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The Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John
Unknown - Enlarge image
The Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John
- Object:
Roundel
- Place of origin:
Germany (made)
- Date:
1500-1599 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Stained glass
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by Mr Henry Vaughan
- Museum number:
2272-1900
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This devotional panel shows the Crucified Christ on the Cross. His mother, Mary, stands on his right and his favourite disciple, John the Evangelist, on his left. This image is taken from the Gospel of St John the Evangelist in which John reports that Christ entrusted the care of Mary to him.
This roundel is an interesting piece. It may have been commissioned by a small church. The glass maker has combined cost-effective silver stain and brown pigment with coloured glass. Coloured or 'pot metal' glass was three times as expensive as plain glass and used for more prestigious commissions.
In the middle of the period 1500-1600, new techniques for producing decorated glass were introduced. Glassmakers used paints known as 'enamels' to paint directly onto the glass, similar to painting onto a canvas. The colours were produced by adding metallic oxides to a ground glass (frit) mixture. Here the glass maker has used enamel paints on the blue glass in the background.
