west façade windows at Chartres, or on emblematic discourse, such as the Allegories of
St. Paul window at Saint-Denis and the typological Crucifixion from the abbey church of
Orbais (1190?). The pictorialization of Isaiah’s prophecy of Christ’s lineage, known as
the Tree of Jesse, had also been well established by 1200. Hagiographical narrative
appeared in the 12th century, as in the St. Nicholas panels from Troyes (ca. 1170–80) or
the legend of St. Catherine from Angers (ca. 1180). In the 13th century, historiated
windows were increasingly devoted to the depiction of saints’ lives, Marian narrative,
and Old Testament cycles. While 13th-century legendary windows could be expansively
discursive (at the Sainte-Chapelle, the story of Esther and Ahasuerus is recounted in 129
scenes), by the early 14th century narrative was reduced to only the most crucial scenes.
Clerestory windows were most often glazed with single figures to facilitate being read
at a distance. The range of subject matter was wide, including the genealogy of Christ, as
at the abbey church of Saint-Yved at Braine (ca. 1200); prophets, Apostles, and bishops,
like those at Bourges cathedral (ca. 1220–30); or saints, as at Beauvais (1340s).
Occasionally, these large standing figures would be cast in narrative tableaux, as in the
choir at Chartres (1210–25), while historiated scenes, as at Tours (ca. 1255–60), were
adopted by the second half of the 13th century.
Marking the interior termini of ecclesiastical space, rose windows were glazed with
eschatological or cosmological themes, such as the Last Judgment at Mantes (ca. 1220),
the Apocalypse at Chartres south (1221–30) and at the Sainte-Chapelle (ca. 1485), or the
west rose (ca. 1220) at Notre-Dame in Paris, with its portrayal of the zodiac, Virtues, and
Vices surrounding the Virgin and Apostles. In keeping with the widespread Marian
dedication of Gothic cathedrals, the Glorification of the Virgin, as at Laon (1210–15),
was also a popular theme. The 15th century witnessed the introduction of new themes as
well, such as the Apostles’ Creed at Riom (ca. 1460) and Signs of the End of the World
in the north rose at Angers cathedral (1451).
What do we know about the artists of these windows? Not only are signatures virtually
unknown, but written documentation is sparse until the end of the 13th century. The only
portrait of a glass painter from this time comes from the German abbey of Arnstein (ca.
1160; now in Münster), showing the painter Gerlachus holding his brush and paint pot,
praying for the gift of light. A signature of a certain Clement of Chartres survives on a
banderole in the Joseph window (ca. 1235) from the cathedral of Rouen. Stylistic
evidence tells us that several painters sometimes worked on the same window, while
other windows indicate a single, coherent style. Though a window was often the product
of more than one individual, not enough is known about how artists prior to the 15th
century collaborated or about how the labor was divided. While archival records list
artists, such as a certain Étienne who lived in Bourges ca. 1220, it is impossible to link
these names with extant windows. Late-medieval tax rolls provide additional
demographic information, including the names of women, such as Jehanne la Verrière
and Ysabellot la Verrière. Guild records offer lists of members, as well as
The Encyclopedia 1685