Medieval Stained Glass from the Khanenko Museum in Kyiv
Light in Dark Times Medieval Stained Glass from the Khanenko Museum in Kyiv
Edited by Manuela Beer and Carola Hagnau Medieval Stained Glass from the Khanenko Museum in Kyiv
Cooperation Museum: We thank for their generous support: Foreword and Acknowledgements Stained-Glass Panes in the Collection of The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts Context, History, Secrets The Museum Schnütgen’s Collection of Stained Glass Prerequisites and Genesis of a Special Collection Catalogue 9 13 23 35 Yuliya Vaganova, Martin Hoernes and Moritz Woelk Anastasia Matselo and Hanna Rudyk Manuela Beer Bibliography Photo Credits Imprint 96 103 104
Light in Dark Times is the title of this exhibition. It could hardly be more fitting. The sad occasion is the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022. In the first year of the war, there was a major attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in which eight museums, along with university and residential buildings, were damaged, including the Khanenko Museum in the heart of Kyiv city centre. The short sequence from a security camera on display in the exhibition vividly shows the impact of the rocket strike on 10 October 2022, right next to the museum. Despite rapid emergency measures, concerns remained about the valuable collection of stained glass, which is particularly vulnerable to damage from vibration. The fact that the fragile works of art arrived safely in Cologne in December 2024 and can now be seen in an exhibition together with stained glass from the Museum Schnütgen is the gratifying result of a German-Ukrainian museum partnership initiated by the UKRAINE funding line of the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung and the HERMANN REEMTSMA STIFTUNG together with the stained-glass research centre Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi Germany. The fact that art in its various forms of expression continues to live and develop, and that it is visible and tangible to the people of Ukraine as a central part of their own cultural identity, especially in times of war, is something that cultural workers, those in positions of responsibility in museums and other cultural institutions, and artists in Ukraine have made their mission. It is a difficult mission, especially given the increasingly dramatic world political situation since the beginning of the Russian invasion. With incredible energy and hope for an early peace, our Ukrainian colleagues Foreword and Acknowledgements 9
glass paintings before they were transported to Cologne. Without hesitation, Dr. Peter Füssenich, Dombaumeister of Cologne Cathedral, and Dr. Katrin Wittstadt, Head of the Glass Conservation Workshop at the Cologne Dombauhütte, offered their help with the conservation of the Kyiv panes in the run-up to the exhibition and with the scientific examination and restoration after the end of the presentation. We would also like to express our very warm thanks to all those who contributed to the realisation of the exhibition and the accompanying digital publication. Nicole Miller was responsible for the exhibition design, Manu Lange for the advertising and exhibition graphics, and Magnus Neumeyer for the design of the publication, for which Marion Mennicken of the Rheinisches Bildarchiv created numerous new images. The translations by Gérard Goodrow and KERN AG Sprachendienste contributed greatly to the success of the exhibition and publication. Last but not least, we would like to express our personal and heartfelt thanks to the curators at the Museum Schnütgen, Dr. Manuela Beer and Dr. Carola Hagnau, who took on this special project with great professionalism and sensitivity. Thanks to the friendly and cooperative collaboration with our colleagues, the curators Anastasia Matselo and Olena Kramareva in Kyiv, the exhibition of glass paintings could be opened just one year after the two museums first got in touch. We would like to express our sincere thanks to them, as well as to the many other colleagues in both museums who have contributed their knowledge and skills to this joint project with great dedication. Our highest appreciation goes to the courageous Khanenko team, who are doing everything they can for their museum in these difficult times. When two collections of stained glass come together in such circumstances, it is all about light and fragility: the fragility of objects, people and the world. And the light of hope. Dr. Yuliya Vaganova Director Khanenko Museum Dr. Martin Hoernes Secretary General Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung Dr. Moritz Woelk Director Museum Schnütgen in the museum world are fighting for their collections and the artworks entrusted to them. For them, it is not only about saving threatened works of art from destruction, but also about preserving their own Ukrainian identity. In the Khanenko Museum, which has often experienced the negative effects of political upheaval and armed conflict in the past hundred years of its existence, the museum team is doing everything it can to ensure that life in the museum continues even during the war: this includes small, sometimes only one-day exhibitions from the museum’s own collections of Ukrainian and international art from the 19th to the 21st centuries, interventions by contemporary artists, as well as concerts, readings and guided tours through the empty museum. The curators and scholars continue to conduct research and digitise their collections. The main activities of the Khanenko Museum currently include international projects aimed at exhibiting, researching and restoring works from the museum’s collection. In 2023, for example, a selection from the Khanenko Museum’s rare collection of Byzantine icons was presented at the Louvre in Paris. The current exhibition in Cologne marks a continuation of these activities and further raises the profile of the Khanenko Collection in Europe. For the first time in many decades, the precious stained-glass paintings from Kyiv are being presented together. They have been scientifically researched and will be conserved and restored after the exhibition in Cologne. That all of this is and remains possible in times of war is one of the main concerns of the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung and the HERMANN REEMTSMA STIFTUNG with their joint Ukraine funding programme, which was set up on 8 March 