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#0124
123
(nicht-figürliche Glasmalerei’). The author, nonetheless,
points out that they differentiate into two basic types:
blankglazing (‘Blankverglasungen), i.e. simple glazing
without any figural representation, and coloured stained
glass layered with a coat of paint, which, in distinction
from the former type of glass ornaments, can be reason-
ably categorised as legitimate stained glass painting. Burg-
er succeeds in the differentiation of such terms as ‘orna-
ment’, ‘pattern, ‘grisaille’, as well as refusing to shy away
from grappling with the seemingly trivial and self-evident
question of when it is warranted to speak of figural glaz-
ing. Such a disquisition has led the author to formulate the
following definition of ornamental glazing: ‘Ornamental
glazing, not unlike all (medieval) stained glass, comprises
colourless or coloured pieces of glass which can be paint-
ed, assembled together into fields and panels by means of
H-profiled lead cames and subsequently fitted into window
frames. However, in contrast to stained glass depicting in-
dividual figures or narrative scenes, they are non-figural’
(p. 50).6 The definition proffered here appears very gen-
eral in character, which conveniently imparts a remark-
able measure of universality to it; it specifies in very suc-
cinct language the technical aspects of ornamental glaz-
ing; and yet it is flawed by the fact that its stipulation relat-
ing to the visual dimension is underpinned by a negation
(i.e. ‘non-figural in character’). However, on the other
hand, the exact articulation of any incontrovertible and
universal definitional delineation of the terms fundamen-
tal to the subject in hand does not actually seem fully fea-
sible per se. As regards stained glass compositions incor-
porating representational elements (such as the dragons
woven into the stained glass mosaic of the rose window
of the Cistercian church in Pforta), Burger puts forward
a categorisation prioritizing the function of the motifs;
henceforth, we invoke the notion of figural representa-
tion in a stained glass composition in the contexts where
those motifs’ preeminent function is narrative rather than
decorative (p. 52). Such a proposition seems to be a rea-
sonable compromise. What merits particular recogni-
tion are Burger’s reflections on the adequate meaning of
the term ‘grisaille’ (‘Grisailleglasmalerei’).7 This nomen-
clatural item is often used with reference to the mono-
chromatic technique used in painting8 (which also applies
6 ‘Ornamentfenster bestehen wie alle (mittelalterlichen) Glasma-
lereien aus farblosen oder farbigen Glasstücken, die bemalt sein
können und mittels H-förmiger Bleiruten zu Feldern zusammen-
gesetzt in eine Fensteröffnung eingesetzt werden. Im Unterschied
zu Standfiguren- oder szenischen Bildfenstern sind diese aber
nicht-figürlich gehalten.
7 The author has recently presented his reflections on this subject
in the following article: M. Burger, ‘Grisaille in der Glasmalerei:
ein mehrdeutiger Begriff’, in Die Farbe Grau, ed. by M. Bushart,
G. Wedekind, Berlin, 2016 (Mainzer kunstwissenschaftliche Bib-
liothek, 1), pp. 1-14.
8 For more information regarding the history of this notion and
its semantic range, q.v.: M. Krieger, Grisaille als Metapher. Zum
to stained-glass paint characterized by black and brown
hues); although the term is occasionally applied to co-
lourless and unpainted glazing, in the author’s estima-
tion such a usage amounts to a misapplication (p. 37). The
concluding part of the discussion of the terminological is-
sues features a table displaying particular types of glazing
depending on the presence of a layer of paint or hue (p.
55), and this classification distinguishes four categories of
stained glass: colourless blankglazing, unpainted coloured
glazing, grisaille stained glass, and coloured ornamental
stained glass.9
The misapplication of the term grisaille, which I have
alluded to before and whose rectification should be to the
author’s credit, took root and gained currency primari-
ly in the English-language scholarship,10 but it also left its
mark elsewhere, as evidenced, among others, by Brigitte
Eymant’s monography on the stained glass complex in the
Cistercian church in Altenberg, where she splits the para-
digm of stained glass grisaille into two sub-categories: the
painted and the unpainted ones.11 The history of this term
per se apparently dates back to the seventeenth century
and, by now, has come to designate the technique used
in miniature, wall and panel painting that hinges on the
use of varied shades of grey.12 As regards the medium of
Entstehen der Peinture en Camaieu im frühen 14. Jahrhundert, Vi-
enna, 1995 (Wiener kunstgeschichtliche Forschungen, 6), pp. 3-6;
A. Schäffner, Terra verde. Entwicklung und Bedeutung der mo-
nochromen Wandmalerei der italienischen Renaissance, Weimar,
2009, pp. 21-27.
