Panel of clear and coloured glass with painted details and yellow (silver) stain depicting a male donor kneeling before an image of St. Mary Magdalene. Made in the Netherlands in Louvain, about 1505-10.

Panel. Knight of the Bernemi court family praying by a statue of the Magdalen.

From the Great Cloister of the Charterhouse at Louvain

This panel was originally paired with one showing the donor's wife which is now in Earsham Church in Norfolk. The wife's panel includes her coat of arms which show that she was related to the Louvain families Pinnock and Absoloens. Both of these families had contributed financially to the Charterhouse in Louvain.

The Charterhouse in Louvain was a monastery of the Carthusian Order founded at the end of the 15th century by the Dukes of Burgundy. It was financed with donations from the ducal family members as well as from clerics and residents of the surrounding areas.

Records indicate that the glazing in the Charterhouse and its cloister was carried out from about 1500 by the glazier Hendrik van Diependale of Louvain. He died in 1509 and his son Jan carried on the work.

A 19th century drawing of the cloister windows indicates that there were 80 windows of two lights each, surmounted by a single quatrefoil-shaped panel. The composition of each window seems to be three prophet panels surmounting four narrative panels. If this is correct, then there would originally have been 210 prophet panels and 320 narrative panels in the cloister glazing.

The theme of the cloister glazing centred on the Fall and Redemption of Mankind through the life and death of Christ. There would have been scenes from the New Testament paired with their Old Testament prefigurements. Prophets announcing these events would have been included in the upper portions of the windows.

Panels depicting saints and donors would have accompanied these scenes, probably occupying the lowest registers of the windows. The donor depicted in this panel kneels before a statue of St. Mary Magdalene. She was the patron saint of the monastery.

From the Charterhouse cloister at Louvain.

This panel was originally paired with one showing the donor's wife, which is now in Earsham Church in Norfolk. The wife's panel includes her coat of arms, which show that she was related to the Louvain families of Pinnock and Absoloens. Both these families had contributed financially to the Charterhouse in Louvain.

The Charterhouse in Louvain, a monastery of the Carthusian Order, was founded at the end of the 15th century by the Dukes of Burgundy. Records indicate that the glazing in the church and cloister was carried out from about 1500 by Hendrik van Diependale of Louvain. He died in 1509 and his son Jan carried on the work.

A 19th-century drawing of the cloister windows indicates that there were 80 windows of two lights each, surmounted by a single quatrefoil-shaped panel. Each window seems to have been composed of prophet panels surmounting narrative ones.

The theme of the cloister glazing centred on the Fall and Redemption of humankind through the life and death of Christ. New Testament scenes would have been paired with the Old Testament ones that prefigured them. Prophets announcing these events would have been included in the upper portions of the windows.

Panels depicting saints and donors would have accompanied these scenes, probably in the lowest registers of the windows. The donor depicted in this panel kneels before a statue of St Mary Magdalene, who was the patron saint of the monastery.

6914-1860