2022, just a few days after the start of the Russian war of aggression. The aim is to provide quick and unbureaucratic assistance to Ukrainian museums and cultural institutions to help ensure their continued security and stability, for example by supporting German museums in employing Ukrainian scholars who have fled the country. The close cooperation between the Khanenko Museum and the Museum Schnütgen is one example of this: not only is a valuable collection of stained glass being preserved, it is also being jointly researched by German and Ukrainian colleagues, made accessible to the public and thus preserved as part of Ukraine’s cultural identity. This also makes it one of the flagship projects of the UKRAINE funding line. Without the involvement of other sponsors, the project would not have been able to proceed as planned. We would therefore like to express our special thanks to the Peter und Irene Ludwig Stiftung and its director, Dr. Carla Cugini, for their trusting support. In addition to the funding provided by the City of Cologne, the Museum Schnütgen has once again received great support from the Freundeskreis Museum Schnütgen (Friends of the Museum Schnütgen). We would like to thank its chairman, Dr. Cornel Soltek, and all its members. In addition to generous financial support, this collaborative project has benefited from the remarkable solidarity of many colleagues. We have received exceptional support from the international research institution for medieval glass painting, Corpus Vitrearum Deutschland, which is sponsored by the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz: Dr. Elena Kosina and Dr. Ivo Rauch travelled to Kyiv to secure and pack the 11 10
Located in two adjacent historic buildings in the centre of Kyiv, the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts is named after the two art collectors and patrons. The museum, a former city mansion with a façade reminiscent of a Venetian palazzo, was once the home of the Khanenko family and houses their collection. The former tenement house of Varvara’s sister, Efrosynia Sakhnovska, was given to the museum in 1986 (fig. 1). The museum as an institution, founded by a Soviet decree of 23 June 1919, has existed for over a century, although its art collection has a much longer history. Its core is the private collection of Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko. Bohdan Ivanovych Khanenko (1849–1917), who came from a noble Cossack family, was a lawyer by training and held senior positions in various fields (fig. 2). Varvara Nykolivna (1852–1922) came from the Tereshchenko merchant family, which included, among others, industrialists, art collectors and philanthropists (fig. 3). Bohdan and Varvara married in 1874, a classic union of ‘old aristocracy’ and ‘new money’. This year also marks the beginning of the Khanenko collection; collecting art objects of various kinds became the couple’s shared life’s work. They were interested in both European and Asian art and collected modern and antique books. During their honeymoon in 1874, the couple purchased their first Italian paintings and sculptures in Rome and Florence. The Asian part of the collection began with the purchase of a large painted Persian vase in Warsaw in 1876. This was followed by trips to Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Venice, Madrid, Cairo.... Over a period of almost forty-five years, Anastasia Matselo and Hanna Rudyk Stained-Glass Panes in the Collection of The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts Context, History, Secrets Fig. 1 The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts, Kyiv, str. Tereschenkivs’ka, 15–17, photo 2024 13
their private collection, together with the villa and library, accessible to the public (Bohdan Ivanovych in his will in 1917, Varvara Nykolivna in a deed of gift in 1918). Since the official foundation of the museum, the collection has grown, but there have also been losses. During the Soviet period (1921–1991), the museum received works from other museums, nationalised collections and private individuals. But the losses outweighed the gains. Many pieces were lost – through the redistribution of exhibits to various museums in the USSR in the 1920s, through looting by Soviet authorities in the 1930s with the aim of selling museum treasures abroad, and through transfer abroad at the behest of the German High Command during the Second World War. More than 400 paintings and many more archaeological and decorative artefacts are believed to have been lost (fig. 6). The Asian collection suffered particularly during the Nazi occupation. In addition to works of art, documents relating to the history of the family Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko built up a collection of some six thousand objects, ranging from archaeological artefacts from ancient Egypt to European paintings, prints and works on paper, sculptures and decorative arts. The list of objects also includes a number of works of Islamic art, particularly from medieval Iran, as well as Chinese scrolls, sculptures and porcelain, Japanese art prints, tsuba (sword guards) and ceramics. The collection also includes Buddhist and Hindu art objects. The book collection comprises some ten thousand volumes. In the late 1880s, Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko settled in Kyiv with their collection in a city mansion belonging to Varvara. Built in 1887–1888 and decorated in the 1890s, the building now features numerous relics of its original state, both in its exterior and interior. During the couple’s lifetime, works from very different periods and countries coexisted harmoniously in the rooms of the villa. Asian objects of art were displayed alongside masterpieces from Western Europe, Byzantium, Ancient Russia and Classical Antiquity (figs. 4, 5). This principle corresponds to the European fashion of the time and the contemporary idea of the appearance of the living space of educated and art-loving people. In 1919, the property of the Khanenkos was nationalised and the building was declared a municipal museum, although the owners had already expressed their intention to make Fig. 2 Bohdan Ivanovych Khanenko (1849–1917), photo early 20th century Fig. 3 Varvara Nykolivna Khanenko (1852–1922), photo of the portrait by Alexei Harlamoff (1840–1925), lost during World War II Fig. 4 Grand Staircase in the Khanenkos’ mansion, photo before 1919 15 14
