Panel of clear and coloured glass with painted details depicting Agnes, Duchess of Lower Bavaria. Made in Germany (Bavaria), about 1309-1314.

Panel of clear and coloured glass with painted details depicting a woman within a canopied niche.

Given by J. Pierpont Morgan, Jr

This panel was on loan from JP Morgan Sr from 1909. His son, JP Morgan Jr, gave the panel to the museum in 1919 in memory of his recently deceased father and in acknowledgement of Anglo-American cooperation in the first world war.
Jp Morgan Sr bought the panel from a London dealer, details unknown, who had acquired it in Germany.

This panel is part of a group of panels which originally formed part of a large window in the chapel of St Afra in the Cistercian convent of Seligenthal, near Landshut (north of Munich). 10 of these panels are now in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich.

The abbey of Selingenthal was founded in 1232 as a house for nuns of the Cistercian order by Ludmilla, Duchess of Bavaria after the assasination of her husband, Ludwig I of Kelheim.

There has been some research into who the Agnes of the V&A panel was. One of the Munich panels depicts, with inscription, DOMINA ELIZABET DUCISSA BAWARIE. She has been identified as Elizabeth, daughter of Henry XIII, duke of Lower Bavaria. Elizabeth died as a nun in Seligenthal in 1314. She had a sister called Agnes, 1254-1315, who was also a nun. But this Agnes had never married.

Another possible Agnes is the one who was daughter of Ludmilla, founder of the covent at Seligenthal, She was married to Otto II, Duke of Bavaria and was grandmother to Elizabeth. She died in 1269 and was buried in the covent. However, the date of her death is about 40 years earlier than when we believe the panel to have been created.

There is still another Agnes who was daughter of Henry III of Silesia. This Agnes was the second wife of Otto III (1261-1312), second duke of Lower Bavaria. Otto III was the son of the aforementioned Henry XIII. Agnes married Otto in 1309 and died in 1361.

Because of the presence of the panel depicting Elizabeth we can date them to not before her birth, the date of which is not known however. Elizabeth died in 1314 and it has been suggested that this event was the reason for the commissioning of the windows. Although the convent and its church was built in the 1230s, the chapel of St Afra was not added until the early part of the 14th century. This would date the panels in Munich and the one shown here in the V&A to that time. Because of this dating, it is believed that the Agnes referred to must be the one who married Otto III, Duke of Lower Bavaria in 1309 and died in 1361.

However, if the windows commemorated the foundress, Ludmilla, and her descendents, then the Agnes commemorated in this panel could be the daughter of Ludmilla, wife of Otto II, Duke of Bavaria, whoddied in 1269 and was buried in the covent.

The inscription which refers to Agnes as 'his wife' would indicate that there was an accompanying panel of 'her husband'. Unfortunately, this no longer survives as it would have given us more information to enable us to identify conclusively who Agnes was.

From the chapel of St Afra in the Cistercian convent of Seligenthal, near Landshut.

This panel is one of a group that originally formed part of a large window in the chapel of St Afra in the convent of Seligenthal, near Landshut (north of Munich) in Germany. Ten of these panels are now in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich.

Ludmilla, Duchess of Bavaria, founded the abbey of Selingenthal in 1232 as a house for nuns of the Cistercian Order after her husband, Ludwig I of Kelheim, was assassinated. The convent and church were completed by 1259. The chapel of St Afra was added about fifty years later.

We are not certain of the identity of the Agnes on the panel in the Victoria and Albert Museum. One of the Munich panels depicting a woman is inscribed DOMINA ELIZABET DUCISSA BAWARIE. She has been identified as Elizabeth, daughter of Henry XIII, Duke of Lower Bavaria. Elizabeth died as a nun in Seligenthal in 1314. She had a sister called Agnes (1254–1315), who was also a nun. But this Agnes had never married.

Another Agnes was the daughter of the founder, Ludmilla. She was married to Otto II, Duke of Bavaria, and was grandmother to Elizabeth. She died in 1269 and was buried in the convent. But this was about 40 years before the panel was created.

There is still another Agnes, daughter of Henry III of Silesia. She was the second wife of Otto III (1261–1312), the second duke of Lower Bavaria and son of the Henry XIII mentioned above. Agnes married Otto in 1309 and died in 1361.

The panels must date after Elizabeth’s birth, which was in 1258. Her death in 1314 may be the reason that the windows were commissioned. The chapel of St Afra was added about this time. If so, this suggests that the Agnes in the panel was the wife of Otto III.

Alternatively, if the windows commemorate the foundress, Ludmilla, and her descendents, then the Agnes in this panel could be her daughter, Otto II’s wife, who was buried in the convent in 1269.

The inscription on the panel refers to Agnes as ‘his wife’, which indicates that there was once an accompanying panel of the husband. This would enable us to identify Agnes, but unfortunately it no longer survives.

C.83-1919