Fig. 1. Part of the exhibition with stained glass panels displayed.
Magnificent stained glass windows are among 160 outstanding works of art on display in a spectacular new exhibition at the Schnütgen Museum in Cologne. Unfortunately, GLANZ UND GRÖSSE DES MITTELALTERS will only run until February 26 so time is short to catch what has rightly been called a once in a lifetime chance to see these exhibits in a single place at a single time.
Fig. 2. Birth of Christ, c.1250 / 60, Cologne Cathedral, Dom, Köln, © Köln, Dombauarchiv
The glass includes loans of thirteenth-century windows from Cologne Cathedral and fifteenth-and sixteenth-century panels from the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Cleveland Museum of Art, the latter consisting of paintings attributed to Everhard Rensig or Gerhard Remsich dated to 1522 -1526 and made originally for the cloisters of Mariawald Abbey [Figs 1, 2 and 3].
The exhibits are complemented by two outstanding contributions on glass painting in the splendidly illustrated official catalogue of the exhibition. Ulrike Brinkmann’s chapter ‘Glasmalerei der vorgotischen und gotischen Zeit in Köln’ describes Romanesque and Gothic stained glass in the city while Dagmar Taube’s ‘Rheinische Glasmalerei in der Frühen neuzeit’ analyses the work of renaissance glass painters in the sixteenth-century. Other treasures on show in the exhibition include wooden and stone sculptures, manuscript paintings, panel paintings, goldsmithery and ivory carvings, fine textiles and armour.
Fig. 3. The Arrest of Christ from the Cloisters of Mariawald Abbey, (Everhard Rensig / Gerhard Remisch?), c. 1522-26
One final point. The organisers deserve immense credit for staging such an exhibition at a time of unremitting economic gloom!
To find out more about the exhibition visit the website.
An English version is available.
Opening hours are:
Tuesday to Sunday 10 am to 6 pm
Thursday 10 am to 8 pm
Closed on Mondays
Copies of the 540 page catalogue (German language only) are available at the exhibition at the discounted price of 39 € or around £ 38 from Amazon Books online.