Stained glass from the 13th to 18th centuries decorates the windows of the large ‘Italian Hall’. It is located at the front of the building and is furnished in the neo-Gothic style. During the lifetime of the couple, three of the five windows were decorated with stained glass. The first window is dominated by the large stained-glass window The Miracle of Pentecost (inv. no. 301 БР МХ; cat. no. 19), the second window contains five small panels with coats of arms and images of saints. The small side window is decorated with a 14th-century Italian stained-glass window depicting the Archangel Gabriel (fig. 7).1 In 1919, there were only two front windows decorated with stained-glass panes, but by 1923 all four were. The stained-glass panes were dismantled during the Second World War. Since then, they have never been displayed together again. A series of panes in the ‘Delft Dining Room’ is an impressive example of ornamental stained glass from the late 19th and early 20th centuries (fig. 8). The ornamentation consists of stained glass in various geometric shapes covering the entire window area, and its possessions were confiscated or destroyed in the first half of the 20th century. Reconstructing the entire Khanenko collection and returning it to its homeland is therefore one of the most pressing issues. The peculiarity of the Khanenko Museum is that the building and the works of art inside it form a single artistic ensemble. One of the most spectacular and mysterious elements of this complex are the stained-glass panels that decorate the state rooms of the villa and are also the part of the Khanenko collection, and about which very little is known. The stained glass can be divided into two groups. The first group consists of stained glass from the 13th to the 18th centuries, acquired as individual works of art. Today the collection includes twelve of these panes, making it the largest museum collection of such artefacts in Ukraine. The second group includes the multi-coloured glass decorations of several doors and windows in the villa. Commissioned by the couple, they are important decorative elements of their living spaces. Fig. 6 Museum halls in 1943 Fig. 5 Islamic art in the ‘Italian Hall’ of the Khanenkos’ mansion, c. 1910 1 Lost during the Second World War. 17 16
with curved fragments (roundels) at the edges. In the context of Ukrainian architectural and art history, this ensemble is an impressive example of European Art Nouveau stained glass. It has since been dismantled and is awaiting further scientific study. In addition to their collecting activities, Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko also studied the works of art they had acquired. In consultation with a number of scholars, they scientifically processed the data. In 1896, 1899 and 1911–1913, the Khanenkos published catalogues of paintings, and in 1899–1907 album catalogues of archaeological monuments and church antiquities. Bohdan Khanenko left written memories of the history of the art collection he built up with his wife Varvara. His manuscript provides valuable information for research and was published in 2009 under the title Memories of an Art Collector (Спогади колекціонера).2 However, in Bohdan Khanenko’s memoirs, which are mainly devoted to the acquisition of paintings and sculptures, there is not a single word about the acquisition of stained glass. Instead, there are three other documents in the museum’s archives that contain some fragmentary information about the creation and first inventory of this part of the collection. One of the documents is a handwritten note by Bohdan Ivanovych indicating the value and, for some objects, the origin. Twelve objects are listed under the heading ‘Glass’: ten are described as ‘window glass’ and two as ‘glass painting’ (églomisé). The document does not contain a complete inventory, but rather a brief personal summary. It is therefore difficult to compare the objects mentioned with those that actually exist. No. 6 ‘Window glass, Switzerland, 16th century, sacred scene; 2000’ probably refers to the glass pane The Miracle of Pentecost (inv. no. 301 БР МХ), and nos. 2–3 ‘Window panes, German masters of the 14th century, with representations of sacred scenes; 300’ refer to the panes Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene and Christ on the Mount of Olives (inv. nos. 137, 138; cat. no. 4). The origin of only one object, a stained-glass window depicting the Archangel Gabriel, is indicated: ‘Pirri’, cat. no. 426. This entry can be interpreted as a reference to the auction of the Filippo Pirri collection in Rome in 1889. The illustration and description of the object published under lot no. 426 in the Pirri catalogue confirm this assumption beyond doubt. The second document is a 1919 catalogue description of the items in the Khanenko collection, written during Varvara Nykolivna’s lifetime, and probably with her consent, by the first staff of the newly established museum. Only six panes are mentioned in this description: The Miracle of Pentecost and five small objects with coats of arms and images of saints. On the page describing The Miracle of Pentecost, the column labelled ‘Provenance’ reads: ‘Collection Tolin’. This means that the stained-glass window was acquired at an auction in Paris in 1897, as part of the collection of Adolphe Tollin, as confirmed by the detailed description of the object under lot no. 76 in the auction catalogue. Unfortunately, this is the only written information that is available today on the provenance of the stained glass in the Khanenko collection. The only assumptions that can be made in this context concern the panes Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene Fig. 8 ‘Delft Dining Room’, photo before 2022 Fig. 7 ‘Italian Hall’, photo before 1919 2 Ханенко 2008. 19 18
