English and French Medieval Stained Glass in the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This comprehensive two-volume catalogue covers the outstanding collection of English and French medieval stained glass in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Written by curator Jane Hayward, the catalogue is posthumously published as Part I in the Corpus Vitrearum USA series and represents the culmination of Hayward's pioneering work in the field, from the years immediately following World War II, when Hayward first journeyed to France to study medieval stained glass with Louis Grodecki and Jean Lafond, to the month before her death in 1994. Hayward was unrelenting in her efforts to research and write about the Metropolitan Museum's collection. The fruits of this long-standing work features 123 panels examined in depth, ranging from 12th-century border ornament from the Royal Abbey Church of Saint-Denis to early 16th-century English Passion glass.

Every panel catalogued is also illustrated, frequently with details as well as comparative illustrations. Full descriptions, restoration charts and considerations of the current condition of the panels are given, and discussions of provenance, collection history, dating, style, and iconography are included in the exhaustive entries. Hayward's commanding knowledge of the material, as well as her sensitivity to the monument and the creative process of the glass painter combine to make this a landmark study.

Mary B. Shepard, Hayward's student and colleague at The Cloisters, provides an in-depth history of collecting medieval stained glass at The Metropolitan Museum of Art—a fascinating look at the formative influences behind the growth of one of the most important collections in the world.