DOI Artikel:
Utzig, Joanna: [Rezension von: Michael Burger, Fenestrae non historiatae. Ornamentale Glasmalerei der Hochgotik in den Regionen am Rhein (1250–1350)]
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51154#0123
122
The opening section of the book features a short in-
troduction, a survey of the current state of affairs regard-
ing the entirety of studies in the field being explored, and
a very concise outline of the research sources relevant to
the objective in hand {Zur Überlieferungsproblematik).
The aforementioned section is followed by the core sec-
tion of the book, and the whole publication is organized
in three parts: Part I - introducing relevant terminology
and technological peculiarities {Terminologie und Herstel-
lungsbesonderheiten); Part II - ornamental stained-glass
windows in Gothic churches {Ornamentale Glasmalerei
im gotischen Kirchenbau); Part III - featuring a list of is-
sues awaiting further research and settlement {Offene Fra-
gen). That core segment is, by far, the most voluminous -
it runs over 140 pages, with the parts flanking it extending
over 37 and 21 pages, respectively The middle, core sec-
tion is preceded by a list of all bibliographic attributions,
later cited in the text in abbreviated form; at the tail end
of the book, the publisher has inserted an index featuring
important facts, names (of both people and places) and, in
addition, there is a list of all volumes of Corpus Vitrearum
published worldwide to date.
Burger has proposed to confine the scope of his study
to the period bookended by the years 1250 and 1350.
The other adopted restriction pertains to the geographi-
cal compass of his study, which is declared not to go be-
yond the area of the Rhineland. The rationale behind such
a geographical delineation is justified by that areas sig-
nificant exposure and susceptibility to new artistic trends
filtering through from France, the vibrancy of the Rhine-
land’s artistic creation, and the particularly abundant
treasure trove of extant artefacts from the period in hand.
Notwithstanding all those restrictive parameters, the au-
thor himself occasionally refuses to toe the self-imposed
line, paying much attention to glazing originated in other
regions. For example, the part of the book from the pages
from 101 to 106 is interspersed, among others, with digres-
sive forays dwelling on stained glass groups in the Cister-
cian Church in Haina and St. Elisabeths Church in Mar-
burg (Hesse).
In my judgement, however, the slightly arbitrary im-
position of the chronological boundaries seems deficient
in terms of full validation. Though there is no gainsaying
that the author provides a modicum of explanation for the
timeframe-related decisions, it is not until the summary
comes that his motive is stated explicitly (p. 242); indeed,
the reader is made privy to the fact that the period under
discussion represented the heyday of ornamental stained
glass, whose popularity, subsequently, started slowly wan-
ing in the mid-fourteenth century. The artistic legacy be-
queathed by that century-long period was showcased by
an exhibition staged in 1998 at the Schniitgen-Museum in
Cologne; that event, bearing the title Himmelslicht: Eu-
ropäische Glasmalerei im Jahrhundert des Kölner Dom-
baus, 1248-1349, is frequently alluded to by the books
author as an important referential benchmark.5 Occupy-
ing pride of place among the objects on display were the
stained glass from Cologne Cathedral. And the very same
collection of stained glass is awarded by the books author
the same prominence, shared only with a few other com-
plexes; additionally, Colognes significance is explicitly
endorsed by the author in the introduction (p. 29). One
might justifiably surmise that the choice of the 1250-1350
timeframe was determined deliberately in correspon-
dence with the scope of that exhibition, organized two
decades before. We can also plausibly conjecture that the
author committed himself not only to the continuation
of his ongoing research on the collection of ornamental
stained glass from Cologne Cathedral but also to extend-
ing the scope of his study to other similar stained glass
complexes inspired by the former and/or coming into ex-
istence in close temporal proximity to the original. Pursu-
ant to the declaration made by the author, the content of
the book focuses on the examination of technological and
construction-related aspects of ornamental stained glass,
which stands to reason, given the almost exclusive preoc-
cupation with the stylistic aspects hitherto privileged by
other researchers. As regards the relevance of this balanc-
ing approach to the subject, a pertinent assessment will be
featured towards the end of this review.
The quality of the treatise under discussion is signifi-
cantly enhanced by the asset of the due amount of atten-
tion paid to terminology-related issues, which are ana-
lysed in the first part of the work. Such considerations are
prefaced with a sub-chapter relating to medieval written
sources (Ei. Nicht-figürliche Fenster in mittelalterlichen
Schriftquellen, pp. 41-46), and, even though the observa-
tions enclosed there do not break any new ground, such
a short outline stands the reader in good stead for further
reading. When it comes to the analysis of terminologi-
cal and technological aspects of ornamental stained glass,
Burger’s point of departure is the famous treaty Schedula
diversarum atrium written by the German monk Theo-
philus. The author of that treaty originated and described
the category of simple glazing’ {simplices fenestrae), which
was ornamental in character but devoid of any painted
decorative components; nevertheless, it is open to debate
whether that new terminological improvement gained
any substantial currency at that time (p. 42). In my opin-
ion, a systemic, disciplined approach to the investigation
of terminological issues in research projects on medieval
stained glass is not embarked upon frequently enough to
address existing demand. The discussion of ornamental
stained glass invariably entails the deployment of varying
terms, which nevertheless are either defined by research-
ers in an inadequate way or misapplied due to a lack of
relevant justification.