and Christ on the Mount of Olives. The results of the research confirm that the two panes date from the mid-14th century and come from the church of Maria Straßengel near the city of Graz in Austria. This church was restored in 1885 and some of the stained glass ended up in private collections – not at auction but mostly bought quietly. It is likely that Bohdan Khanenko acquired his stained glass in Vienna in this way when he visited the Austrian capital in 1885 for the auction of the estate of the famous artist Hans Makart (1840–1884). The total number of panes in the Khanenko collection can be determined from the third document, the museum’s inventory of 1925. Fifteen works are listed there. The description of twelve of them is the same as in the earlier catalogues and is fully consistent with the current one. Three works, together with the aforementioned image of the Archangel Gabriel, are among the museum’s losses. Today, the Khanenko Museum houses the most important collection of world art in Ukraine, with over twenty-five thousand objects. The exhibits represent cultural treasures from all five continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Australia) and Oceania. The collection spans the period from the end of the 2nd millennium BCE to the beginning of the 21st century CE. It includes works of art from ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, Byzantine icons, European paintings and sculptures, drawings and prints, tapestries and furniture, glass, porcelain and faience, art objects made of gold, silver and bronze, Chinese scrolls and decorative arts, Japanese netsuke, tsuba and woodblock prints, Iranian miniatures, ceramics and carpets, and Buddhist artefacts, to name but a few. On the eve of the Russian invasion in 2022, the museum’s permanent exhibition included around a thousand works of art. The rest were stored in the museum’s depot. The exhibition has been dismantled, and all the objects are safely stored. But life goes on in the museum. Inside there are temporary exhibitions of Ukrainian and international art from the 19th to the 21st century, as well as one-day exhibitions from the museum’s collections. There are also various educational events, including excursions, lectures and master classes. The so-called war collection continues to grow as contemporary artists donate their own works to the museum after they have been exhibited in the museum’s halls. Research and the digitisation of objects and archival documents in the collection also continue. Other activities include joint international projects dedicated to the exhibition, research and restoration of works from the museum’s collection. The current exhibition project presents twelve of the Khanenkos’ stained-glass panes together for the first time in many decades. They have been meticulously restored, catalogued and analysed by experienced specialists in accordance with the latest scientific findings. 20
Few museums in the world have larger collections of European stained glass from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance than the Museum Schnütgen. The largest and most comprehensive collection is held by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.1 The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York2 and the Burrell Collection in Glasgow3 have only roughly comparable holdings. The Museum Schnütgen’s collection of stained glass, with around 200 objects, is considerably smaller, but with its many outstanding individual works it can easily stand up to international comparison.4 From fragments barely the size of a hand to complete church windows several metres high composed of several individual panes, the museum’s collection reflects the many facets of the development of technique and artistic expression in medieval glass painting from the 13th to the 16th centuries. The medieval holdings are complemented by important Renaissance stained glass from glazed cloisters and a large group of cabinet panes from the 16th and 17th centuries. The emphasis in this part of the collection is on objects from Cologne, the Rhineland and Westphalia. The core of the collection goes back to its founder, Alexander Schnütgen (1843–1918) (fig. 1).5 Coloured stained-glass windows played a central role in the decoration of medieval churches and monasteries and, from the late 15th century, in the secular residences of wealthy citizens. They closed the increasingly large window openings of the early Gothic period and, as diaphanous walls, allowed daylight to enter the interior of the building, transforming its brightness and colour values. Its translucent nature and colour qualities made stained glass an ideal visual medium for depicting biblical stories in multi-part Fig. 1 Carl Faust (1874–1935), Portrait of Alexander Schnütgen, 1918 1 Williamson 2003. 2 Hayward 2003. 3 Marks 2012. 4 Lymant 1982. 5 Carl Faust (1874–1935), Portrait of Alexander Schnütgen, 1918; Cologne, Museum Schnütgen, inv. M 732. Manuela Beer The Museum Schnütgen’s Collection of Stained Glass Prerequisites and Genesis of a Special Collection 23
decoration and as an emotional link to the medieval era. The merchant and collector Jakob Johann Nepomuk Lyversberg (1761–1834), for example, had a two-pane tracery window depicting Christ Carrying the Cross and the Crucifixion installed in the chapel attached to his house on Heumarkt; both panes are in the collection of the Museum Schnütgen.13 Soon after secularisation, Cologne became one of the most important trading centres for stained glass in Europe.14 It is said that around two thousand panes changed hands here within two decades. Many of the new collectors and dealers were soon involved in the lucrative business, especially as demand from English dealers in particular had increased considerably. Christopher Hampp (1750–1825), a native of Germany who had settled in Norwich as a cloth manufacturer, played an important role as an agent in the sale of Rhenish stained glass to England.15 By 1850, most of the German stained glass still in England today had arrived there.16 scenes (e.g. cat. nos. 4, 5) or impressive, monumental individual figures such as saints, prophets and apostles (cat. no. 1) on what were often large surfaces. Firmly integrated into the framing architecture, most medieval stained-glass windows often remained in their original locations for centuries. Damage from storms, fires or military conflicts had repeatedly led to the loss of older windows and the installation of newer ones, but it was not until the Baroque renovation of churches that the medieval panes were systematically removed and replaced with light-coloured windows, which allowed more light into the interior and were considered more in keeping with Baroque architecture.6 Only a few of the panes that were replaced at that time ended up in private collections. Unlike other medieval works of art, their material value was considered low. They were difficult to store, difficult to reuse and difficult to display without a great deal of effort. Removing them from their architectural context usually meant