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French 13th Century, with later restorations

Scenes from the Legends of Saints Blaise, Crispin, and Crispinian (center), and Old Testament Figures (sides), first half 13th century, with later restorations

Not on View

Medium

stained glass

Dimensions

overall: 233.7 × 213.36 cm (92 × 84 in.)
center panel: 233.68 × 74.93 cm (92 × 29 1/2 in.)
left panel: 233.68 × 69.22 cm (92 × 27 1/4 in.)
right panel: 233.68 × 69.22 cm (92 × 27 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection)

Accession Number

2014.136.362

Artists / Makers

French 13th Century (artist)

Image Use

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Inscription

upper right, lower center medallion: S:BLASIVS: ; on scroll, center medallion: CRISPINVS: CRI / SPINIANVS:

Provenance

From the Cathedral of Soissons, France.[1] William Andrews Clark [1839-1925], New York;[2] bequest 1926 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.

[1] See: L. Grodecki, "Un vitrail démembré de la cathédrale de Soissons," Gazette des Beaux-Arts 43 (1953): 169-176; L. Grodecki, "Les vitraux soissonais du Louvre, du Musée Marmottan et des collections américaines," Revue des Arts 10 (1960): 163-178; Philippe Verdier, "A Stained Glass from the Cathedral of Soissons," The Corcoran Gallery of Art Bulletin 10, no. 1 (November 1958): 3-22, repros. According to Madeline Cavisness, Elizabeth Pastan, and Marilyn Beaven, "The Gothic Window from Soissons: A Reconsideration," Fenway Court (1983): 7-25, esp. 9-10, 23 nn. 11-13, the narrative windows in the cathedral's chapels were dismounted in 1882, with some being stored on-site and others taken to the studio of Edouard Didron. The Didron firm worked on Soissons restorations from 1855 to 1889, and was succeeded by the firm of Félix Gaudin from about 1890 to 1905. Gaudin's bid for the work lists NGA 2014.136.362 among the six he restored.

[2] The stained glass hung in the billiard room of Clark's mansion. Notes in the NGA curatorial files indicate that Clark acquired the window around the turn of the 20th century from an unidentified French dealer. Marilyn M. Beaven, "A Medieval Procession: Sacred Rites Commemorated in a Stained Glass Panel from Soissons Cathedral," Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 67, no. 1 (1992): 35, writes that by 1903 stained glass from the cathedral began to be offered on the art market by at least two Paris dealers, Raoul Heilbronner and Bacri Frères, and that sales of the Soissons glass continued until around 1927.

Associated Names

Clark, William Andrews
Corcoran Gallery of Art

Exhibition History

1970: The Year 1200, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 12 February - 10 May 1970, no. 213, repro. (only the center three panels).

Bibliography

n.d.: Caviness, Madeline H., et al. Stained Glass before 1700 in American Collections: Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern Seaboard States. Corpus Vitrearum Checklist II. Studies in the History of Art 23, Monograph Series I (1987): 28, repro. 29.

1925: Carroll, Dana H. Catalogue of Objects of Fine Art and Other Properties at the Home of William Andrews Clark, 962 Fifth Avenue. Part I. Unpublished manuscript, n.d. (1925): 24, as taken from a church at Chartres, France.

1932: Corcoran Gallery of Art. Illustrated Handbook of the W.A. Clark Collection. Washington, 1932: 126, no. 2793, as from a church at Chartres, France.

1953: Grodecki, Louis. "Un vitrail démembré de la cathédrale de Soissons." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 43 (October 1953): 169-176.

1958: Verdier, Philippe. "A Stained Glass from the Cathedral of Soissons." The Corcoran Gallery of Art Bulletin 10, no. 1 (November 1958): 3-22, repros.

1960: Grodecki, Louis. "Les vitraux soissonais du Louvre, du Museé Marmottan et des collections américaines." Revue des Arts 10, no. 4-5 (1960): 163-178, esp. 171-175, figs. 6, 8, 9.

1980: Ancien, Jean. Vitraux de la cathédrale de Soissons comme on les voyait entre 1817 et 1882. Soissons, 1980: 37.

1980: Ancien, Jean. Vitraux de la cathédrale de Soissons. Soissons, 1980: 40, 68, 72, 159, repro. 160.

1982: Hayward, Jane, Walter Cahn, et al. Radiance and Reflection: Medieval Art from the Raymond Pitcairn Collection. Exh. cat. The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982: 139.

1984: Caviness, Madeline H., Marilyn M. Beaven, and Elizabeth C. Pastan. "The Gothic Window from Soissons: A Reconsideration." Fenway Court 1983, Annual Report of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1984: 7-25, esp. 9-10, 23 n. 13.

1984: Childs, Suse. "Two scenes from the Life of St. Nicholas and their Relationship to the Glazing Program of the Chevel Chapels at Soissons Cathedral." Corpus Vitrearum United States of America, Occasional Papers, vol. I. Studies on Medival Stained Glass (1984): 27-28, figs. 7, 8.

1992: Beaven, Marilyn M. "A Medieval Procession: Sacred Rites Commemorated in a Stained Glass Panel from Soissons Cathedral," Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 67, no. 1 (1992): 32, 34 fig. 6 (detail).

2003: Hayward, Jane, revised and edited by Mary B. Shepard and Cynthia Clark. English and French Medieval Stained Glass in the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Corpus Vitrearium United States of America, Part I, 2 vols. London, Turnhout, and New York, 2003:

2016: Lillich, Meredith Parsons. "The So-Called Sainte-Chapelle Window of Soissons Cathedral: Another Look." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 79 (2016): 133+, repro. 136.