Schetsen schoonheid EN MG

WINDOWS SINT-JANSKERK SINT-JANSKERK

The Sint-Janskerk, managed by the local Reformed congregation, is the longest church in the Netherlands at 123 metres. One of the top 100 UNESCO monuments in the country, the building is recognized as among the most beautiful Dutch churches. It is a cruciform basilica in a late Gothic style with many Renaissance elements, such as round arches. The present building dates from after the fire in 1552, when the church was almost entirely destroyed. It was a Roman Catholic church until 1572, when Gouda allied itself with Prince William of Orange. In 1573 the church passed into the hands of the Protestants.

WINDOWS AND DESIGNS

The complete full-size working drawings for 37 old and 3 modern windows have been preserved. ‘Sketches of Beauty’ presents parts of the designs for 11 windows. Those windows are described in this folder, along with two others for which the large drawings have been lost, but for which the small designs are included in the exhibition.

The numbering corresponds to the numbers of the drawings in the exhibition. The numbers of the windows are given in brackets.

(59) 10

(14) 1

VAN DER VORM CHAPEL

2 (15)

18 (12) 9

3 (16)

(52)

5 (22) (7) 7

6 (8)

17 (30)

(6) 4

8 (23) 20 (24)

20 (WINDOW 24) PHILIP PREACHING, HEALING, AND BAPTIZING

This window is dedicated to Philip the Apostle, who was the patron saint of the donor, Count Philippe of Ligne, baron of Wassenaar, viscount of Leiden, and knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece. He had the right to collect tolls for the Gouwe lock, which connected the River Gouwe to the Rhine and formed an important link in the inland water route through Holland. Unusually, the donor has been incorporated into the main scene, in the right foreground. This was done deliberately, because he had been maimed in the Battle of Gravelines (1558) and hoped that his patron saint would heal him. Philip is shown preaching amid the sick and lame. In the background, we see the story of Philip and the eunuch, who asks Philip to baptize him. The baptism is shown on the right, with two camels from the eunuch’s retinue in the background.

Assistants of Dirck Crabeth, after his design, 1559 8 (WINDOW 23) DUCHESS’S WINDOW

The Duchess’s Window consists of three parts, like the King’s Window opposite. The upper scene, ‘Elijah’s Offering’, is from the Old Testament; ‘The Washing of the Feet’, in the middle, is from the New Testament; and at the bottom is the donor, Margaret of Parma. In the story of Elijah’s offering, the prophet Elijah challenges the prophets of the false god Baal to a test that will show whether Baal or Yahweh is the one true God. The prophets of Baal pray to their god to set their altar on fire, but nothing happens. Then Elijah asks Yahweh to set his altar on fire, so that the people will know that He is the true God. But first, Elijah pours water over the altar. The scene in the window shows angels blowing on the flames. Clouds of smoke are rising. One angel is putting the devil in chains. This can be interpreted as a victory over heresy, a theme of personal relevance to the donor, Margaret of Parma. The image of God at the very top of the window was removed around 1622, when Protestant doctrine became stricter. It was later restored to its earlier appearance on the basis of the original working drawing. In the scene in the middle, Jesus is teaching his apostles humility by washing their feet, a task usually performed by slaves. He paired this lesson with the commandment ‘Love one another.’ Jesus, dressed in purple, is kneeling amid his apostles to dry Peter’s feet. The wall behind the table shows scenes of Moses, a reference to the Old Testament. On the far right, we see an interior typical of sixteenth-century Holland, with a sideboard laid for a meal and a bellows by the fireplace. The architecture of ‘The Washing of the Feet’ spills over into the donor section at the bottom of the window.

Margaret of Parma, Governor of the Netherlands, kneels beside her patron saint Margaret of Antioch, who defeated the devil (in the form of a dragon).

On her left is a large text cartouche with garlands, containing an ode to piety and to the donor’s illustrious dynasty of rulers. One exceptional feature of this window is the use of highly concentrated antique red in the clothing of the seated figure behind Jesus, rather than pot metal glass, which is coloured all the way through. Wouter Crabeth also uses a brownish-pink hue not found in his brother Dirck’s windows.