destroying them.7 It was not until the 18th century that interest in the systematic collection of medieval stained glass developed, particularly among English antiquarians and the nobility. The latter wanted to decorate their representative neo-Gothic estates, and especially their private chapels, with medieval stained glass.8 Complete stained-glass windows were in great demand and were for a long time difficult to obtain. This only changed at the turn of the 19th century, with secularisation. This momentous consequence of the French Revolution (1789–1799) led to far-reaching political, social and cultural upheavals throughout Europe, particularly in Cologne and the Rhineland.9 Following the invasion of French troops in October 1794, some 120 churches and monasteries in Cologne were secularised and their furnishings, including countless precious stained-glass windows, removed. Medieval stained glass that had not been destroyed was, for the first time, available in large numbers for sale and collection. With the secularisation decree of 30 June 1802, a new collecting field, that of stained glass, was born.10 The historical conditions were generally favourable. Whereas in the 17th and 18th centuries there had been a number of private collections in Cologne, which often existed as such for only a few years and were usually dissolved by auction, at the beginning of the 19th century many art and culture enthusiasts among Cologne’s upper middle classes began to collect systematically and to display their works of art in their private homes.11 In a way, secularisation was an unexpected stroke of luck for this new generation of art collectors. It was Cologne’s wine, cloth and tobacco merchants in particular – the wealthiest group of the city’s upper middle class alongside its bankers – who began to buy and sell medieval stained glass. The Cologne wine and tobacco merchant Johann Heinrich Pleunissen (1731–1810) managed to amass one of the most exquisite collections of medieval stained glass ever assembled by a private individual. This included sixty-four stained-glass windows from the Cistercian Abbey of Altenberg, which Pleunissen had acquired in 1806 to settle outstanding wine bills from the abbeys of Heisterbach and Siegburg. Forty-four of the stained-glass paintings from the cloister glazing of Altenberg still exist today, nineteen of which are in the Museum Schnütgen.12 As well as collecting stained glass, people of Cologne were increasingly interested in integrating original medieval glass paintings into neo-Gothic buildings as 6 See Schumacher 1998, 111. 7 Gast 2019, 405. 8 For more detailed information, see, among others, Schuhmacher 1998, 111–112; Williamson 2003, 10. – For more detailed information on the early collections of the 18th century, which were first compiled in England and from about 1780 also in Germany and France, see Gast 2019, esp. 405–407. 9 On the background, implementation and consequences of the secularisation in Cologne, see Diederich 1995. 10 Wolff-Wintrich 1995, 341. 11 For more detailed information on this and the following, see Kronenberg 1995, esp. 123–125, 132–133; Berghausen 1995, 149–151. 12 Cologne, Museum Schnütgen, inv. M 559–M 570, M 709–M 714. Johann Heinrich Pleunissen bequeathed his collection to his daughter Maria Franziska Hirn, and in 1824 his grandson Heinrich Schieffer sold the collection. Of the nineteen panes now in the Museum Schnütgen, thirteen were transferred from the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) to the Museum Schnütgen as part of the reorganisation of Cologne’s museums, and a further six were added in 2011 through Irene Ludwig’s bequest; see Lymant 1982, 192–193, no. 119; Wolff-Wintrich 1995, 345; Cat. Rheinische Glasmalerei 2007, vol. 2, 30–31, no. 5 (Dagmar Täube); Woelk/Beer 2018, 338–339, no. 227 (Iris Metje). 13 Cologne, Museum Schnütgen, inv. M 167a–b; Lymant 1982, 77–80, nos. 45, 46; Mädger 1995, 195–196; Woelk/Beer 2018, 232–233, no. 151 (Pavla Ralcheva). 14 Wolff-Wintrich 1995, 341; Gast 2019, 412 15 Wolff-Wintrich 1995, 341. 16 For more detailed information, see Williamson 2007. Fig. 2 Death of the Virgin, Cologne, c. 1250–1260 24 25
any of the interior photographs. It is clear, however, that Schnütgen could not have had stained glass installed in front of or in the few windows in his rather dark, non-electrified rooms without further reducing the already sparse daylight. In other collections, most notably the famous and exemplary collection of Frédéric Spitzer (1815–1890) in Paris,25 original stained glass served as the finishing touch in the design of modern ‘period rooms’, which the Khanenko couple in Kyiv, among others, also used as a reference when staging their own collection.26 Many of the newly established collections of stained glass in Cologne were sold shortly after they were assembled, as their owners found themselves in financial difficulties after the withdrawal of Napoleonic soldiers in 1814, and the secularised property came on the market a second time. In 1824, the important Pleunissen-Hirn-Schieffer collection of stained glass was auctioned off and scattered around the world.17 By this time, a professional art market had been established in Cologne. From the 1840s onwards, all major auctions of Cologne estates were held at the auction house of J. M. Heberle, which by then had acquired a monopoly on the art trade in the city.18 The auction of the art collection of Johann Anton Ramboux (1790–1866) in 1867 marked the first public appearance of the young, recently ordained Alexander Schnütgen as a buyer, who acquired several medieval paintings – the foundation of his collection.19 By the late 1860s, when Schnütgen discovered his passion for collecting medieval art, the period when stained glass was widely available in the Cologne art trade had long since passed. Looking at the stained glass that Schnütgen must have acquired between 1867 and the donation of his collection to the City of Cologne in 1906, it is striking that, apart from two very important round-arched windows from the mid-13th century depicting the Death of the Virgin (fig. 2) and the Coronation of the Virgin,20 it consists almost entirely of smaller cabinet panes and stained-glass fragments. The founder’s original collection included a remarkable number of medieval head fragments, which had been removed from the context of the narrative cycles of larger church windows and were probably easier and less expensive