Panel
- Place of origin:
England, Great Britain (made)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by Mr Henry Vaughan
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
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The stained glass panel here is compsed of pieces of coloured and decorated glass that originally came from different windows. The Victoria & Albert Museum had been given a large panel of various, unrelated, fragments by the stained glass collector Henry Vaughan in 1900. This large panel was subsequently broken up and reframed with other fragments for the purpose of displaying interesting pieces of 15th century glass decorated in English workshops.
England had a rich tradition of stained glass in the Middle Ages but the political and religious upheavals of the 16th and 17th centuries destroyed a great deal and much only survives in a fragmentary state.
The central image on this panel is of an angel playing a trapezoidal psaltery. Such musical instrument-playing angels often formed part of scenes of the Last Judgement. The psaltery was a very popular stringed instrument in the Middle Ages. The instrument is held against the chest and is either plucked with the fingers, as appears here, or with a plectrum.
Physical description
[Panel] Composite panel of clear, coloured and flashed glass painted with brown/black pigment and silver (yellow) stain. The original panel of miscellaneous fragments was broken up and the fragments were re-set into three different panels. This panel contains the image of a kneeling donor figure. English, 15th century.
Place of Origin
England, Great Britain (made)
Date
15th century (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Stained glass
Dimensions
Height: 63 in, Width: 20 in
[Panel] Height: 61.4 cm whole panel, unframed, Width: 43.8 cm whole panel, unframed
Historical context note
[Panel] The stained glass panel here is compsed of pieces of coloured and decorated glass that originally came from different windows. The Victoria & Albert Museum had been given a large panel of various, unrelated, fragments by the stained glass collector Henry Vaughan in 1900. This large panel was subsequently broken up and reframed with other fragments for the purpose of displaying interesting pieces of 15th century glass decorated in English workshops.
England had a rich tradition of stained glass in the Middle Ages but the political and religious upheavals of the 16th and 17th centuries destroyed a great deal and much only survives in a fragmentary state.
The central roundel in this panel depicts a man kneeling in prayer. Surrounding him is a scroll, reconsructed from other fragments. This figure would have been part of a larger panel with an image of a saint. The scroll would have been inscribed with words, in Latin calling on the accompaning saint to pray for his soul after death. He is a 'donor figure' because he would have contributed to the cost of creating the window in which he appeared.
Above the roundel are two cockleshells. These are the emblems of the Apostle St James the Greater who has, to this day, a major shrine in his honour at Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Below the roundel are two letter 'M's surmounted by crowns. this is the emblem of the Virgin Mary who was crowned 'Queen of Heaven' by her son Jesus Christ.
Descriptive line
Composite panel of clear, coloured and flashed glass painted with brown/black pigment and silver (yellow) stain. The original panel of miscellaneous fragments was broken up and the fragments were re-set into three different panels. This panel contains the image of an angel playing a psaltery. English, 15th century.
Materials
Glass; Stained glass
Techniques
Painting; Staining
Categories
Christianity; Stained Glass
Collection code
CER