Wouter Crabeth, 1562 5 (WINDOW 22) JESUS DRIVING THE MONEY CHANGERS FROM THE TEMPLE

GROUNDPLAN SINT-JANSKERK THE WORLD-FAMOUS GOUDA WINDOWS

The oldest windows are the thirteen Apostle Windows (dating from circa 1530-1540 and 1554-1556). Eighteen of the large windows and the two Guild Windows were made between 1555 and 1572. Those were the glory days of the Gouda Windows, and Dirck and Wouter Crabeth were the two leading glass-painters. The windows show biblical scenes. The seven windows in the Van der Vorm chapel come from the demolished Regulierenklooster and were placed in the church in 1581. Thirteen windows with coats of arms were donated by the city of Gouda in 1593-1594. Nine large windows were made after the Reformation (1595-1603). A few of these are devoted to historical events, a new type of subject in the Sint-Janskerk. One window was restored in the seventeenth century, and the other ten were either composed out of fragments of old windows or else newly designed in the twentieth century.

The church is dedicated to John the Baptist, patron saint of Gouda, whose emblematic colours are white (for purity and love) and red (for suffering).

The eleven windows in the ambulatory display the life of John the Baptist in relation to that of Jesus.

The red and purple clothing of the protagonist here clearly identifies him as Jesus. He aims his whip at the money changer and sheep dealer at the table.

In the background, a curious priest opens a curtain. A few spectators stand on the balustrade above. On the right, under the balustrade, we see the coat of arms of the Crabeth brothers, with three eagles’ legs. Beneath it, we see a lamplighter. The donor section is filled with the coats of arms of Gouda’s city councillors. The sour oranges bordering the central cartouche are enough to make it clear that Prince William of Orange – the originally intended donor – was supposed to have been depicted here. The donor section was added in 1657, and the inscription illustrates that by then the Protestants had become less tolerant of the Catholics. The Latin text reads, ‘God desires to be worshipped with a pure heart and in a consecrated temple. Jesus, having made a scourge, tells the godless to stay far away from his church from now on. The entrances to his consecrated temples are open only to prayers. Away with you, stench, cattle, money, doves, and papists! The Council rejects your priests and your rituals.

Each member shows this here, Rome, with his own coat of arms.’

Dirck Crabeth, 1567

4 (WINDOW 6) JUDITH AND HOLOFERNES

This window – a masterpiece in its realism, detail, and range of colours – is the last one that Dirck Crabeth made for the church. At the top, we see several moments from the same story. Judith is right of centre with her sword and the head of Holofernes, whom she has just killed. Her maidservant holds a sack for the head. On the left are the beheaded corpse of Holofernes and the army tent where Judith seduced him. On the upper left, Judith and her maidservant return to the liberated city with the head of Holofernes in the sack. On the far upper right, we find the conclusion: the head hangs from a pole projecting from a tower. The central section is filled with everyday scenes of people drinking beer, baking bread, and roasting meat. In the right background Achior is visible, tied to a tree, because he warned Holofernes about the Israelites. In the lower section is the donor, Marguerite de la Marck, countess of Arenberg.

She had this glass placed in the church in the name of her and her late husband, Count Jean de Ligne, who had died in 1568. Marguerite felt an affinity with the image of the fierce and pious Judith, a widow like her. Marguerite and her husband are portrayed with their patron saints, Catherine and John the Baptist. Catherine was to have been tortured on the wheel by order of the Roman emperor Maxentius. An angel saved her from this fate by breaking the wheel, after which she was beheaded with a sword. Catherine’s attributes, a broken wheel and sword, refer to this story. Above the donors are their coats of arms and those of their forebears.

HIGH WINDOWS, HIGH PRICES

Glass-painters were paid by the square foot (about 30 square centimetres). Just one contract with Dirck Crabeth has been preserved, from 1560. It shows that he received 11 stuivers per square foot for a window in the Oude Kerk in Delft.

We also know the cost of one Dirck Crabeth window in the Sint-Janskerk: for ‘The Preaching of John the Baptist’, the bishop of Luik (Liège) paid 164 guilders and 7 stuivers. Wouter Crabeth raised his rate rapidly between 1562 and 1564, from 10½ to 12 stuivers per square foot. These days, a stained-glass window costs about 4,000 euros per square meter. At that price, a window about four metres wide and twenty metres high would now cost 320,000 euros.

17 (WINDOW 30) JONAH AND THE WHALE

Dirck Crabeth, 1571

The prophet Jonah ignores God’s command to call on the people of Nineveh to convert. When a storm threatens to sink the ship on which he is sailing, he acknowledges the error of his ways. He is tossed overboard and swallowed by a great fish, which spits him out onto dry land after three days. In the foreground, the fish opens its mouth and Jonah emerges. He points to a banderol with the Latin motto, ‘Behold, something more than Jonah is here.’