to acquire on the art market even in the last third of the 19th century. It is no secret that Schnütgen had other ways of acquiring stained glass apart from the publicly available sources of purchase. At the end of the 19th century, the trend towards the monuments of the past began in many places with the restoration and safeguarding of the buildings and their stained glass. The aim of restoration practice at that time was to achieve an overall impression that was harmonious and true to the original style, which led to massive interventions in the original substance. Schnütgen, who was commissioned to organise the work on the three windows of the central radiating chapel of Cologne Cathedral between 1899 and 1901, also acted in this spirit. At the slightest sign of damage, he had entire panes replaced with neo-Gothic copies, resulting in the loss of much original material. In keeping with his motto Colligite fragmenta ne pereant (Gather the remaining pieces so that they do not perish),21 he then added some of the discarded High Gothic glass paintings to his private collection, including the remarkable head of the younger king from the window of the Three Magi (fig. 3).22 The unusual stained-glass pasticcio, likely assembled at Schnütgen’s behest from fragments of heads and figures from the church of St. Maria Sion in Cologne (fig. 4),23 is not only a pictorial expression of his motto. It also clearly reflects his ambition to use his collection to represent a chronological and thematic development of medieval Christian art, which at the same time served as a teaching collection for contemporary neo-Gothic art production. This can be seen in the collector’s residence, documented in an impressive series of photographs taken by Emil Hermann in 1910 (fig. 5).24 The works, arranged according to material, form and theme, are closely packed together – no stained glass is visible in Fig. 3 Head of a king from the Three Magi Window in Cologne Cathedral, Cologne, c. 1330–1340 17 See note 12. Another collection of stained glass was owned by the Cologne cloth merchant Caspar Heinrich Bemberg (1744–1824); see Berghausen 1995, 151. For a list of the early Cologne collections containing stained glass alongside other objects, see Schuhmacher 1998, 112. 18 Kronenberg 1995, 132– 133. 19 For more on Schnütgen’s beginnings as an art collector, see Westermann-Angerhausen/Beer 2006, 4. 20 Cologne, Museum Schnütgen, inv. M 2, M 3. – Lymant 1982, 11–15, nos. 1, 2; Woelk/Beer 2018, 150–151, no. 96 (Moritz Woelk). 21 Westerann-Angerhausen 1993. 22 Cologne, Museum Schnütgen, inv. M 40. – For more on Schnütgen’s not uncontroversial involvement in these measures, see, among others, Cat. Himmelslicht 1998, 312–313, no. 82 (Claudia Schuhmacher). 23 Cologne, Museum Schnütgen, inv. M 6. – Lymant 1982, 19–21, no. 4. 24 For more on the staging of the Schnütgen Collection see Beer 2015 and Beer 2018. 25 Shepard 2019, 424. 26 See the essay by Anastasia Matselo in this volume and Welzel/Zeising 2022, 117–118. 26 27
A new chapter in the history of the collection of stained glass of the Museum Schnütgen, which opened in 1910, began shortly before the Second World War with the reorganisation of the Cologne museums in 1930–1932. At that time, the large collection of stained glass from the holdings of the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) found its way into the collection of the Museum Schnütgen. This was a considerable enrichment, as it still constitutes the largest and most important part of the collection of stained glass to this day. Many of the glass paintings in this second collection owe their existence to the dedication of two Cologne collectors, Ferdinand Franz Wallraf (1748–1824) and Matthias Joseph De Noël (1782–1849), who, a generation before Alexander Schnütgen, had sought to save Cologne’s medieval stained glass.27 In 1930–1932, the collection was enriched by the large multi-part windows for which the museum is now famous, including the window of the Three Magi from the Cologne Council Chapel (cat. 6) and the window of the Ten Commandments from the Carmelite Church in Boppard (cat. 5). At the same time, the detachment of the Museum Schnütgen from the Kunstgewerbemuseum and its move to the spacious and light-filled rooms Fig. 4 Pasticcio panel with fragments of heads and figures from St. Maria Sion in Cologne, Cologne, c. 1230–1245 of the abbey of St. Heribert in Deutz provided an excellent opportunity to present the collection of stained glass in a new way, as only a few stained-glass windows had been mounted in front of the windows in the first museum presentation (fig. 6). In 1932, the museum’s first director, Fritz Witte (1876–1937), arranged the collection’s large glass paintings in a generous, light-filled space (fig. 7). His display concept was largely in line with what leading European and North American museum experts of the time considered to be a modern and appropriate museum presentation.28 The museum building, so well suited to the display of stained glass, was completely destroyed during the Second World War. Fortunately, the fragile works of art had been removed in time and stored in a safe place. In subsequent presentations of the collection, attempts were repeatedly made to recreate the display in Deutz Abbey. The Romanesque Church of St. Cecilia, where the Museum Schnütgen was the first Cologne museum to reopen after the war in 1956, offered a less suitable space despite its special atmosphere: from then on, some of the stained-glass paintings were presented in light boxes while others were mounted in 27 Wallraf had successfully campaigned to have the auction of the windows from the churches of St. Clara, St. Aper and St. Cecilia, scheduled for 29 November 1802, cancelled. Instead, he had the cloister glazing from the churches of St. Aper and St. Cecilia inventoried and transferred to the Jesuit College for safekeeping; see Wolff-Wintrich 1995, 341. 28 For example, Joseph Henry Breck (1885–1933), founding director of The Cloisters, affiliated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, who also placed a special emphasis on stained glass in his presentation of the collection; see Shepard, 2019, 427–428. Fig. 5 Alexander Schnütgen’s private residence, c. 1910 28 29
