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
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