cover image STAINED GLASS BEFORE 1700 in the Collections of the Midwest States

STAINED GLASS BEFORE 1700 in the Collections of the Midwest States

Virginia C. Raguin, V. C. Raguin, H. J. Zakin, . . Harvey Miller, $270 (270pp) ISBN 978-1-872501-00-0

The first publication of the U.S. division of the international stained glass organization Corpus Vitrearum, this catalogue offers a thorough, while mainly academic, analysis of medieval European stained glass currently housed in the American Midwest. Detailed provenance descriptions trace the paths of stained glass roundels and panels, explaining the mystery of how each object made its way across the ocean to collections in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Descriptions of technique segue into those of style, giving a framework in which to view the piece, discussing such methods as the painting of fabrics, as in the elaborate "damascening" of clothing one influential artist, Arnoult de Nimègue, used around 1490. For medieval buffs, the sections delineating the iconography of heraldry will be art historical candy: the explanation of the "Order of the Garter" on a heraldic panel from the Detroit Institute of Art notes, "The most commonly repeated story of the origin of the name is that at a court function a lady may have dropped her garter in the midst of a hectic and crowded assembly." In another work "Barbara" holds a tower in one panel because her father had imprisoned her in one, "hoping, in vain, to prevent her from being indoctrinated into the Christian faith." (The entry goes on to explain how a priest disguised as a doctor secretly instructed her in the faith and her father then had her beheaded.) Of the 570 illustrations, there are, unfortunately, only a handful of color plates, although each black-and-white print is coupled with a description of its colors. Regardless, this is a unique catalogue that also gives insight into how collectors of stained glass in the United States have evolved in terms of their taste and status. (Oct.)