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Experiencing Stained Glass

York Minster Great East Window: The Great East Window in York Minster, the largest stained glass window in the world. The window consists of 144 main panels and 167 tracery panels. It was completed around 1408. It depicts the beginning and end of the world through scenes from the biblical books of Genesis and Revelations.

The messages in stained glass are multi-faceted. Here we see some examples from York Minster, England. The stained glass draws the visitor's attention in multiple ways.

1) sheer size: The Great East Window behind the altar is exactly that -- great. It is the largest medieval stained glass window and although many of the panels have been replaced over time, they are still faithful to the original 1400s design depicting the beginning and end of the world.

York Minister Detail of East Window: This detail of the Great East Window in York Minister shows Adam and Eve eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge (an orange tree -- not an apple tree) in the middle picture, followed by their banishment from the Garden of Eden.

2) familiar stories: The story from the Book of Genesis in the Great East Window is an example of a story that would have been familiar to the medieval church-goers. Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit followed by their ejection from the Garden Eden serve as both a warning against sin and reassurance of God's power.

York Minister Ape Funeral Procession: This section of the York Minster Pilgrimage Window shows a funeral processional, but instead of people, the participants are apes. According to recent scholarship, the use of apes in the image was not considered profane, but rather emphasizes the position of the viewer: "As the ape, lacking human nature, still mimics humans, so must man, although lacking divinity, mimic the divine" (Hardwick, 297). Further reading on apes in medieval imagery: H.W. Janson, Apes and Ape Lore in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (London: Warburg Institute, 1952) P. Hardwick, "The Monkeys' Funeral in the Pilgrimage Window, York Minster," Art History 23.2 (June 2000): 290-299.

3) comical yet moralizing stories: The scene of the ape's funeral procession is an example of how stained glass could turn the funny, even satirical, into a moral story. The placement of this window in the nave is at low height, making it readily readable for the average medieval and modern visitor.