Just as Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the fish, Jesus was buried for three days and nights before his resurrection. In the background, we see the ship in the storm as Jonah is thrown overboard and the fish comes to his rescue. Far in the background is the city of Nineveh. The window was donated by the Gouda fishmongers’ guild. Their emblem, with three fish, is shown at the top. There is no large working drawing of this window, but only a small design.

7 (WINDOW 7) THE KING’S WINDOW

Dirck Crabeth, before 1565

This, the 20-metre-high King’s Window, contains stories from the Old and New Testaments: the consecration of the Temple by King Solomon (above) and the Last Supper (below). Together they convey the message that the coming of Jesus has made all other signs irrelevant, and that the only thing people must do now is follow his example. This window does not have a separate donor field. The donors, King Philip II and his wife Mary Tudor, are included in the depiction of the Last Supper. Jesus can be identified by his purple robe and halo. The young apostle John is on his lap. On the far right, Judas is leaving the room with a pouch full of money on his back. The face of Judas the traitor is not visible; he has ‘lost face’. Above, Solomon is visible to the right of the altar, listening to God’s answer, which is written on ribbons that swirl downward.

Fire rains down from heaven onto the sacrifice. On the left, the people of Israel worship God. The bottom part of the window is filled with a framed inscription, around which Dirck Crabeth displays his phenomenal talent for creative ornamentation. Philip II is described as an illustrious ruler whose authority comes from God. A variety of symbols lend force to this message. The woman on the left is the personification of justice. The measuring instruments tell us that in justice as in other things, proper measure is important. God was originally depicted at the very tip of the window, but this image was removed in 1622 and replaced with the letters JWHW (for Yahweh, the Hebrew name of God). Protestants believed that God should not be depicted. The original working drawing for this section is also missing.

Dirck Crabeth, 1557 6 (WINDOW 8) THE SCOURGING OF HELIODORUS

This scene may originally have been intended as a warning against iconoclasm, the destruction of religious icons and images. The Iconoclastic Fury broke out in the Low Countries in 1566, soon after the window was designed. The story of Heliodorus can be found in the Bible book of Maccabees (which many churches do not recognize as divinely inspired). Under the high priest Onias, piety and peace reigned in Israel, and the temple received many gifts. King Seleucus, wanting to take possession of those gifts, sent Heliodorus to loot the temple. But a divine horseman appeared, accompanied by two angels, who beat Heliodorus with a scourge. Wouter Crabeth vividly rendered this event in the foreground of the central scene. The kneeling priest in the background, as well as the spectators above, add depth and movement to the composition. In the donor field Eric, duke of Brunswick, kneels before his prayer desk, flanked by sixteen coats of arms. Eric was one of the leading opponents of Prince William of Orange. The inscription on the window states that he donated it ‘for the sake of the Catholic religion’. Above his head is his motto, ‘Glory through tribulations.’ Lawrence, his patron saint, reinforces the moral of the story of Heliodorus. As a deacon of the church in ancient Rome, Lawrence was ordered to turn over the church’s assets to the state. In reply, he presented the poor and the sick, whom the church supported, and said, ‘These are the treasures of the church.’ He was flogged and tortured to death on a hot gridiron.

Wouter Crabeth, 1565

9 (WINDOW 12) THE BIRTH OF JESUS

This window shows the birth of Jesus and his adoration by the shepherds.

Mary and Joseph kneel before the Christ child, encircled by the shepherds, the ox, and the ass. The shepherds hold sixteenth-century musical instruments such as a hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes. In the middle background, we see the annunciation to the shepherds. Behind that are the three Magi (the wise men from the East) with their retinue. In the far left background, there is a scene of women caring for a child in an interior with a fireplace and a cradle. At the top, an angel is holding a banderol with a Latin inscription reading, ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to men.’ At the very tip of the window the Star of Bethlehem is shining on Jesus’ birthplace. In the donor field, the canons of Oudmunster Church are gazing up at Jesus. In the book that he holds, we read, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ and ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness.’ It is claimed that the painter Peter Paul Rubens was very impressed with the realistic representation of the branch below the arch in the main scene. As the story goes, he said, ‘I have to go outside for a moment to see if it’s a real branch or an ingenious creation of Wouter’s.’

Wouter Crabeth, 1564 10 (WINDOW 59) THE MOCKING OF CHRIST

Jesus is crowned with thorns and mocked in front of a covered colonnade.