front of the church windows (fig. 8). It was not until the new building was completed in 2010 that it was possible once again to create a long gallery of stained glass flooded with daylight. Today, the nineteen panes from the Altenberg cloister can be seen here (fig. 9). Together with other outstanding glass paintings, they came to the museum in 2011 from the Irene Ludwig bequest and now form the third contiguous collection of the Museum Schnütgen. In 2018, the holdings were again significantly expanded by twelve further loans from the Peter und Irene Ludwig Stiftung. Two of these loans are now being presented to the public for the first time (cat. 13, 14). The eventful history of Cologne since the French occupation is reflected more clearly in the Museum Schnütgen’s collection of stained glass than in any other part of the collection. Today, there are basically only two places in Cologne that convey an idea of the former wealth of medieval stained glass: Cologne Cathedral, where many stainedglass windows from secularised churches and monasteries were incorporated into the new glazing at the end of the 19th century – representative examples are the rescued panes from the cloisters of St. Cecilia and St. Aper – and the Museum Schnütgen. Through purchases, donations and permanent loans, the Museum Schnütgen has been able to enrich and accentuate its collection over the last hundred years. This is illustrated by the recently acquired stained glass from the Sainte-Chapelle in Dijon29 and a new permanent loan from a private collection depicting the Temptation of Christ (cat. 20). The latter probably comes from the lost cloister glazing of the church of St. Cecilia and thus returns to its original location for the first time on the occasion of the current exhibition. Fig. 7 Schnütgen-Museum in the former abbey of St. Heribert, c. 1932 Fig. 6 Schnütgen-Museum, first museum presentation in the annexe of the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) 29 Woelk 2024, 89–91, nos. 13–14. 30 31
Fig. 8 Schnütgen-Museum, museum presentation in the church of St. Cecilia, after 1956 Fig. 9 Museum Schnütgen, new buildung extension, 2010 33 32
Catalogue
The Prophet Ezekiel and the Apostle Paul Soissons, Cathedral of Saint Gervais et Saint Protais France, 1st quarter of the 13th cent. Stained glass 75.1 x 88.4 cm; 80.4 x 97 cm Kyiv, Khanenko Museum, inv. 135 БР МХ, 136 БP МХ 1 The oldest stained-glass paintings in the Khanenko Collection feature distinctive busts that once belonged to larger-than-life figures from early 13th-century church windows. Their current appearance is a typical example of so-called composite panes, which were reassembled from fragmented or damaged originals for the art trade during the historicist period of the 19th century. The two stainedglass paintings assembled in this way probably came from the clerestory of Soissons Cathedral, built between 1212 and 1220. Its windows, some nine metres high, were decorated with figures of prophets and apostles arranged one above the other. The figure of St. Paul, easily recognisable by his forelock, still contains mostly old glass in the inner image, including a striking frame of ‘flamed’ red glass, typical of the period. The background of the prophet, on the other hand, is a pasticcio of authentic but hardly coherent fragments. These include architectural elements, garments or hair, heraldic motifs (such as the coat of arms of Castile in the shape of a castle) and fragments of at least three inscriptions. The easily legible inscription behind the prophet – EZEC(I)EL – allows the iconographic identification of this figure, who, like the Apostle Paul, is adorned with a halo. The second fragment of the banner, SPECIES ELECTR(I), obscured by patches, refers to Ezekiel’s prophecy of the divine appearance: ‘There was fire inside the cloud, and in the middle of the fire glowed something like gleaming amber’ (Ezekiel 1:4). During the restoration of 1875–1891, several precious originals were removed from Soissons Cathedral. A few years later, some of them appeared on the Paris art market, where they were probably acquired by the art-loving Khanenko couple. In addition to the Khanenko Museum in Kyiv, parts of this high-quality glazing can be found in the Louvre in Paris, the Cloisters in New York, the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, the Stained Glass Museum in Ely and other public and private collections worldwide. Макаренко 1924, 85, 90. – Grodecki 1953. – Grodecki 1960. – Muratova 1970. – Grodecki/Perrot/Taralon 1978, 169–172. – Caviness/Pastan/Beaven 1984, 10. – Caviness 1990, 59–62. – Рославець 2005. Elena Kosina 36
Prophet Ezekiel Apostle Paul 38 39
St. Bilhildis Middle Rhine, c. 1280–1290 Stained glass 35.7 x 18.1 cm Alexander Schnütgen Collection, inv. M 33 2 The fragmentarily preserved stained glass depicting St. Bilhildis is one of the few stained-glass paintings from the collection of the museum’s founder, Alexander Schnütgen. An inscription in the pointed arch above the nimbus refers to the relatively unknown saint, whose life and work in caring for the sick is closely associated with the city of Mainz. The Frankish noblewoman (born mid-7th century, died 734) is considered the foundress of Altenmünster Abbey near Mainz, which she headed as abbess after the death of her husband, the pagan Frankish duke Hetan. However, the stained glass shows Bilhildis not as an abbess, but in elegant secular dress. The meaning of the flowers in her hand has not yet been explained. The close connection with Mainz and the rare depiction of Bilhildis, which is almost exclusively limited to the area around Mainz, led to the localisation of the glass painting to the Middle Rhine. Furthermore, the colouring, the painterly execution of the face, the design of the background with stylised hop tendrils and the pointed arch with circular ornamentation above the figure show close similarities with a lancet window depicting St. Cunigunde and St. Benedict, now in the Hessisches Landesmuseum in Darmstadt (inv. Kg 33:3). The figure of St. Benedict in the Darmstadt window could indicate that it came from the glazing of a Benedictine monastery, possibly the former abbey of Eibingen in the Rheingau. The small size of the window suggests that it was not made for the church building, but for a space with smaller window openings. The Darmstadt window is also associated with two now-lost stained-glass windows, formerly in the collection of Wilhelm Conrady (1829–1903), depicting St. Catherine and St. Agnes with a nun as donor and the single figure of St. Augustine. These two lancet windows, known only from black-and-white photographs, also show parallels with the Bilhildis pane in terms of size and style. However, the ornamentation of the background is different. Based on the composition of this lancet window, it is possible that St. Bilhildis, facing forward, was originally depicted as a single figure in another window in the same context as the other panes mentioned, or in a pair with another saint. Oidtmann 1912, 159. – Wentzel 1954, 32. – Schnitzler 1936, 26. – Beeh-Lustenberger 1973, 76, no. 103. – Lymant 1982, 43–44, no. 23. – Cat. Himmelslicht 1998, 210–211, no. 37 (Daniel Hess) – Hess 1999, 39, fig. 17. – Cat. Krone und Schleier 2005, 377, no. 269 (Dagmar Täube). Carola Hagnau 40
