The Crucifixion of Christ with St. Lawrence From the parish church of St. Laurentius in Cologne Cologne, c. 1489 Stained glass 320 x 181 cm From 1803 in the stained glass depot of the City of Cologne; from 1834 on loan in the Church of St. Georg in Cologne; from there transferred to the museum collection in 1929 Cologne, Museum Schnütgen, inv. M 501 7 This monumental stained-glass window consists of fifteen individual panes. Eleven of them depict the Crucifixion of Christ with Mary and John. Below them, in a slightly smaller format, are St. Lawrence, a donor and a heraldic angel in spaces reminiscent of a church interior. The saint, holding in his right hand the gridiron on which, according to legend, he suffered martyrdom in the 3rd century, refers to the original destination of the panes: the now destroyed parish church of St. Laurentius (Lawrence) in Cologne. The window was placed in a central position in the chancel, which was consecrated in 1489. After the church was demolished at the beginning of the 19th century, it was first installed in the Church of St. Georg in Cologne in 1834, on loan from the City of Cologne, and from there it came to the Museum Schnütgen in 1929. Although the coat of arms has been preserved, it is not known who the depicted donor was, but the portrait illustrates the popularity of stained glass as an object of donation. Because they were so visible in the church, stained-glass windows were particularly suited to remaining in the memory of viewers, encouraging them to pray for the donors’ own salvation and underlining their own piety. In addition, stained glass allowed donors to make direct contact with the transcendent (Noll): portraits, coats of arms and inscriptions of names were placed alongside depictions of saints and biblical events and were equally bathed in divine light. Predominantly white glass with silver staining was used for the panes. Coloured glass was used mainly for the background and some parts of the robes. In terms of style and technique, the stained glass is similar to a crucifixion window in St. Maria im Kapitol, donated by canon Heinrich van Berghem after 1481. By reducing the crucifixion to the three main figures, the intention seems to be to elicit emotional sympathy from the viewer. However, there is also an interplay between the depiction in the window and the events inside the church. There are five angels, one of whom is praying while the others collect the blood from Christ’s wounds in chalices. The blood itself is not depicted, but during the service, the central position of the window must have created a visual link between the chalices and wounds depicted and the chalice used during Mass, which contained the wine transubstantiated into the blood of Christ. Even Lawrence’s vestments of chasuble, amice and precious dalmatic, as well as the codex in his hand, corresponded to the vestments of the deacons and the book as the Holy Scripture in the service. KDM Rheinprovinz 6,4, Köln (1, 4) 1916, 363. – Schnitzler 1968, 94–95, no. 162. – Cat. Herbst des Mittelalters 1970, 65–66, no. 67. – Lymant 1982, 144–146, no. 83. – Zehnder 1996, 30–31. – Täube 1998, 48–51, no. 17. – Woelk/Beer 2018, 324–325, no. 218 (Adam Stead). – Hamann/Wienand 2021, 488, no. 5.1 (Matthias Hamann). – For more detailed information on donor images on medieval stained glass, see Noll 2024. Jule Wölk 54
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI5NTQ=