craft of stained glass — his father ran a church decorating business, and Clarke trained under the renowned Alfred E. Child at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. He quickly distinguished himself as a prodigy, winning gold medals and a scholarship to study in France, where he absorbed the influence of medieval Gothic glass and the Symbolist movement.

Clarke's mature style is instantly recognisable: elongated, ethereal figures; backgrounds of deep cobalt, emerald, and ruby; and an obsessive attention to detail that rewards close looking. He worked simultaneously as a book illustrator — his editions of Poe and Perrault are collector's items — and as a stained glass artist whose commissions ranged from Irish parish churches to international exhibitions.

He died in 1931, aged just 41, of tuberculosis contracted during a journey to Switzerland. In his short career he produced over 160 stained glass windows, many of which remain in situ across Ireland.

The Eve of St. Agnes: Keats's Poem and Clarke's Vision

John Keats wrote The Eve of St. Agnes in 1819, a richly sensory narrative poem set on the feast of St. Agnes (20 January), when legend held that a young woman who followed certain rituals would dream of her future husband. The poem follows Madeline, who performs the rites, and her lover Porphyro, who secretly watches her and ultimately spirits her away into the stormy night.

Keats's poem is a feast of colour, texture, and atmosphere — moonlight through stained glass, the scent of candied fruit, the warmth of a fire against winter cold. It was, in many ways, the perfect subject for Harry Clarke. Clarke had already illustrated a celebrated edition of the poem in 1913, and when the opportunity arose to translate its imagery into glass, he seized it with extraordinary results.

If you'd like to explore the poem alongside Clarke's art, our shop stocks the beautiful Harry Clarke: The Eve of St. Agnes — an essential companion to the windows.

The 1923 Commission: Harold Jacob and the Eve of St. Agnes Windows

In 1923, Clarke received a private commission from Harold Jacob, a wealthy Dublin businessman and art patron, to create a series of stained glass panels based on The Eve of St. Agnes. This was an unusual commission — not for a church or public building, but for a private collector who wanted to own a piece of Clarke's genius.

Clarke produced a sequence of panels of extraordinary beauty, each one corresponding to a stanza or scene from Keats's poem. The commission allowed him unusual creative freedom: without the constraints of ecclesiastical iconography, he could give full rein to his Symbolist sensibilities, his love of rich ornament, and his gift for depicting the human figure in states of heightened emotion.

The panels passed through several hands after Jacob's death and eventually entered the collection of the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin, where they are now held as one of the jewels of Irish decorative art.

What Each Panel Depicts

The Eve of St. Agnes windows follow the arc of Keats's narrative with remarkable fidelity. Among the key scenes Clarke depicted:

The Beadsman — The poem opens with an aged beadsman praying in the cold chapel while the castle above him blazes with festivity. Clarke renders this contrast with characteristic drama: the old man's blue-grey robes against the warmth of candlelight.

Madeline at Prayer — Madeline, the heroine, performs the ritual of St. Agnes's Eve, kneeling in prayer with her eyes cast upward. Clarke's Madeline is luminous, her figure surrounded by the deep blues and purples that are his signature palette.

Porphyro in the Closet — Porphyro hides in Madeline's chamber, watching as she undresses and prepares for sleep. Clarke handles this voyeuristic scene with delicacy, the figure of Porphyro half-hidden in shadow while Madeline is bathed in moonlight.

The Feast — One of the most celebrated panels, depicting the spread of exotic foods that Porphyro lays out for Madeline: "jellies soother than the creamy curd, / And lucent syrops, tinct with cinnamon." Clarke's rendering of the food is almost tactile in its richness.

The Awakening — Madeline wakes to find Porphyro beside her. The emotional intensity of this scene — confusion, wonder, desire — is captured in the figures' expressions and the swirling drapery that Clarke uses to suggest movement and feeling.

The Flight — The lovers escape into the storm, "like phantoms" into the night. Clarke closes the sequence with a sense of motion and mystery, the figures dissolving into the darkness beyond the glass.

