The Millennium Window, unveiled in 2002, was Sir Eduardo Paolozzi’s first venture into stained glass. As a spearheading artist of the Pop Art movement, Paolozzi’s works span the mediums of print, sculpture, collage and tapestry. As Duncan Macmillan of the Edinburgh Review stated, “The other perception that underlies Paolozzi’s art is that of the surrealist technique of collage – cutting things up and reassembling them to create a wholly new, compound identity”.

The design that Paolozzi created for the windows were made using this collage technique. A mixture of vertical, almost surrealist-toned lines can be seen in the design, inspired by Mondrian’s belief that certain different energies could be attributed to the horizontal and vertical lines that made up his paintings. This Modernist approach can be seen in the The Millennium Windows. By the artist’s own description, looking at the windows, the eye follows the lines upwards in waves of movement towards the Heavens, with the visual path being interrupted at various points. The colour palate used is that of the Sea and Skies. The linear symmetry in the work acts as a counterpoint to the movement of the Creation. Small geometrical shapes indicate the presence of Man, as well as mimic the forms of Fire and Water, the two greatest inventions.

The Window consists of a rose and three lancets over the Resurrection Chapel in the South Transept. Designed by Paolozzi, the windows were produced and installed by Phoenix Glass, Edinburgh. Many observers of the window have noted the most striking aspect is the array of colours that are projected when sun shines on the window, creating an emotive mirage of colours that illuminate the Resurrection Chapel.