Please complete the form to email this item.

Panel

Panel

  • Place of origin:

    France (made)

  • Date:

    1243-1248 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Stained glass

  • Credit Line:

    Given by Henry Vauighan

  • Museum number:

    1222:1, 2-1864

  • Gallery location:

    Medieval and Renaissance, room 9, case WS

  • Download image

The Sainte-Chapelle in Paris was built by order of King Louis IX to house a relic of the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus Christ and a part of the cross upon which Christ was crucified. The chapel was finished by 1248. Due to advances in architectural engineering, the chapel could be built with many large spaces within the stonework to house decorated glass.

The enormous array of stained glass in the Sainte Chapelle upper and lower chapels depicts the story of humanity from creation to the redemption of mankind by the sacrifice of Christ. Each window contained various stories from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. In the 19th century, the windows were removed and restored and some ended up in private collections. The panels seen here were part of the collection of Henry Vaughan who gave them to the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1864.

These panels were not originally grouped together. After patient research over the last hundred years, it is now believed that the top left panel illustrates the birth of the prophet Jeremiah from the Old Testament book of Jeremiah. The other three panels are probably episodes recorded in the Old Testament book of Esther.

Physical description

This is a composite panel, made up of four scenes and other fragments from different windows of the Sainte-Chapelle. In the scene at the top left, a maidservant brings a newborn baby to its mother. This probably illustrates the birth of the prophet Jeremiah. The other three scenes are probably connected with episodes from the story of Esther.

Place of Origin

France (made)

Date

1243-1248 (made)

Artist/maker

Unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Stained glass

Dimensions

Height: 98.8 cm, Width: 98.8 cm, Weight: 23 kg

Object history note

From the Sainte Chapelle, Paris
(1864) JH Pollen comments that the glass comes from the Sainte Chapelle or was made by the same person who made the glass for the Sainte Chapelle.
(1864) Subject thought to be possibly the Birth of the Virgin.

Given by Henry Vaughan

Descriptive line

Composite panel of clear, coloured and flashed glass with painted details, depicting scenes from the Old Testament books of Jeremiah and Esther. Originally from windows in the Sainte Chapelle. French (Paris), 1243-1248

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Williamson, Paul. Medieval and Renaissance Stained Glass in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 2003. ISBN 1851774041
Aubert, Marcel and Louis Grodecki, Les Vitraux de Notre-Dame et de la Sainte-Chapelle de Paris, Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi. France. Vol I. Department de la Seine - I, Paris, 1959, pp.344-6.

Labels and date

Panel. Stained glass, in the central compartment is a Scriptural subject (possibly the birth of the Virgin); the ground diapered blue and red. French. Early 13th century. From the Sainte Chapell, Paris. [1864]

Materials

Stained glass

Categories

Religion; Christianity; Stained Glass

Collection code

CER

Download image
Qr_O8579
Ajax-loader