Saint Catherine and Saint John with a donor and his wife

Art Historical Context

This exquisite stained glass panel, created around 1530 in France—likely from Normandy or Bourges—depicts Saints Catherine and John the Evangelist flanking a kneeling donor couple, a prosperous husband and wife portrayed in contemporary Renaissance attire. Such donor portraits were a cherished tradition in religious art, allowing pious patrons to symbolically join the saints in eternal devotion while commemorating their generosity toward the church. Acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the Rogers Fund in 6, the work measures an impressive 44 × 71 inches, suggesting it once graced...