Represented at the left is the prophet Isaiah (YSAIAS) holding a scroll inscribed: ECCE VIRGO—the first words of his prophecy, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son” (Isaiah 7:14). At the right is Saint Mary Magdalene holding her attribute, the alabaster jar containing the ointment with which she anointed the body of Jesus. The inscription reads: M[ARIA SOROR] MARTH[HA]E (Mary, sister of Martha). Grisaille windows with figural glass in the central zones, known as band windows, were common in French glazing programs of the fourteenth century. Here, the grisaille panels are unrelated to the figures, and whether they were ever in such a window is unknown.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Saint Mary Magdalene
Date:ca. 1325
Geography:Made in Loire Valley, France
Culture:French
Medium:Pot-metal, colorless glass, and vitreous paint
Dimensions:Overall: 135 1/2 x 18 in. (344.2 x 45.7 cm)
Classification:Glass-Stained
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1928
Accession Number:28.107.2
Probably from the abbey church of Notre-Dame-de-l’Épine at Évron; Michel Acézat Paris, 1878–1944, Paris (sold 1928)
Rorimer, James J. "Two Stained Glass Panels of the XIV Century." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, o.s., 28, no. 11 (November 1928). pp. 271–74.
Frankfurter, Alfred M. "The Opening of The Cloisters." Art News 36, no. 7 (May 1938). pp. 9–14, 21.
Rorimer, James J., and Margaret B. Freeman. The Cloisters: The Building and the Collection of Mediaeval Art, in Fort Tryon Park. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1938.
Rorimer, James J. The Cloisters: The Building and the Collection of Medieval Art in Fort Tryon Park. 3rd revised ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1963.
Hayward, Jane. "Stained-Glass Windows." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 30, no. 3 (December 1971-January 1972). p. 119.
Calkins, Robert G. Monuments of Medieval Art. New York: Dutton Publishing, 1979. p. 173, fig. 146.
Young, Bonnie. A Walk Through The Cloisters. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979.
Sturm, James L. Stained Glass from Medieval Times to the Present: Treasures to be Seen in New York, New York. New York: Dutton Publishing, 1982. pp. 4–7, fig. 3.
Caviness, Madeline H., ed. Stained Glass Before 1700 in American Collections: New England and New York (Corpus Vitrearum Checklist I). Studies in the History of Art, Vol. 15. Washington, D.C.: National Art Gallery, 1985. p. 108.
Castelnuovo, Enrico. Vetrate Medievali: Officine, Tecniche, Maestri. Turin: G. Einaudi, 1994. pp. 152, 154, fig. 68.
Hayward, Jane. English and French Medieval Stained Glass in The Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Volume 2, edited by Mary B. Shepard, and Cynthia Clark. Corpus Vitrearum USA, Vol. 1. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003. no. 75, pp. 34–38, 41–42, fig. 75, 75a, 75.1, 74–75.1-2.
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