Herkenrode painted glass

Abstract.  In 1803, Flemish, hand-painted glass from the destroyed Herkenrode Abbey, Belgium, was bought by the cathedral and 324 panes placed in 7 windows of the Lady Chapel. It dates from 1532 to 1539. The glass has been described as “perhaps the finest specimens of pictorial glass-painting in the world”.

Central east window in the Lady Chapel.

     The Flemish painted glass in the Lady Chapel is from the Cistercian Abbey of Herkenrode, in Kuringen part of the municipality of Hasselt in the Limburg province, north-west Belgium. The Abbey was founded around 1182 and became a Cistercian Abbey for nuns in 1217. In 1795, the French Revolutionary Army invaded the region and annexed it,[1] causing the 25 resident nuns from noble families[2] to be expelled. The unoccupied abbey gradually deteriorated and dissolved c. 1801. It was then bought and converted into a wool-spinning and weaving factory. The window glass was taken down, crated and left in storage. Brooke Boothby born in Ashbourne Hall, but from 1786 was living in a house in the Close[3] happened to see the Abbey in 1802. He arranged purchase of the glass for the cathedral[4] subsequently being reimbursed for  £200. Boothby wrote there were 17 windows with nearly 400 squares of lead. In 1826, a fire destroyed much of the Abbey and today there is little original building left. In 1830, it returned to Belgium. A new monastery and a retreat centre now occupy the site.

Herkenrode Abbey depicted in a north bay window.

    Early in the 16th-century, three successive abbesses commissioned glass work. The artists are unknown, but the names of Marten Tymus, Pieter van Venedigan and Peter Coeke are possibilities,[5] and the dates for the Lichfield glass are 1532–1539.[6] See the post ‘Lady Chapel and Saint Chapelle’ to know what was already in the windows. In 1802, eleven cases with 332 squares of glass, each 572 mm square (22½ inches), were shipped across the sea via Rotterdam and Hull and along canals. It was laid out on the nave floor for establishing the best order of installation and placed in the mullions in 1803. John Betton of Shrewsbury supervised the work.[7] It is now thought there is more original 16th-century Flemish glass in Lichfield than is today in Belgium.

Panel showing a date

324 panes were placed in the seven-most eastern windows (bays 2 to 8) and 8 panes were added to windows elsewhere in the cathedral. In bays 2 and 3, on the north side, the glass shows the donors (aristocrats, knights and a cardinal) that gave the glass to Herkenrode. Bays 1 and 9 contain darker glass, which is also Flemish and 16th-century, thought to have come from Antwerp, and was installed in 1895. There is added glass by Charles Kempe of London.

Panel showing Ascension of Christ.

During the 1880s much work was undertaken restoring the stonework and ironwork in the windows. All the Herkenrode panes were removed and re-fitted to new stone mullions. By now the painted glass was suffering from wear, damp and shoddy repair and because it is thin (2–3 mm) had become fragile in places. The bottom panel of the middle window was added by Burlison and Grylls and shows the three Marys painted in the same style as the Herkenrode. It replaced plain glass behind an altar that was removed.

Panel showing the 3 Marys.

       During the Second War the glass panes were taken down and stored in a vault on the south side of the Cathedral. Between 2009–15, the panes (over 600 small panels) were taken down again and conserved in the Barley Studio in York.[8] They were cleaned and retouched including painting of missing areas on the reverse side of the glass using a cold (unfired) paint mixed from traditional glass pigment and gold size. This meant the new painting could be removed at a later time if necessary. There was also the re-use of original Herkenrode glass to replace missing bits.[9] Whilst away in York, clear isothermal glass was added to the mullions. The returned panels were placed in manganese bronze frames in 2014 and now attached to the inside of the plain glass with a gap to give internal ventilation.

 

Lady Chapel with plain glass before return of the conserved Herkenrode

      The main windows follow the life of Christ, but not in an expected order. There is the entry into Jerusalem, Last Supper, betrayal at Gethsemane, carrying the Cross, Pentecost, doubting Thomas and the Last Judgement. Also, the Annunciation. The scourging and mockery of Christ appear in one window, whilst Pilate washing his hands is in another. The centre piece is the meal at Emmaus and above is the Ascension of Christ leaving through a cloud. It is unknown what order they had at Herkenrode. A striking omission is the image of crucifixion and this might have not been part of the purchase agreement. Christ is also depicted in purple costume, not white, in recognition of his kingship. The glass has been described as “perhaps the finest specimens of pictorial glass-painting in the world”.[10] A definitive study of Herkenrode glass has recently been published.[11]

Panels showing the Last Supper

[1] The notion the nuns fled the abbey because of the threat of the guillotine is wrong.

[2] T. Harwood, The history and antiquities of the church and city of Lichfield. (London: 1806), 113.

[3] There is a narrative that Brooke Boothby was wealthy and on a European tour with time to spare. There is the view that  Brooke Boothby saw the purchase of the glass as a way of memorialising his daughter, Penelope, who died in 1791 aged five years. It has been suggested the loss of his daughter much affected him. There is anecdotal evidence he had cheated his family and fled to France to avoid those he had cheated. His move from Ashbourne Hall to a prebendal house in the Close indicates his fortune had been dissipated. He collected artwork using his wife’s dowry. In which case his purchase of the glass might have been an opportunity to redeem himself. It is uncertain what Boothby paid for the glass, but £112 and £160 have been mentioned. The account of the purchase has become almost as important as the saving of the windows. The total expense of purchasing, importing, arranging, and repairing this glass, and of fitting the windows to receive it, may have cost about one thousand pounds, John C. Woodhouse A short account of Lichfield Cathedral. (Lichfield: 1811), 9.

[4] It is unknown what glass was originally present in the lancet windows of the early 14th-century Lady Chapel. With the restoration of the Lady Chapel after the Civil War, there was glass showing the resurrection by Benjamin West and glass showing armorial entitlement.

[5] Marks of workers on the glass panes have been found.

[6] C. Winston, ‘Remarks on the painted glass at Lichfield Cathedral’, The Archaeological Journal. (1864), 21, 193.

[7] Herkenrode glass also appeared in Ashstead, Shrewsbury, Barton under Needwood, New Barnet and elsewhere. In 1805 some of the glass was offered for sale.

[8] In collaboration with Belgium glasswork consultants.

[9] Strap leads added when the windows were removed in the Second World War were removed.

[10] C. Winston, Memoirs illustrative of the art of glass-painting. (London: 1865), 251.

[11] Y. V. Bemden and I. Lecocq, ‘The stained glass of Herkenrode Abbey’. Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevii. Great Britain. (2021).