VII. The Glass of Herkenrode Abbey

Abstract

In 1865 the great antiquarian connoisseur of medieval painted glass, Charles Winston, said of the Herkenrode glass at Lichfield: ‘I do not know of any works in glass which are so powerful, without in the least degree violating the essential conditions of art’. This study, which illustrates all the glass of known Herkenrode provenance for the first time, demonstrates clearly the vision and skill of the glaziers in translating highly sophisticated designs into glass of startling luminosity and in achieving the visual power and transcendence of the limitations of the medium recognized by Winston.