Medieval Stained Glass - Corpus Vitrearum

The project is dedicated to researching monumental Medieval stained and painted glass in Austria and is the continuation of the previous project no. FWF P 15254. It involves the documentation and art historical interpretation of a great number of largely unknown, but nonetheless important works of art from the Middle Ages. The project is part of the international research work "Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi," in which 14 countries participate under the general patronage of the Union Académique Internationale (UAI). Its dimensions represent art historical basic research for the scientific documentation and publication of this field of art. Created as part of the pictural-furnishing of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, over 3500 stained glass panels dating from the 12th to the early 16th centuries have been preserved as precious remains of a monumental form of pictorial art. A wide variety of iconographic representations reveal much about the intellectual and religious messages of the Medieval world of imagery in the context of their political and economic environment. The difficulty of accessibility and the problems of photographic documentation in situ were and are the basic reason that to this day, monumental stained glass is among those untapped areas of Medieval art, and is thus a desideratum of research into the Middle Ages. Furthermore, a focal point for art history is the significant importance of colour, which stained glass refers and offers to understand pictorial art and architecture as a unity in the Medieval "Gesamtkunstwerk", another wide open field of investigation. Of seminal importance for the evaluation of the project is the fact that today, Medieval stained glass is an extraordinarily endangered species of art. This is due to the current high air pollution which has drastically speeded up the deterioration of the substance of Medieval stained glass, over the last 50 years; as a consequence, the works of art are rapidly being destroyed. Conservation measures could slow down but not halt the process of deterioration . The art historical documentation of the still existing Medieval stained and painted glass is thus an urgent and important task, which cannot and must not be postponed because of the endangered survival of the works of art themselves.

The project`s aim was the registration and academic analysis of medieval stained glass in the Austrian province of Styria. All traceable items of medieval stained glass were recorded in systematic field work. As in the previous project 15254-G06, which was concerned with medieval stained glass in the provinces of Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg, the result was a material increase in the number of known items. Before the start of the project, we knew of 240 stained glass paintings in 25 Styrian locations, now the number increased to 528 stained glass paintings in 46 locations. All the stained glass paintings were examined and photographed on the premises. Every glass panel was inspected and a detailed report made regarding its state of preservation. Church floor plans, plans of window arrangements and of various details were drawn up. Historical and art historical documentation also dealt with questions of reconstruction, original fittings, analysis of the paintings` style in context with architectural features, questions regarding historical conditions and benefactors as well as the context of cultural history and art history. Essential discoveries were made with regard to the pattern of connections between different medieval workshops of the alpine area. In this area there are significant items of stained glass, spanning a period of three centuries from the late Romanesque period (second half of 13th century), the late "Zackenstil" (the holdings of St. Walpurgis near St. Michael, for example, extend this important early gothic phase of paintings in the alpine area considerably) and the 14th century ("First workshop of Judenburg") to the second half of the 15th century. Most items date from around 1400. More than 300 stained glass paintings from this period have survived in 20 locations; this includes the windows in Straßengel, which are part of a publication by Ernst Bacher, and the outstanding works of the courtly "Herzogswerkstatt" (ducal workshop) in St. Erhard in der Breitenau. Other important workshops of the beginning of the 15th century include the studios influenced by and in succession of pictor Johannes of the monastery of Rein and the workshops that created the stained glass paintings in the Waasen-church in Leoben. Together with the works of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Judenburg, they illustrate the scope and spectrum of production of two workshops that were active at the same period. In some cases stained glass can be seen in immediate context with wall paintings, an aspect which yet has to be analysed in order to be able to answer open questions concerning methods of medieval workshops and connections between regional artistic circles. The results of this research project will be published in volume V (Styria, part II) of the Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi and are an important addition to the Corpus` volume on Styrian medieval wall paintings, which has already been published with funds of the FWF. At the same time, it is another important Austrian contribution to the international research project Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi (CVMA) as a comprehensive collection of this country`s style and cultural history, art history and iconography.