Chess players

This 15th-century grisaille panel depicts a courtly subject: a richly dressed couple playing chess. It is a rare example of secular stained glass. It comes from the Hôtel de la Bessée in Villefranche-sur-Saône.

It depicts a game of chess, which also connotes romantic sparring. The lady appears to be feigning surprise at her distracted suitor.This highly detailed courtly scene has been carefully executed, with the techniques of grisaille and silver yellow employed on white glass.

Though very popular among the cultivated aristocratic elite, few examples of civil stained glass remain today.