Medieval stained glass windows from Esslingen

The glass windows in the city/parish church (contd.) The completely intact central window was donated by the Steinhövel couple, whose name is preserved in a banderol on one of the panes. The glass-stainer Lampertus from Speyer, who was responsible for the Steinhövel window, the Martyr's window, as well as the Credo, Virgin's and Animal Cycles in the Credo window, preserved his own image for posterity together with the churches' Patron Saint Dionysus. Such self-portraits are extremely rare in stained glass windows. Since all the windows in Speyer Cathedral have been destroyed, the Esslingen windows are the only surviving examples of his work. The outer sections of the middle window depict characters from the Old Testament, for example David and Judith. In the middle there are various scenes from the Old and New Testaments together, for example the burial of Christ next to the fish which swallowed Jonah, Aaron's staff and the birth of Christ.

Adam and Eve from the Steinhövel window, Speyer 1280 The personified snake is shown seducing the couple to eat the forbidden apple. The depictions of the donors under this scene has been repaired with panes from the Franciscan church and from the Animal Cycle.



Saint Dionysus from the Steinhövel window, Speyer 1280 The church is here dedicated to the Bishop of Paris, because it belonged to the monastery St.Denis (Dionys) from 777-1213. Dionysus is shown throned above the donors. On his knees next to the saint is a man identified by a Banderol as Lampertus, in whose workshop in Speyer these first choir windows were made ca.1280.