9 Farblose Blankverglasung, farbige Blankverglasung, Grisaillefens-
ter, farbige Ornamentfenster.
10 Q.v. numerous publications written by Helen Zakin focused on
researching early French Cistercian stained glass whose execu-
tion entailed almost no use of paint-coated glazing and the orna-
ment emerged thanks to suitably shaped lead cames: HJ. Zakin,
French Cistercian Grisaille Glass, New York, 1979; eadem, ‘French
Cistercian Grisaille Glass’, Gesta, 13,1974, no. 2, pp. 17-28; eadem,
‘French Cistercian Grisaille Glass. Relationships with Cistercian
Patterns in Other Media’, Acta. The Center for Medieval and Early
Renaissance Studies, State University of New York, 2,1975, pp. го-
41; eadem, ‘Light and Pattern: Cistercian Grisaille Windows’, Arte
Medievale: Periodico internazionale di critica della arte medievale,
2nd series, 8,1994, no. 2, pp. 9-22; quod vide e.g.: E. von Witz-
leben, French Stained Glass, London, 1968, pp. 26; R. Marks,
‘Cistercian Window Glass in England and Wales’, in Cistercian
Art and Architecture in the British Isles, ed. by Ch. Norton, Cam-
bridge, 1986, pp. 211-227; E.C. Pastan, ‘Process and Patronage in
the Decorative Arts of the Early Campaigns of Troyes Cathedral,
ca. 1200-1220S’, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians,
53, 094, 2, PP- 215-231; S. Brown, Stained Glass at York Minster,
London, 2017, p. 19.
11 B. Lymant, Die mittelalterlichen Glasmalereien, p. 43 (as in note 3).
12 Cf. Dictionary definitions, e.g. Lexikon der Kunst. Architektur, Bil-
dende Kunst, Angewandte Kunst, Industrieformgestaltung, Kunst-
theorie, vol. 2, Leipzig, 1971, p. 141 (Grisaille); The Dictionary of Art,
ed. by ƒ. Turner, vol. 13,1996, pp. 672-677 (M. Krieger, Grisaille);
(nicht-figürliche Glasmalerei’). The author, nonetheless,
points out that they differentiate into two basic types:
blankglazing (‘Blankverglasungen), i.e. simple glazing
without any figural representation, and coloured stained
glass layered with a coat of paint, which, in distinction
from the former type of glass ornaments, can be reason-
ably categorised as legitimate stained glass painting. Burg-
er succeeds in the differentiation of such terms as ‘orna-
ment’, ‘pattern, ‘grisaille’, as well as refusing to shy away
from grappling with the seemingly trivial and self-evident
question of when it is warranted to speak of figural glaz-
ing. Such a disquisition has led the author to formulate the
following definition of ornamental glazing: ‘Ornamental
glazing, not unlike all (medieval) stained glass, comprises
colourless or coloured pieces of glass which can be paint-
ed, assembled together into fields and panels by means of
H-profiled lead cames and subsequently fitted into window
frames. However, in contrast to stained glass depicting in-
dividual figures or narrative scenes, they are non-figural’
(p. 50).6 The definition proffered here appears very gen-
eral in character, which conveniently imparts a remark-
able measure of universality to it; it specifies in very suc-
cinct language the technical aspects of ornamental glaz-
ing; and yet it is flawed by the fact that its stipulation relat-
ing to the visual dimension is underpinned by a negation
(i.e. ‘non-figural in character’). However, on the other
hand, the exact articulation of any incontrovertible and
universal definitional delineation of the terms fundamen-
tal to the subject in hand does not actually seem fully fea-
sible per se. As regards stained glass compositions incor-
porating representational elements (such as the dragons
woven into the stained glass mosaic of the rose window
of the Cistercian church in Pforta), Burger puts forward
a categorisation prioritizing the function of the motifs;
henceforth, we invoke the notion of figural representa-
tion in a stained glass composition in the contexts where
those motifs’ preeminent function is narrative rather than
decorative (p. 52). Such a proposition seems to be a rea-
sonable compromise. What merits particular recogni-
tion are Burger’s reflections on the adequate meaning of
the term ‘grisaille’ (‘Grisailleglasmalerei’).7 This nomen-
clatural item is often used with reference to the mono-
chromatic technique used in painting8 (which also applies
6 ‘Ornamentfenster bestehen wie alle (mittelalterlichen) Glasma-
lereien aus farblosen oder farbigen Glasstücken, die bemalt sein
können und mittels H-förmiger Bleiruten zu Feldern zusammen-
gesetzt in eine Fensteröffnung eingesetzt werden. Im Unterschied
zu Standfiguren- oder szenischen Bildfenstern sind diese aber
nicht-figürlich gehalten.
