From Timothy Husband, Curator Emeritus, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
This monumental window, nearly twelve feet tall, was made in 1533 by one of the greatest stained-glass artists of the time, Valentin Bousch.
This monumental window, nearly twelve feet tall, was made in 1533 by one of the greatest stained-glass artists of the time, Valentin Bousch. It represents, at the left, Jesus Christ as the Creator of the world; in the center, the creation of Adam and Eve surrounded by a silvery circular band with the sun, moon, and stars with the Tree of Knowledge and animals in the background; and on the right, the Archangel expelling Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden for having tasted the forbidden fruit hanging from the tree behind them. The composition, which reads as a single narrative spanning across the three lancets, is enhanced by the clarity and balance of structure and the bold, sculptural, animated figures. The pale flesh tones of Adam and Eve are counterbalanced by the by brilliant reds and violets of the drapery of the Creator and the Archangel, while the limpid blues of the sky and the greens of the ground are modulated and offset the silvery transparency of the firmament. The window is a prodigious masterpiece and, in my opinion, the finest example of northern Renaissance stained glass in this country.
This monumental window, nearly twelve feet tall, was made in 1533 by one of the greatest stained-glass artists of the time, Valentin Bousch.
This monumental window, nearly twelve feet tall, was made in 1533 by one of the greatest stained-glass artists of the time, Valentin Bousch. It represents, at the left, Jesus Christ as the Creator of the world; in the center, the creation of Adam and Eve surrounded by a silvery circular band with the sun, moon, and stars with the Tree of Knowledge and animals in the background; and on the right, the Archangel expelling Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden for having tasted the forbidden fruit hanging from the tree behind them. The composition, which reads as a single narrative spanning across the three lancets, is enhanced by the clarity and balance of structure and the bold, sculptural, animated figures. The pale flesh tones of Adam and Eve are counterbalanced by the by brilliant reds and violets of the drapery of the Creator and the Archangel, while the limpid blues of the sky and the greens of the ground are modulated and offset the silvery transparency of the firmament. The window is a prodigious masterpiece and, in my opinion, the finest example of northern Renaissance stained glass in this country.