The Crucifixion of Christ and the donor couple van der Molen Soest, c. 1300 Stained glass 57.4 x 38.9 cm; 47.5 x 39.2 cm Transferred from the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts), Cologne, in 1930–1932, inv. M 660, M 614 3 The figures of Christ, Mary and John on one pane and the donor couple on the other are clearly distinguished by the contrast between the stained glass and the colourless grisaille background. Especially blue, yellow and red glass was used to create the coloured sections. The green of the cross, symbolic of the Tree of Life and found nowhere else, emphasises this central Christian symbol. The donors are backed by a light blue lozenge, whose hard geometric form is broken up by undulating text scrolls. The two stained-glass paintings belong to a cycle created around 1300 as a joint donation by several couples from the Soest citizenry. It is not known for which church the panes were intended. They may have been for the Romanesque predecessor of St. Paul’s Church in Soest, which was replaced by a new Gothic building in 1350 (Landolt-Wegener). Three panes with pairs of donors have survived in the windows of St. Paul’s, and two more are in the museums of Altena Castle. Originally, each donor couple was probably associated with a saint or a biblical scene, but the Crucifixion is the only biblical scene that has survived. A former placement of this Crucifixion above the donor pane preserved in the Museum Schnütgen is unlikely: while the delicate tendrils of the Crucifixion are modelled in negative space in black vitreous paint, the contours of the leaves and grapes with their thicker stalks on the donor pane are set against a hatched background. There are stylistic correspondences for both in the other windows. It can therefore be assumed that the Crucifixion was placed over a donor portrait with a matching background. The donor pane, on the other hand, forms a separate group within the cycle together with another pane in St. Paul’s Church. Thanks to the inscriptions, the couples on these pendants can be identified as Metges (?) and Godefridus van der Molen, as well as Druda and Gota Medebecke, two related families in Soest, documented shortly before 1300. All the other donor couples also seem to have come from wealthy Soest families – two of the men were probably aldermen, and one may have been mayor around 1300. It is striking that the women are shown on the left side of the image, which is hierarchically higher in the Christian faith, to the right of Christ. Whether this is an analogy to the fixed placement of Mary and John on the right and left of the cross, respectively, cannot be determined without the missing biblical depictions. Von Falke/Creutz 1910, 8. – Oidtmann 1912, 159. – Landolt-Wegener 1959, 33–37. – Lymant 1982, 46–49, nos. 25, 26. – Cat. Himmelslicht 1998, 204–205, nos. 34.1–2 (Carola Hagnau). – Wittekind 2007, 199–200. – Cat. Goldene Pracht 2012, 392–393, no. 225 (Petra Marx). Jule Wölk 42
Donor couple van der Molen Crucifixion, detail 44 45
Christ on the Mount of Olives and Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene (Noli me tangere) From the pilgrimage church Maria Straßengel in Styria Austria, 1350–1355 Stained glass 109.2 x 39.9 cm; 108.9 x 40.8 cm Kyiv, Khanenko Museum, inv. 138 БР МХ, 137 БP МХ 4 Two richly coloured, artistically composed panes depict events from the life of Christ: his prayer on the Mount of Olives, surrounded by sleeping apostles, and his appearance to Mary Magdalene in the guise of a gardener. Both panes come from the chancel of the pilgrimage church Maria Straßengel in Styria, built between 1345 and 1355. Its windows are among the most important medieval stainedglass cycles in Austria. The central chancel window of Maria Straßengel originally contained twenty-one scenes from the Passion, from the entry into Jerusalem to the Ascension, including the miracles of Christ. These included two panes depicting Christ’s last prayer before his arrest: ‘Let this cup pass from me’ (Matthew 26:39) and the appearance of the resurrected Christ to Mary Magdalene, also known as Noli me tangere, from Christ‘s words: ‘Do not cling to me’ (John 20:17). All the surviving panes of the Passion window, with their elegant lines, unusual colour effects and meticulous decoration of all surfaces, are attributed to the so-called Master of Straßengel. He must have come from a high-ranking Viennese workshop and was associated with the largest stainedglass commissions of the time, including those for St. Stephen’s Cathedral and in St. Maria am Gestade in Vienna. During the extensive restoration of the pilgrimage church in 1884–85, several valuable originals were removed and replaced with new panes by the Tyrolean Glass Painting Institute in Innsbruck under the direction of Albert Jele, with the intention of selling them later. The different states of preservation of the two panes exhibited here can be seen as a prime example of the cost-saving ‘restoration practice’ of that time. While the composition with Christ on the Mount of Olives still retained the main core of its elaborate, complex and detailed lead cames, the scene depicting Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene, which contains much larger pieces of glass, was completely despoiled of its lead cames, extensively renewed and provided with new cames. Most of the panes removed from Maria Straßengel were purchased by the Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz, but some of the stained-glass paintings found their way via the art trade to collections far and wide, including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Khanenko Museum in Kyiv. Bacher 1979, 117–141, 196. Elena Kosina 46
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