Jesus sits blindfolded on a stone bench, and his purple cloak has slipped from his shoulders. Two soldiers are pressing a crown of thorns onto his head with crossed sticks. In the right foreground, a kneeling soldier is forcing a reed into Jesus’ hand in place of a king’s sceptre. The soldier behind Jesus is pointing at him mockingly. In the Bible story, after being mocked Jesus is beaten and spat upon and taken away to be condemned to death. The distinguished-looking man in the yellow cloak is Pontius Pilate. The donor of the window, Dirck Cornelisz. van Reynegom, and his family are visible in the lower section. Van Reynegom was one of Gouda’s leading citizens. In 1572, he was accused of treason as a follower of King Philip II and banished from the city. He was buried in the SintJanskerk, but was not given a gravestone. This is one of the windows from the demolished Regulierenklooster. It is now in the Van der Vorm chapel of the Sint-Janskerk.

Assistants of Dirck Crabeth, after his design, 1556

1 (WINDOW 14) JOHN THE BAPTIST PREACHING

This window is the left-hand member of a set of three, a kind of ‘triptych’ dedicated to the lives of John the Baptist and Jesus. The biblical landscape with the River Jordan continues in the adjacent windows. In the left foreground, John the Baptist is visible, preaching in a white robe. In the background on the right, he is addressing publicans, the much-hated tax collectors of the Roman Empire. They represent the authority of the Roman leader Herod, who is the target of John’s criticism. The people on the far left may be representatives of the Pharisees, sent to ask John the Baptist if he is Elijah. The man kneeling before Jesus in the donor field at the bottom is Robert van Bergen, provost of Oudmunster and bishop of Luik (Liège). Jesus is portrayed as the Salvator Mundi (saviour of the world) with the globe in his hands, surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists. Behind the donor is his name saint, Robert of Molesme, in a Benedictine habit, holding a staff and the rulebook of his order. Dirck Crabeth made his robe brown rather than black, because brown glass lets through more light. The Latin words in the book read, ‘Blessed is the man who fears the Lord.’ The donor’s coats of arms surround the scene.

Dirck Crabeth, 1562 2 (WINDOW 15) THE BAPTISM OF JESUS BY JOHN

The central window in the triptych shows Jesus rising from the water after his baptism. The heavens open, and the Holy Spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove. God’s message is written in Latin on the middle sunbeam: ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Obey him.’ The angel in a white robe behind John holds Jesus’ purple cloak, and on the bank of the River Jordan, people wait to be baptized. Some of them are helping each other to undress. In the background Jesus, dressed in a purple cloak, turns to Nathaniel and speaks to him. In 1621, when Dutch Protestantism became stricter, the figure of God at the top was removed, and the corresponding part of the working drawing was discarded. The figure was repainted during the twentieth-century restoration. The donor, the bishop Joris van Egmond, is shown in the field at the bottom with his crosier and mitre. He looks up at the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. His patron saint, Martin of Tours, is shown behind him, throwing a coin into a beggar’s bowl.

The dog on the right in the foreground symbolizes loyalty.

Dirck Crabeth, 1555 3 (WINDOW 16) JESUS BEARING WITNESS OF HIMSELF

In the foreground of the primary scene, we see Jesus dressed in purple. In the centre background, John baptizes people in the River Jordan. He has deliberately been made smaller than Jesus in the window. On the upper right, John is approaching with a few of his followers. Right of centre, we find an everyday scene: a nude man sitting on the bank glancing back at a woman who is drying herself. The pollard willows, the purple bulrushes, and the river landscape add a note of Netherlandish realism to the scene. This effect is amplified by the sixteenth-century garments of the people in the foreground.

The donor is portrayed in the bottom section: Cornelis Vincentszoon van Mierop, cathedral provost and dean of Oudmunster. His patron saint, Vincent of Saragossa, is shown with his attributes: fire, a millstone, shards of pottery, and a firehook on which a raven is perched. Dirck Crabeth gave the dark raven a bright yellow eye that almost seems to glow. In the legend of the saint, the ravens protect Vincent’s corpse from wild animals until his friends arrive to bury him. The donor kneels before the delicately rendered figure of Mary, who exudes devotion and motherly love for the Christ child. Under her feet is a crescent moon. The horned dragon represents the devil, whose power was restrained by the coming of Jesus.

Dirck Crabeth, 1556

OBJECT LABELS FOR THE EXHIBITION

18 (WINDOW 52) SAINT ANDREW

This window with Saint Andrew is one of the thirteen Apostle Windows placed in the clerestory of the choir. They were made between 1530 and 1540 and are among the oldest figurative church windows in the Netherlands.

