This fragmentary demi-roundel shows St Benedict, on the left, healing a sick child. A third, standing, figure hails the saint's healing powers. The panel comes from a window dedicated to St Benedict at the abbey church of Saint-Denis, near Paris. The window was perhaps in the crypt, and dismantled in the 1790s.
Lord Stuart de Rothesay acquired the panel and installed it with other panels from Saint-Denis in his newly built house at Highcliffe in Hampshire about 1820. (The house itself was constructed with some older architectural features.) After a fire in 1967 the glass was removed to the workshops of Dennis King in Norwich. The Museum acquired it in 1989.
Physical description
Semi-circular panel, the straight edge to the left. Depicts a man in green robes with a halo facing a boy in a white tunic who arises from the lower right. Behind the boy a man in pink robes gestures towards the other man. Blue background.
Place of Origin
Ile-de-France, France (made)
Date
1140-1144 (made)
Materials and Techniques
Clear and coloured glass with painted details
Dimensions
Height: 57.8 cm unframed, Width: 28.9 cm unframed, Depth: 0.4 cm, Weight: 1.74 kg
Object history note
Made for the abbey of Saint Denis. Comes from a window dedicated to the life of St Benedict which made have been located in the crypt of the abbey. The abbey was dismantled in the 1790s. Acquired by Lord Stuart de Rothesay in France, where he had been George IV’s ambassador to Charles X. This is one of several panels from Saint Denis that he acquired. The panel was incorporated into the fabric of Highcliffe Castle, Hampshire, which Rothesay built around 1820. After a fire in 1967, the glass was removed to the workshops of Dennis King in Norwich and acquired by the Museum in 1989.
There are other surviving panels from this window in Twycross (Leics), Raby Castle (Co.Durham), church of Saint-Léonard in Fougeres (Brittany) amd the Musée National du Moyan Age in Paris.
Historical context note
The choir of Saint Denis was consecrated in 1144.
The Saint Denis panels at Highcliffe consisted of two figurative panels and two ornamental panels.
Story from the Life of St Benedict at Twycross:
1) St Benedict sending, from his cell, Saint Maur to rescue his brother Placide who was drowning.
According to the legend, St Maur walked on the waves as if he was walking on land. There is a demon in this scene which is not found in the Life of Benedict by Saint Gregory.
Descriptive line
Clear and coloured glass with painted details. Depicting St Benedict Healing a Child. French (Ile-de-France), 1140-4
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Williamson, Paul. Medieval and Renaissance Stained Glass in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 2003. ISBN 1851774041
M.W. Cothren, 'Suger's stained glass masters and their workshop at Saint-Denis', in G. Mauner et al. (eds), Paris, Centre of Artistic Enlightenment, vol.4 of Papers in Art History from the Pennsylvania State University (University Park, 1988), pp.47-75
L. Grodecki, Etudes sur les vitraux de Suger a Saint-Denis (XIIe siecle), CVMA France, Etudes, vol.3 (Paris, 1995), pp.111-129
Grodecki, Louis, Les vitraux de Saint-Denis: étude sur le vitrail au XII siecle, CMVA France, Etudes, vol.I (Paris, 1976)
Materials
Glass
Techniques
Painted
Subjects depicted
Child; Christianity; Health; Miracle; Benedict (Saint); Recovery; Benedictine; Monasticism
Categories
Glass; Religion; Christianity; Stained Glass; Health
Production Type
Unique
Collection code
CER
