Panel of clear, coloured and flashed glass with painted details and yellow (silver) stain. Depicting Heinrich von Binsfeld. From the cloister of the Abbey of Mariawald. Made in the workshop of Everhard Rensig or Gerhard Remisch. German (Lower Rhine), c.1520 to 1521.

Abbot Heinrich kneels in front of a prie-dieu in the centre of the panel, his hands raised in prayer. he wears and gold and white damasked undergarment over which is a red robe with yellow trim and white inset pearls. He holds a pastoral staff which bears an image of a sainted pope who is presumably St. Cornelius. His jewelled mitre rests on the prie-dieu.
The Abbot’s overmantle is fastened in the centre with a morse which bears an image of an imperial eagle, in reference to the imperial status of Colrnelimunster. Above his head are the arms of Cornelimunster plus that of his family. The whole encased in an elaborate Renaissance architectural structure composed of arches and columns.
In the background are a moated, fortified town and landscape painted in brown and silver stain on light blue glass.
Above the figure is a coat of arms comprising gules two pastoral staves crossed in saltire Or (Cornelimunster), overall an Escutcheon sable, a lion rampant Or (van Binsfeld) with an inscription below "dns Hiri[cu]s Bins... Abbas Impial' moster.."

Given by E.E. Cook Esquire.

Believed to be from the sixth window of the cloisters of Mariawald.

Heinrich von Binsfeld was abbot of the Imperial Abbey of Cornelimunster, near Aachen from 1491 to 1531. About 1520 he restored and considerably enlarged the church building of his abbey.

Goerke records that Heinrich gave a window to Mariawald, dated 1506 which is too early for this panel. The 1506 panel was located in the abbey church.

Above his head is a shield bearing the arms of the abbey of Cornelimunster:
Gules, two pastoral staves in saltire, overall an escutcheon with the family arms of Binsfeld, Sable, a lion rampant or

Mariawald was a Cistercian abbey founded in 1480. The Cistercians were a monastic order established in 1098 in Burgundy at Citeaux. The founder of the Cistercians had broken away from the Benedictines which had been the first monastic order to be established in Europe, in the 6th century.

During the Revolutionary struggles in France and the subsequent religious upheavals under Napoleon, many monastic institutions on the continent were 'secularised' and their buildings destroyed. The abbey of Mariawald was closed down in 1802 but fortunately its buildings, including the cloisters, remain largely intact. However, the stained glass windows had been removed and it is believed that they were purchased by John Christopher Hampp of Norwich. Hampp sold the Mariawald panels to various churches and to private collectors. Many of these were purchased by the collector, Lord Brownlow who had them installed in his new chapel at Ashridge Park in Hertfordshire between 1811 and 1831.

In 1928 the contents of Ashridge Park were sold at auction and a private collector purchased the stained glass and gave it to the Victoria & Albert Museum.

This panel is one of many in the V&A that comes from the cloisters at Mariawald. These panels come from ten windows on the west and north sides of the cloister, plus one from the north end of the eastern part. The glazing of these cloisters began about 1510 and seem to have been completed in the 1530s.

As the cloisters were never dismantled we can reconstruct how the panels were placed in the architectural structure. The window openings in the cloisters were each composed of two openings ('lights'). Each light was composed of three large panels, plus one small tracery panel. So there would have been eight panels to each window.

From the surviving stained glass panels we can determine the theme of the cloister glazing. Each window had two panels depicting scenes from the Old Testament and two panels with scenes from the New Testament. Above the biblical story panels, were two smaller prophet (or 'messenger') panels. These contained half-images of Old Testament prophets holding scrolls with text relating to biblical passages connected with the scenes below. At the base of each window were donor and patron saint panels. These donors were the ones who contributed to the financing of the cloister glazing.

This type of narrative arrangement is known as 'typological'. Each Old Testament story was a 'type' or a prefigurement of a New Testament story ('antitype'). For example, the Old Testament story of 'Elisha greeted by the Sons of the Prophet' was a prefigurement of the New Testament 'Entry of Christ into Jerusalem' which occurred on what we now call 'Palm Sunday'.

The typological arrangement was popular in the Middle Ages. The stories were reproduced in manuscripts and in engravings from woodcuts and collectively became known as 'Biblia Pauperum' ('Bibles of the Poor'). At the end of the 15th century the Biblia Pauperum were printed in book form and sold in their thousands. These books were used as design sources for artworks including stained glass panels.

The painting of the panel is attributed to the Master of St Severin. See the altarpiece of the Raising of Lazarus originally in Cologne and now in the Bowes Museum.

This panel is one of many in the V&A that comes from the cloisters at Mariawald. These panels come from ten windows on the west and north sides of the cloister, plus one from the north end of the eastern part. The glazing of these cloisters began about 1510 and seem to have been completed in the 1530s.

Mariawald was a Cistercian abbey founded in 1480. The Cistercians were a monastic order established in 1098 in Burgundy at Citeaux. The founder of the Cistercians had broken away from the Benedictines which had been the first monastic order to be established in Europe, in the 6th century.

During the Revolutionary struggles in France and the subsequent religious upheavals under Napoleon, many monastic institutions on the continent were ‘secularised’ and their buildings destroyed. The abbey of Mariawald was closed down in 1802 but fortunately its buildings, including the cloisters, remain largely intact. However, the stained glass windows had been removed and it is believed that they were purchased by John Christopher Hampp of Norwich. Hampp sold the Mariawald panels to various churches and to private collectors. Many of these were purchased by the collector, Lord Brownlow who had them installed in his new chapel at Ashridge Park in Hertfordshire between 1811 and 1831.

In 1928 the contents of Ashridge Park were sold at auction and a private collector purchased the stained glass and gave it to the Victoria & Albert Museum.

W are able to reconstruct how the panels were placed in the cloister windows. Each window was composed of two openings (‘lights’). Each light was composed of three large panels, plus one small tracery panel. So there would have been eight panels to each window.

From the surviving stained glass panels we can determine the theme of the cloister glazing. Each window had two panels depicting scenes from the Old Testament and two panels with scenes from the New Testament. Above the biblical story panels, were two smaller prophet (or ‘messenger’) panels. These contained half-images of Old Testament prophets holding scrolls with text relating to biblical passages connected with the scenes below. At the base of each window were donor and patron saint panels. These donors were the ones who contributed to the financing of the cloister glazing.

This type of narrative arrangement is known as ‘typological’. Each Old Testament story was a ‘type’ or a prefigurement of a New Testament story (‘antitype’). The prophets on each window would hold text from the Bible relating to the Old and New Testament stories. For example, the Old Testament story of the ‘Sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham’ was seen as a prefigurement of the New Testament story of ‘Jesus Christ’s Sacrifice on the Cross’.

The donor in this panel is Heinrich von Binsfeld, abbot of the Abbey of Cornelimunster nearAachen in Germany. We can identify him from the inscription at the bottom of the panel. Opposite to this panel in the same window was one showing the patron saint of Cornelimunster, Pope Cornelius (Museum no.C.325-1928). Heinrich von Binsfeld would have contributed to the costs of one of the cloister windows. We cannot be certain that these panels came from the sixth window in the cloisters at Mariawald.

The typological arrangement was popular in the Middle Ages. The stories were reproduced in manuscripts and in engravings from woodcuts and collectively became known as ‘Biblia Pauperum’ (‘Bibles of the Poor’). At the end of the 15th century the Biblia Pauperum were printed in book form and sold in their thousands. These books were used as design sources for artworks including stained glass panels.

C.323-1928