Some of these windows survived the fire of 1552, but three had to be replaced.

Dirck Crabeth drew the new designs, and assistants in his workshop made the new windows. This one was installed around 1555-1556. The diagonal cross shows that the subject is Saint Andrew. This is another case in which only Dirck’s small design has been preserved and not the full-size working drawing. The makers of the older Apostle Windows are unknown.

Assistants of Dirck Crabeth, after his design, circa 1555-1556

DRAWINGS

WINDOWS

MUSEUMGOUDA

SINT-JANSKERK

DRAWINGS MUSEUMGOUDA

2

1

3 (WINDOW 16) JESUS BEARING WITNESS OF HIMSELF

3

Jesus is preaching in the foreground on the left. In the centre background, John is baptizing people in the River Jordan. He has deliberately been made smaller than Jesus in the picture. A workshop assistant probably made this drawing on the basis of a small-scale drawing by Dirck Crabeth. The line work is harder and less precise. This is clearly visible when we compare the two nearly identical seated men in the foreground with the left-hand part of the triptych, in which the figures are rendered in much greater detail. This biblical scene has a contemporary Dutch character, because of both the local plant species -pollard willows and bulrushes- and the sixteenth-century dress of the figures in the foreground. The standing figure with his back to the viewer in the third strip from the left could represent Dirck Crabeth himself, but there is no hard evidence for that.

4

6 20

5

19 18 17

9

7

16

10

8

15

Workshop of Dirck Crabeth, 1556 Drawing in black chalk Collection of the Sint-Janskerk, Gouda

11 14 13 12

AN EYE FOR DETAIL, AND FOR EVERYDAY LIFE

GROUNDPLAN EXHIBITION MUSEUMGOUDA

DIRCK CRABETH’S MASTERPIECE

The ‘triptych’ in the eastern part of the ambulatory in the Sint-Janskerk is the artistic high point of the Gouda Windows. The scenes in the three windows blend into a single, panoramic landscape. The attention lavished on the landscape here is exceptional in sixteenth-century glass-painting. The windows show episodes from the lives of John the Baptist and Jesus: John preaching, Jesus being baptized, and Jesus’ first sermon, with John and Jesus alternating in the foreground. The middle window was the first one that Dirck made for the church, Completed in 1555, followed a year later by the right-hand part of the triptych. The triptych was not finished until 1562, when the left window was added.

1 (WINDOW 14) JOHN THE BAPTIST PREACHING

In the foreground, John the Baptist is preaching to a group of listeners. In the background on the right, he is addressing publicans, the much-hated tax collectors of the Roman Empire. They represent the authority of the Roman leader Herod, who is the target of John’s criticism. Crabeth built up his composition painstakingly from back to front. He created variation by showing people sitting, standing, and walking.

Dirck Crabeth, 1562 Drawing in black chalk, white heightening Collection of the Sint-Janskerk, Gouda 2 (WINDOW 15) THE BAPTISM OF JESUS BY JOHN

This scene shows the most important moment of contact between Jesus and John the Baptist. On the right, John is baptizing Jesus. The dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Two angels hold a cloak for Jesus, and on the bank of the River Jordan, people wait to be baptized. Some of them are helping each other to undress. In the background, we see scenes of Jesus’ first disciples coming to him. The graceful figures and attention to lively detail are especially noteworthy.

*

Dirck Crabeth was a groundbreaking artist. His use of ornament was especially original, and he had an excellent eye for details from daily life, which he frequently incorporated into his works. In his last full-scale design, for the window ‘Judith and Holofernes’, Dirck gave a final display of his phenomenal artistry. The devil masks along the rim of the tent, the decoration of the armour, and the imaginative legs of the table are miniature works of art in their own right. The background is packed with domestic details: among the cannon, bread is being baked, a cask of wine opened, and meat roasted to celebrate this victory over the enemy.

4 (WINDOW 6) JUDITH AND HOLOFERNES

In this scene, Judith saves the city of Bethulia from capture by Holofernes, a military commander serving King Nebuchadnezzar of Assyria. Judith seduces Holofernes in his army tent and then beheads him, assisted by her maidservant.

The rumpled bed, Holofernes’s armour, and the still life with the richly laden table all heighten the drama of the story.

