The Stained Glass of Herkenrode Abbey

Yvette Vanden Bemden and Isabelle Lecocq

Corpus Vitraearum Medii Aevi: Great Britain

The definitive volume on the most significant body of Flemish stained glass in the world
Fully illustrated with high quality images of the stained glass
Documents the complex history of the materials, created in Flanders for a Catholic convent and repurposed in England for an Anglican cathedral
The volume takes an interdisciplinary approach by discussing the historical and artistic context, art-historical analysis, reception history, and conservation and restoration records

The Stained Glass of Herkenrode Abbey

Yvette Vanden Bemden and Isabelle Lecocq

Corpus Vitraearum Medii Aevi: Great Britain

Description

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).

The Stained Glass of Herkenrode Abbey

Yvette Vanden Bemden and Isabelle Lecocq

Corpus Vitraearum Medii Aevi: Great Britain

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

The Stained Glass of Herkenrode Abbey

Yvette Vanden Bemden and Isabelle Lecocq

Corpus Vitraearum Medii Aevi: Great Britain

Author Information

Yvette Vanden Bemden, University of Namur, and Isabelle Lecocq, Royal Institute of Cultural Heritage, Brussels

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).

Contributors:

Isabelle Lecocq / Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage
Yvette Vanden Bemden / University of Namur
Keith Barley / Barley Studios
Alison Gilchrist / Barley Studios
Marie Groll / York Glaziers Trust
Penny Hebgin-Barnes / Independent scholar
John McNeill / Independent scholar
Joseph Spooner / Independent scholar

The Stained Glass of Herkenrode Abbey

Yvette Vanden Bemden and Isabelle Lecocq

Corpus Vitraearum Medii Aevi: Great Britain

Reviews and Awards

"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