Stained Glass: Saint Paul, Normandy, ca. 1300

Saint Paul

Normandy, ca. 1300
Clear and Coloured glass,

grisaille painting, lead
H. 0.7 m; W. 0.6 m
From the royal castle at (?) 
 Rouen (Seine-Maritime)
 Gorge Collection
Acq. 1956 
Cl. 22728

Only the dungeon remains at the site of the royal castle at Rouen. Four figures panels and many white grisailles (from two different glassworks campaigns) come from this site and today are dispersed between Paris, Rouen and New York. Probably intended for one of the chapels of the castle, the bays depicted the twelve figures of the apostolic college, according to the formula retained by the Sainte-Chapelle of Paris. The iconography corresponds to royal provenance, as well as the quality of the painting, elegance of the figures, subtlety of poses, faithful reproduction of the draping of the cloth, which are synonymous with the most beuatiful illluminated productions of the 1300s.