Dirck Crabeth, 1571 Drawing in black chalk Collection of the Sint-Janskerk, Gouda THE CRABETH BROTHERS

The differences in style between Dirck and his younger brother Wouter are clearly visible in these large working drawings (on display here opposite one another), in which architecture is central to the composition. Both stories are set in temples. Dirck drew a Renaissance temple, with columns on high bases. In contrast, Wouter designed a more adventurous and imaginative structure with a two-storey-high wall and an open intersection, which more strongly resembles a stage set than it does a building. The central perspective and the symmetric composition bring a sense of calm and clarity to Dirck’s drawing, while Wouter’s is more dynamic because the vanishing point is on the right. Dirck’s figural group in the foreground is compact and static, but the individual figures are full of life and fine detail. Wouter’s figures are much more energetic and distributed throughout the space, but his sketchy draughtsmanship diminishes the overall power of the work.

Ca. 1510 Dirck Crabeth’s life

DIRCK CRABETH

5 (WINDOW 22) JESUS DRIVING THE MONEY CHANGERS FROM THE TEMPLE

Dirck Crabeth, 1555 Drawing in black chalk Collection of the Sint-Janskerk, Gouda

Jesus is standing in the centre with a whip aimed at the money changer and the sheep dealer at the table. Overturned stools and a barking dog illustrate the commotion of the scene. The garments worn by the onlookers include some from Dirck Crabeth’s own time. The man behind the sheep dealer is wearing a Roman suit of armour, Spanish breeches, and a Dutch cap.

Dirck Crabeth, 1567 Drawing in black chalk with heightening in white chalk, grey ink Collection of the Sint-Janskerk, Gouda 6 (WINDOW 8) THE SCOURGING OF HELIODORUS

Heliodorus went to the temple to steal its treasures. In response to the prayers of Onias, high priest of the temple, a divine horseman appeared accompanied by two angels, who beat Heliodorus with a scourge. Wouter’s special interest in armour in a classical style finds expression in the horseman’s helmet, which is shaped like a bird’s head. A Netherlandish print of a Raphael fresco may have inspired the drawing of the horseman.

Wouter Crabeth, 1565 Drawing in black chalk with black and brown wash and heightening in white Collection of the Sint-Janskerk, Gouda SECTIONS

The large windows of the Sint-Janskerk are subdivided in a consistent way.

The lower half is the donor section. During the Catholic period, this section depicted those who paid for the window with their patron saints. The upper section was reserved for biblical scenes.

7 (WINDOW 7) PHILIP II AND MARY TUDOR

The King’s Window, as it is known, occupies the most prominent place in the church. The figures represent the donors of the window: Philip II, king of Spain and count of Holland (1527-1598), and his wife Mary Tudor (1516-1558).

Dirck Crabeth skilfully integrated the praying couple into this scene of the Last Supper, making it look as if they had actually been there. King Philip II is presented by his patron saint, Philip the Apostle, to Jesus. The upper scene in the same window shows the dedication of King Solomon’s temple. Philip II saw similarities between himself and Solomon, who also had to defeat a rival claimant to the throne. In the case of King Philip II, this rival was his cousin Maximilian. In Solomon’s case, God intervened to place him on the throne instead of his half-brother Adonijah. Philip II and his queens are shown wearing crowns and royal robes of ermine, and Philip wears the chain of the Golden Fleece. On the pillow are a sword and a sceptre.

Dirck Crabeth, 1557 Drawing in black chalk Collection of the Sint-Janskerk, Gouda 8 (WINDOW 23) MARGARET OF PARMA

This window was donated by Margaret of Parma, Governor of the Netherlands (1522-1586). It received a place of honour, opposite the one donated by her half-brother Philip II. Margaret’s task was to bring an end to religious unrest in the Netherlands. Her patron saint was Margaret of Antioch, a Christian saint from the fourth century AD who fought and defeated the devil (depicted as a dragon). Here, Margaret of Parma kneels beside her patron saint, who has crushed the dragon of heresy under her feet. Wouter Crabeth displays his consummate artistry. The dragon’s curling tail suggests depth, while the patron saint is a paragon of strength. Margaret, in her royal robe, is portrayed in a realistic, understated manner. The uppermost scene, ‘The Sacrifice of Elijah’, is also about fighting heresy. In it, the prophet Elijah confronts the priests of the

Installation of Dirck Crabeth’s first window, ‘The Baptism of Jesus by John’ (window 15) 1555 Fire in the Sint-Janskerk 1552

SINT-JANSKERK

1500

1550

false god Baal. The message of the scene in the middle, ‘The Washing of Peter’s Feet’, is that humanity should follow the example of Jesus’ brotherly love.