7 The author has recently presented his reflections on this subject
in the following article: M. Burger, ‘Grisaille in der Glasmalerei:
ein mehrdeutiger Begriff’, in Die Farbe Grau, ed. by M. Bushart,
G. Wedekind, Berlin, 2016 (Mainzer kunstwissenschaftliche Bib-
liothek, 1), pp. 1-14.
8 For more information regarding the history of this notion and
its semantic range, q.v.: M. Krieger, Grisaille als Metapher. Zum
to stained-glass paint characterized by black and brown
hues); although the term is occasionally applied to co-
lourless and unpainted glazing, in the author’s estima-
tion such a usage amounts to a misapplication (p. 37). The
concluding part of the discussion of the terminological is-
sues features a table displaying particular types of glazing
depending on the presence of a layer of paint or hue (p.
55), and this classification distinguishes four categories of
stained glass: colourless blankglazing, unpainted coloured
glazing, grisaille stained glass, and coloured ornamental
stained glass.9
The misapplication of the term grisaille, which I have
alluded to before and whose rectification should be to the
author’s credit, took root and gained currency primari-
ly in the English-language scholarship,10 but it also left its
mark elsewhere, as evidenced, among others, by Brigitte
Eymant’s monography on the stained glass complex in the
Cistercian church in Altenberg, where she splits the para-
digm of stained glass grisaille into two sub-categories: the
painted and the unpainted ones.11 The history of this term
per se apparently dates back to the seventeenth century
and, by now, has come to designate the technique used
in miniature, wall and panel painting that hinges on the
use of varied shades of grey.12 As regards the medium of
Entstehen der Peinture en Camaieu im frühen 14. Jahrhundert, Vi-
enna, 1995 (Wiener kunstgeschichtliche Forschungen, 6), pp. 3-6;
A. Schäffner, Terra verde. Entwicklung und Bedeutung der mo-
nochromen Wandmalerei der italienischen Renaissance, Weimar,
2009, pp. 21-27.
9 Farblose Blankverglasung, farbige Blankverglasung, Grisaillefens-
ter, farbige Ornamentfenster.
10 Q.v. numerous publications written by Helen Zakin focused on
researching early French Cistercian stained glass whose execu-
tion entailed almost no use of paint-coated glazing and the orna-
ment emerged thanks to suitably shaped lead cames: HJ. Zakin,
French Cistercian Grisaille Glass, New York, 1979; eadem, ‘French
Cistercian Grisaille Glass’, Gesta, 13,1974, no. 2, pp. 17-28; eadem,
‘French Cistercian Grisaille Glass. Relationships with Cistercian
Patterns in Other Media’, Acta. The Center for Medieval and Early
Renaissance Studies, State University of New York, 2,1975, pp. го-
41; eadem, ‘Light and Pattern: Cistercian Grisaille Windows’, Arte
Medievale: Periodico internazionale di critica della arte medievale,
2nd series, 8,1994, no. 2, pp. 9-22; quod vide e.g.: E. von Witz-
leben, French Stained Glass, London, 1968, pp. 26; R. Marks,
‘Cistercian Window Glass in England and Wales’, in Cistercian
Art and Architecture in the British Isles, ed. by Ch. Norton, Cam-
bridge, 1986, pp. 211-227; E.C. Pastan, ‘Process and Patronage in
the Decorative Arts of the Early Campaigns of Troyes Cathedral,
ca. 1200-1220S’, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians,
53, 094, 2, PP- 215-231; S. Brown, Stained Glass at York Minster,
London, 2017, p. 19.
11 B. Lymant, Die mittelalterlichen Glasmalereien, p. 43 (as in note 3).
12 Cf. Dictionary definitions, e.g. Lexikon der Kunst. Architektur, Bil-
dende Kunst, Angewandte Kunst, Industrieformgestaltung, Kunst-
theorie, vol. 2, Leipzig, 1971, p. 141 (Grisaille); The Dictionary of Art,
ed. by ƒ. Turner, vol. 13,1996, pp. 672-677 (M. Krieger, Grisaille);