The sixteenth-century glazing from Herkenrode Abbey in Belgium constitutes the most significant body of Flemish stained glass in the world. In the early nineteenth century, an English aristocrat took advantage of the secularization of the monasteries on the Continent to purchase the abbey church's glazing; glass from the abbess's private chapel was acquired by another English aristocrat. This account of the glazing, the result of a unique and fruitful collaboration between the Corpus Vitrearum in Great Britain and Belgium, has sections on the three locations in England where the glass is now located - Lichfield, Shrewsbury, and Ashtead - prefaced by a historical introduction on Herkenrode Abbey. It benefits from extensive research into artistic practice in the Low Countries (for art-historical context), draws on the rich documentation in the Lichfield Cathedral archives (for the glass's reception in England), and presents the insights gained during recent conservation of the glass at Lichfield Cathedral (for the glazing's execution and condition).
PRELIMINARIES National Committee of the Corpus Vitrearum (Great Britain) National Committee of the Corpus Vitrearum (Belgium) Foreword List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Ground Plan of Lichfield Cathedral Window Plan Glossary Note to the Reader Abbreviations Key to the Restoration Diagrams Bibliography GENERAL INTRODUCTION The Former Abbey of Herkenrode and its Stained Glass The Former Abbey of Herkenrode The AbBey Church and Its Decoration The Herkenrode Glazing: Material History and the Original Scheme The Glazing of the Abbess's Private Chapel Glazing at Other Locations in the Abbey Glazing from the Abbey Conserved in Belgium I. LICHFIELD (STAFFORDSHIRE): LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL History of Lichfield Cathedral from its Origins until the Civil War The Anglo-Saxon Cathedral The Romanesque Cathedral The Gothic Cathedral The Civil War The Herkenrode Glass at Lichfield: Context, Acquisition, Installation, and Restoration Introduction The 'Lady Choir' Francis Eginton's East Window The Herkenrode Offer Principal Figures Involved in the Planning Evolution of the Plan The Crucifixion Panels The Herkenrode Glazing and the Lady Chapel The Herkenrode Glazing Outside the Lady Chapel The Burlison & Grylls Restoration in the Lady Chapel The Camm and Winfield Restoration in the Lady Chapel Restoration of Herkenrode Glass Outside the Lady Chapel Other Late Nineteenth-Century Work Camm's Wartime Restoration The Herkenrode Glass at Lichfield: Conserving the Lady Chapel Glazing The Herkenrode Glazing The Need for Conservation and Protection Conserving the Glazing The Herkenrode Glass at Lichfield: Historical and Art-Historical Analysis Scholarly Interest in the Herkenrode Windows at Lichfield Cathedral in the Nineteenth Century Locations of the Herkenrode Glazing at Lichfield Condition and Authenticity Marks, Glaziers' Marks, and Inscriptions Iconography Technique Dating Style Attribution CATALOGUE Windows in the Lady Chapel Window I Window nII Window nIII Window nIV Window sII Window sIII Window Siv Windows Outside the Lady Chapel Window nVI Window sVI Window sXII Window sXIII Window sXV Garland Panel II. SHREWSBURY (SHROPSHIRE): CHURCH OF ST MARY Architectural and Glazing Overview of the Church The Herkenrode Glass at Shrewsbury Catalogue: Part of St John from the Crucifixion Window at Herkenrode Abbey Church III. ASHTEAD (SURREY): CHURCH OF ST GILES Architectural and Glazing Overview of the Church The Herkenrode Glass at Ashtead Catalogue: The Crucifixion with St George, St Anne with the Virgin as a Child, and St Bernard APPENDICES Appendix 1. Description of the Medieval Glass in Lichfield Cathedral by Thomas Harwood Appendix 2. Documents in the Aartsbisschoppelijk Archief (Mechelen, Belgium) Relating to Lambert Spulberch at Herkenrode Appendix 3. Documents in the Rijksarchief (Maastricht, The Netherlands) Relating to Pierre Libotton's Removal of the Herkenrode Abbey Church Glazing Appendix 4. Documents in the Lichfield Cathedral Archive Relating to the Herkenrode Glazing and Its Context Appendix 5. Genealogy of those Members of the de Lexhy Family Represented in the Herkenrode Glazing Appendix 6. Locations at Lichfield Cathedral of Donors' Arms Appendix 7. Cold-Painting Applied by Barley Studio to the Herkenrode Glazing in the Lady Chapel at Lichfield Cathedral Appendix 8. Glass Erroneously Attributed to Herkenrode INDEX
Yvette Vanden Bemden is a researcher for the study of stained glass in Belgium for the publication of volumes of the Corpus Vitrearum. She is member and former president of the Belgian committee of the Corpus Vitrearum Belgique-België and a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts of Belgium. Isabelle Lecocq is the chef de travaux at the Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique, Brussels, initially in the department for conservation/restoration, now in the Documentation Department - Art History Research and Inventory Unit. She is the Secretary of the Corpus Vitrearum Belgique-België; Secretary of The Royal Academy of Archaeology of Belgium; and a scientific collaborator to the University of Liège (Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, Department of Historical Sciences. Art History and Archaeology of Modern Times).
Reviews for The Stained Glass of Herkenrode Abbey
It makes an important contribution to the study of Netherlandish drawings and other media, to the history of sixteenth-century monastic patronage, and to the understanding of the history of trade, collecting, and the international transport of sixteenth-century Netherlandish art works in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In addition, the authors highlight the importance of stained-glass design in the career of a major figure, Pieter Coecke van Aelst. By integrating stained glass into the wider context of painting, drawing, and printmaking of the period, this excellent study helps clarify our view of the Netherlands in the first half of the sixteenth century, and will be of great interest to all scholars of Northern European art. * Ellen Konowitz, HISTORIANS OF NETHERLANDISH ART REVIEWS *
