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
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI5NTQ=