John Wesley Methodist chapel gets new stained glass window

The window takes the form of a triptych illustrating stages in the life of John Wesley

A new stained glass window depicting the life of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, is to be installed in the world's oldest Methodist chapel.

The three-panel work of art was commissioned for the visitor centre at the Grade I listed New Room in Bristol.

It was made using a technique in which glass paint is fired onto the surface "to create a feeling of energy".

The chapel was built in 1739 and used by John Wesley to preach his message of Christian faith and social justice.

The New Room was the starting point for the Methodist Church which now has more than 75 million members around the world.

Its new window was made by Devizes-based glass artist Andrew Taylor, a Fellow of the British Society of Master Glass Painters.

Mr Taylor said: "My aim was to make a vibrant and colourful background of painted glass with of references to [his life] into which cameo scenes and symbolic images are laid out as if on a screen or map."

John Wesley was a preacher and priest who founded the Methodist movement