Prophet Isaiah, Apostle St Peter, Sundar Singh

Christian Waller began designing and making stained glass windows around 1928, creating over sixty-five in her lifetime. Often regarded as Australia’s finest stained glass artist, Waller also practised as a printmaker, book designer, illustrator and muralist.

These stained-glass windows, titled Prophet Isaiah, Apostle St Peter, Sundar Singh, were made in 1936 for the sanctuary of All Saints’ Anglican Church, Bendigo. The three figures represented in each window span thousands of years of Christian religious history and begin with the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah, followed by the Apostle Peter during the time of Christ, and finally, from the modern era, Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889–c.1929), a Christian missionary who worked in the Indian subcontinent. 

Waller’s great skill as a glass artist is especially evident in the windows, with the grand and imposing figures toweringly tall in their elongated spaces. Her use of intense colours imparts both a boldness and richness to the windows and demonstrates her love for the medium of glass. The windows were constructed from two layers of painted and leaded glass, the double layer softening the effect of the bright Australian light.

Rebecca Evans, Curator of Decorative Arts & Design