Wouter Crabeth, 1562 Drawing in black and red chalk, brown and black wash, heightening in white chalk Collection of the Sint-Janskerk, Gouda 9 (WINDOW 12) CANONS OF THE CHAPTER OF ST SALVATOR

The donors of the window were the canons of Oudmunster Church, also known as Saint Salvator Church. Here they kneel on either side of Christ in their ceremonial vestments, gazing up at Him. They are wearing squirrel-fur stoles from Northern Europe, with the squirrel tails touching the ground. Christ is depicted here as the Salvator Mundi, the patron saint of the donors’ collegiate church. He stands with his feet on the globe as an expression of his dominion over the world. In 1559 churchwarden Pieter Gerritsz. went to Utrecht to persuade the Oudmunster chapter to donate a window. It was not until 22 September 1563 that the churchwardens entered into a contract with Wouter Crabeth for the window. In November 1563 they received 50 guilders from the chapter, which they passed on to Wouter on 5 December. On 20 October 1564, Wouter received the remaining 93 guilders and 8 stuivers.

Wouter Crabeth, 1564 Drawing in black chalk, greyish-brown wash, white heightening Collection of the Sint-Janskerk, Gouda 10 (WINDOW 59) DIRCK CORNELISZ. VAN REYNEGOM

The donors of this window were Dirck Cornelisz. van Reynegom (1504-1584) and his wife Aechte Jansd. This part of the donor section shows Van Reynegom and his son Cornelis. Van Reynegom was a brewer and one of Gouda’s wealthiest citizens. He also collected and managed toll revenue for passage through Gouda in the name of Philip II, count of Holland. He lived in Gouda with his wife and children, at Westhaven 12, now the site of a music school.

In 1572 Van Reynegom was accused of conspiring to bring Gouda back into Spanish hands. He was imprisoned and exiled from the city. After his death in 1584, he was buried in the Sint-Janskerk. This full-scale drawing was made by assistants of Dirck Crabeth on the basis of a design by their master.

Workshop of Dirck Crabeth, 1556 Drawing in black chalk, pen and brush and brown ink, reddish-brown and brown wash Collection of the Sint-Janskerk, Gouda 11 (WINDOW 15) JORIS VAN EGMOND

This donor, Joris van Egmond, bishop of Utrecht (1504-1559), was at the top of the church hierarchy in the Netherlands. He kneels before a prayer desk with an open book. His bishop’s crosier is in his hands, and next to him is his mitre.

Behind the bishop is Martin of Tours, patron saint of both the bishop and the diocese of Utrecht. Joris van Egmond saw parallels between himself and Saint Martin, who was known for his generosity and had also been a bishop. Here, Martin throws a gold coin into the bowl of a crippled beggar. The open hands above the two bishops are scattering gold pieces. The explanation can be found in the Latin inscription in the banderol: ‘Open your hand. Practice piety.’

Dirck Crabeth, 1555 Drawing in black chalk Collection of the Sint-Janskerk, Gouda

Installation of Dirck Crabeth’s last window, ‘Judith and Holofernes’ (window 6) 1571

1555 - 1572 Creation of new windows (Catholic period)

12 (WINDOW 22) WILLIAM OF ORANGE AND ANNA OF SAXONY

This drawing shows how Dirck Crabeth planned to portray the donors in the lower part of the window ‘The Cleansing of the Temple’. On the left, Prince William of Orange kneels before his patron saint, William of Maleval. On the right is his wife Anna of Saxony, with a representation of the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne. Above the donors, we see their personal coats of arms, and beside them are the quartered coats of arms of their ancestors, which were not yet filled in.

Dirck Crabeth, circa 1562-1563 Pen drawing in brown ink over a sketch in black chalk Collection of the Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam 13 (WINDOW 22) CONTRACT DRAWING ‘THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE’

Dirck made this ‘vidimus’, or contract drawing, for the window ‘The Cleansing of the Temple’ to obtain approval for his design from the churchwardens and the intended donor, Prince William of Orange. It is a scale drawing in which the vertical lines represent the shape of the window. Some details have not yet been fleshed out, such as the architectural ornaments. Later, Dirck made a few changes to the full-size drawing - for instance, he added another dog in the foreground. The top of the donor section, with the coats of arms of Prince William of Orange and Anna of Saxony, is depicted in greater detail in this drawing than in Crabeth’s study of the complete donor section.