The term ornamental glazing’ (ornamentale Glasma-
lerei’), appearing in the title of the book, is freely inter-
changed by Burger with the term non-figural glazing’
Himmelslicht (as in note 4).
The opening section of the book features a short in-
troduction, a survey of the current state of affairs regard-
ing the entirety of studies in the field being explored, and
a very concise outline of the research sources relevant to
the objective in hand {Zur Überlieferungsproblematik).
The aforementioned section is followed by the core sec-
tion of the book, and the whole publication is organized
in three parts: Part I - introducing relevant terminology
and technological peculiarities {Terminologie und Herstel-
lungsbesonderheiten); Part II - ornamental stained-glass
windows in Gothic churches {Ornamentale Glasmalerei
im gotischen Kirchenbau); Part III - featuring a list of is-
sues awaiting further research and settlement {Offene Fra-
gen). That core segment is, by far, the most voluminous -
it runs over 140 pages, with the parts flanking it extending
over 37 and 21 pages, respectively The middle, core sec-
tion is preceded by a list of all bibliographic attributions,
later cited in the text in abbreviated form; at the tail end
of the book, the publisher has inserted an index featuring
important facts, names (of both people and places) and, in
addition, there is a list of all volumes of Corpus Vitrearum
published worldwide to date.
Burger has proposed to confine the scope of his study
to the period bookended by the years 1250 and 1350.
The other adopted restriction pertains to the geographi-
cal compass of his study, which is declared not to go be-
yond the area of the Rhineland. The rationale behind such
a geographical delineation is justified by that areas sig-
nificant exposure and susceptibility to new artistic trends
filtering through from France, the vibrancy of the Rhine-
land’s artistic creation, and the particularly abundant
treasure trove of extant artefacts from the period in hand.
Notwithstanding all those restrictive parameters, the au-
thor himself occasionally refuses to toe the self-imposed
line, paying much attention to glazing originated in other
regions. For example, the part of the book from the pages
from 101 to 106 is interspersed, among others, with digres-
sive forays dwelling on stained glass groups in the Cister-
cian Church in Haina and St. Elisabeths Church in Mar-
burg (Hesse).
In my judgement, however, the slightly arbitrary im-
position of the chronological boundaries seems deficient
in terms of full validation. Though there is no gainsaying
that the author provides a modicum of explanation for the
timeframe-related decisions, it is not until the summary
comes that his motive is stated explicitly (p. 242); indeed,
the reader is made privy to the fact that the period under
discussion represented the heyday of ornamental stained
glass, whose popularity, subsequently, started slowly wan-
ing in the mid-fourteenth century. The artistic legacy be-
queathed by that century-long period was showcased by
an exhibition staged in 1998 at the Schniitgen-Museum in
Cologne; that event, bearing the title Himmelslicht: Eu-
ropäische Glasmalerei im Jahrhundert des Kölner Dom-
baus, 1248-1349, is frequently alluded to by the books
author as an important referential benchmark.5 Occupy-
ing pride of place among the objects on display were the
stained glass from Cologne Cathedral. And the very same
collection of stained glass is awarded by the books author
the same prominence, shared only with a few other com-
plexes; additionally, Colognes significance is explicitly
endorsed by the author in the introduction (p. 29). One
might justifiably surmise that the choice of the 1250-1350
timeframe was determined deliberately in correspon-
dence with the scope of that exhibition, organized two
decades before. We can also plausibly conjecture that the
author committed himself not only to the continuation
of his ongoing research on the collection of ornamental
stained glass from Cologne Cathedral but also to extend-
ing the scope of his study to other similar stained glass
complexes inspired by the former and/or coming into ex-
istence in close temporal proximity to the original. Pursu-
ant to the declaration made by the author, the content of
the book focuses on the examination of technological and
construction-related aspects of ornamental stained glass,
which stands to reason, given the almost exclusive preoc-
cupation with the stylistic aspects hitherto privileged by
other researchers. As regards the relevance of this balanc-
ing approach to the subject, a pertinent assessment will be
featured towards the end of this review.
The quality of the treatise under discussion is signifi-
cantly enhanced by the asset of the due amount of atten-
tion paid to terminology-related issues, which are ana-
lysed in the first part of the work. Such considerations are
prefaced with a sub-chapter relating to medieval written
sources (Ei. Nicht-figürliche Fenster in mittelalterlichen
Schriftquellen, pp. 41-46), and, even though the observa-
tions enclosed there do not break any new ground, such
a short outline stands the reader in good stead for further
reading. When it comes to the analysis of terminologi-
cal and technological aspects of ornamental stained glass,
Burger’s point of departure is the famous treaty Schedula
diversarum atrium written by the German monk Theo-
philus. The author of that treaty originated and described
the category of simple glazing’ {simplices fenestrae), which
was ornamental in character but devoid of any painted
decorative components; nevertheless, it is open to debate
whether that new terminological improvement gained
any substantial currency at that time (p. 42). In my opin-
ion, a systemic, disciplined approach to the investigation
of terminological issues in research projects on medieval
stained glass is not embarked upon frequently enough to
address existing demand. The discussion of ornamental
stained glass invariably entails the deployment of varying
terms, which nevertheless are either defined by research-
ers in an inadequate way or misapplied due to a lack of
relevant justification.
The term ornamental glazing’ (ornamentale Glasma-
lerei’), appearing in the title of the book, is freely inter-
changed by Burger with the term non-figural glazing’
Himmelslicht (as in note 4).