By Luciano Migliaccio
The work Project for a Stained-Glass Window is a project for a stained-glass window for the church of St. Mark in Sheffield, dated 1963 and executed by P. Reyntiens. The window has an irregular shape, ending in a triangle with uneven sides. The design of the junctions makes up a kind of cage in perspective that seems to contain a flame. About that time, Piper executed a series of large-scale stained-glass windows for churches. The artist, inspired by the theme developed in the Coventry Cathedral, completely destroyed by German bombings during World War II, amalgamated in an image the historical reference and the ancient symbol of the flame, an ascensional element in Aristotelian physics, an expression of sacrifice and of the evil nature of fire, of the divine presence at the altar, mentioned in several passages of the Bible, such as for example, in the episode of Moses’ calling. Owing to the ambiguity and the suggestive power of the symbol, this work by Piper is very close to the unsettling evocations of the past and the painting of De Chirico, although it shows a different feeling for the matter, developing a very special relationship with the space of the religious architecture for which it was conceived.

— Luciano Migliaccio, 1998

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