The twentieth century prompted new man-made threats to the Last Judgement window. After the arrival of World War II, precautions by the College to store the glass led to its misplacement. It was not until the filming of Shadowlands (1993) that renewed interest brought the damaged glass back to light. Fortunately, a new restoration campaign succeeded in returning the Last Judgement to public view.
Soon after the Luftwaffe began air raids on London, Magdalen took steps to protect the glass in the Chapel from the risk of destruction. The College Acta of 16 October 1940 record the authorization to remove glass from both the Antechapel and Choir.
The glass was packed and stored in the College cellars, although it was subsequently moved to Marston and remained in boxes for over half a century. Such conditions led to breakages and degraded the paint surface, but not to an irreparable degree.
Partially filming Shadowlands onsite at Magdalen, director Richard Attenborough (1923-2014) was keen that the sets for his 1993 C. S. Lewis biopic, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, be as accurate as possible. Multiple scenes were shot in the Chapel, including the striking opening as the West Window’s monochrome glass illuminates the dark College Chapel with amber light whilst the choir sing the Veni Sancte Spiritus. Against the window’s backdrop Lewis also realises his love for Joy Gresham, the American poet who would become the love of his life.
As the original West Window had been removed for protection during the Second World War, a replica of the original was built and erected to mask the plain glass which was then set in the window bay. Such filming coincided with an attempt to locate the original painted glass in storage.
After the original painted glass was found in boxes, the West Window’s restoration began in a piecemeal fashion (appropriate to its fragmentary state). A member of Chapel Studio initially restored a single glass panel showing angels bearing Christ’s Column and other instruments of the Passion. Magdalen recognized the potential to restore the full window. Three years later, the same conservator wrote a letter to the College on 12 September 1994, indicating that he learned ‘through the grapevine’ of the College’s interest in proceeding with the project. Dedicated donations arrived quickly, and within two years, Chapel Studio completed the restoration work on the West Window. The finished window was installed in the Antechapel in 1997.