Henry Gyles

Henry Gyles or Giles (1640?-1709), was an English glass painter based in York.

Life He was the fifth child of E. (perhaps Edmund) Gyles, His entry in the first edition of the Dictionary of National Biography credits him with "the revival of the art of pictorial glass painting, which had become quite extinct in England." His earliest dated window (1682) is the large west window of York Guildhall. His best-known work is the east window in the chapel of University College, Oxford, presented by Dr. Radcliffe in 1687. Gyles also presented some stained glass for the hall of University College, and did work for Wadham College, Oxford, and for Trinity College and St. Catharine's Hall at Cambridge. In 1700 he painted a large window for Lord Fairfax at Denton, Yorkshire. There were some figures painted by Gyles in the grammar school at Leeds, but these were disposed of in 1784 to a local antiquary. Place often sought commissions for Gyles through his contacts in London, and Place's publisher, Pierce Tempest, provided him with Flemish, Dutch and German prints which he used as sources for his designs. a crayon drawing of Gyles in the collection of the British Museum has traditionally been described as a self-portrait, but may be by one of his fellow York Virtuosi.

He also has some works at York Art Gallery.