Dirck Crabeth, 1562?

Pen drawing in brown ink with grey and reddish-brown wash over a sketch in black chalk Collection of the Sint-Janskerk, Gouda 14 (WINDOW 22) NEW DONOR FIELD

Just a few full-size drawings for the new donor section of the window have been preserved: two panels with coats of arms and one inscribed cartouche. They were made by Daniël Tomberg. The window was to contain the coats of arms of the Gouda city councillors.

15 - A DESIGN FOR A LOST WINDOW

This is a design for a stained-glass window in an unknown church. In this scene, Adam and Eve have been driven out of paradise and are surrounded by pairs of animals. Noah’s ark is in the water in the background, and God the Father appears in the sky. In the foreground, we find an angel with two blank coats of arms. There are two other blank shields, one on either side of the cartouche in the lower section. Such details were filled in at a later stage, either in the full-size drawing or when painting the glass.

Dirck Crabeth, circa 1550-1555 Pen and brush drawing in black and grey ink Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

17 (WINDOW 30) VIDIMUS ‘JONAH AND THE WHALE’

This is a ‘vidimus’, a small-scale contract drawing presented to the patron for approval. Dirck Crabeth made this drawing for the window ‘Jonah and the Whale’ in the Sint-Janskerk, which was donated by Gouda’s fishmongers’ guild. The full-size drawing for this window has not survived.

Dirck Crabeth, before 1565 Pen drawing in brown ink with grey and reddish-brown wash over a sketch in black chalk Collection of the Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam 18 (WINDOW 52) WORKING DRAWING FOR AN APOSTLE WINDOW

Dirck Crabeth made this drawing to complete an old series of windows from the 1530s in the choir of the Sint-Janskerk. The windows depict apostles. A few windows in this series were the only ones in the church to survive the fire of 1552, though they were damaged. These surviving apostle windows were restored, and three others with new designs were made, including this one with Saint Andrew, who can be identified by his attribute, the diagonal cross.

Dirck Crabeth, c. 1554 Pen drawing in greyish-brown ink over a sketch in black chalk Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Purchased with support from the Rijksmuseum Stichting 19 - DESIGN AND OUTCOME

This painted glass panel has been preserved along with its design, but the semicircular top of the panel has been lost. The scene shows Jesus as the Redeemer of mankind. Between John the Baptist and the woman with a chalice, who personifies Faith, we see a nude man representing mankind, who asks Jesus to lead him down the path of goodness. Jesus descends from the cross with dead bodies and the devil on his back. This scene was intended for a very different group than were the windows of the Sint-Janskerk. This glass panel was probably made for the home of someone who sympathized with the Anabaptists.

Dirck Crabeth, circa 1560-1570 Pen drawing in brown ink over a sketch in black chalk Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Purchased through the F.G. Waller Fund Black vitreous paint and silver stain on blank glass Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 20 (WINDOW 24) CLOSE-UP

The crippled man is part of a group listening to Philip the Apostle preaching.

This saint was known for his healing powers. Dirck displays his mastery of portraiture in this work, with figures that seem almost real. The faces of the two men and the woman clearly communicate their hope that Philip will heal them.

16 - WORKING DRAWING FOR A GLASS PANEL IN A HOUSE

Dirck Crabeth, 1559 Drawing in black chalk with heightening in white chalk Collection of the Sint-Janskerk, Gouda

Dirck Crabeth, circa 1543 Pen drawing in brown ink over a sketch in black chalk Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

COLOPHON

Dirck Crabeth probably made this drawing for a small glass panel in the house at Pieterskerkgracht 9 in Leiden. The drawing shows Samuel offering a suckling lamb to Yahweh (the name of God in Hebrew). In the background we see the Israelites defeating the Philistines, and Samuel erecting a memorial.

Design: PLOT Signature image: Headline Print: Zwaan printmedia Publication: museumgoudA © 2011 www. schetsenvanschoonheid.nl

1572

† Dirck Crabeth 1573 The Sint-Janskerk becomes a Protestant church

1555 Philip II becomes King of the Netherlands 1566 The Iconoclastic Fury. Radical Protestants demolish the interiors of Catholic churches. The Sint-Janskerk is spared 1559 Margaret of Parma becomes Governor of the Netherlands 1572 Gouda sides with Prince William of Orange, becoming a Protestant city 1567 Prince William of Orange leads the Dutch Revolt against King Philip II

1593 - 1604 Creation of new windows (Protestant period)

1584 Prince William of Orange is assassinated

1600