Bring these scenes home with our Harry Clarke window clings — faithful reproductions of the panel details that look stunning on any glass surface, from windows to mirrors, capturing the jewel-like quality of the originals.

The Geneva Window: Clarke's Other Masterpiece

No account of Harry Clarke's career would be complete without mention of the Geneva Window (1930), his final and most ambitious work. Commissioned by the Irish government as a gift to the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, the window was intended to celebrate Irish literature and culture on the world stage.

Clarke designed a monumental work featuring scenes from the writings of fifteen Irish authors, including W.B. Yeats, J.M. Synge, George Bernard Shaw, and Liam O'Flaherty. The imagery was bold, sensuous, and in some cases provocative — and therein lay the problem. The Irish government, alarmed by what it considered indecorous content (including scenes of drinking, dancing, and erotic suggestion), refused to send the window to Geneva.

The Geneva Window never reached its intended destination. After Clarke's death it passed into private hands and was eventually acquired by the Wolfsonian Museum in Miami, Florida, where it remains today — a bittersweet coda to a brilliant career, and a reminder of the tensions between artistic ambition and official taste in early twentieth-century Ireland.

The story of the Geneva Window is told in full in Harry Clarke: The Life and Work, the definitive monograph on the artist, available in our shop.

Where to See Harry Clarke's Windows in Dublin

Dublin is the best city in the world to experience Harry Clarke's stained glass in person. Here are the key locations:

Hugh Lane Gallery, Parnell Square

The Hugh Lane Gallery holds the Eve of St. Agnes windows as part of its permanent collection. The gallery is free to enter and is open Tuesday to Sunday. The windows are displayed in a dedicated space that allows visitors to appreciate the full sequence of panels and the extraordinary detail of Clarke's craftsmanship. The gallery also holds other works by Clarke and his contemporaries in the Irish stained glass tradition.

Bewley's Café, Grafton Street

One of Dublin's most beloved landmarks, Bewley's Oriental Café on Grafton Street features six large stained glass windows by Harry Clarke, installed in 1927. The windows depict scenes of Oriental life and are among the most accessible of Clarke's works — you can admire them over a cup of coffee. The café has been carefully restored and the windows are in excellent condition.

The National Museum of Ireland — Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks

The National Museum holds examples of Clarke's work in its decorative arts collection, including examples of his book illustration and design work that provide essential context for understanding his stained glass.

Various Dublin Churches

Clarke created windows for numerous Dublin churches, including the Church of the Annunciation in Rathfarnham and St. Joseph's Church in Terenure. The Terenure windows are the subject of a dedicated study available in our shop: Harry Clarke & His Legacy: The Stained Glass in St Joseph's Church, Terenure.

Bring Harry Clarke Home

Whether you're a first-time visitor to the Hugh Lane Gallery or a lifelong admirer of Clarke's art, there are many ways to take a piece of his genius home with you.

Our Harry Clarke Collection includes:

• Harry Clarke Window Clings — Stunning reproductions of the Eve of St. Agnes panel details, designed to be applied to glass surfaces. They capture the jewel-like quality of the original windows and transform any window into a work of art.
• Harry Clarke: The Eve of St. Agnes — The illustrated edition of Keats's poem with Clarke's original artwork.
• Harry Clarke: The Life and Work — The essential monograph on Clarke's career, richly illustrated.
• The Harry Clarke Colouring Book — A wonderful way to engage with Clarke's intricate designs, suitable for all ages.

Harry Clarke's art rewards repeated looking. The more time you spend with his windows — whether in person at the Hugh Lane Gallery or through the window clings and books in our collection — the more you discover: hidden faces in the borders, unexpected flashes of colour, the extraordinary precision of his leading. He was, and remains, one of the great artists of the twentieth century, and Dublin is lucky to be his home.

Gallery Books is the bookshop of the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin's Municipal Gallery of Modern Art. We stock a carefully curated selection of art books, prints, and gifts celebrating Irish and international art. Visit us at Parnell Square or browse our full range online.