Professor Rachel Koopmans: The 'miracle windows' of Canterbury Cathedral
On Thursday 8 October at 4pm in Marlow LT2, we are delighted to open our MEMS seminar series with Professor Rachel Koopmans, who will give a fascinating account of her research on Canterbury Cathedral’s stained-glass windows.
The session, entitled 'Miracles Rediscovered: Thomas Becket and Canterbury’s Marvellous Stained Glass' will explore research Rachel has been conducting with the Cathedral’s Glass Studio conservators on nIV, an outstanding example of the surviving Becket Miracle Windows. This is the third window to be examined as part of a larger project to remove all the surviving windows for close analysis and conservation.
Rachel’s starting point is the careful evaluation of every individual piece of glass to determine whether it is medieval or modern, thereby building on, correcting and extending the catalogue produced by Madeline Caviness in 1981.
The 'miracle windows' of Canterbury Cathedral, full of action and human drama, are among the greatest artistic treasures to survive from the medieval period. A new examination of these windows in Canterbury’s conservation studio has transformed our understanding of their creation in the wake of Thomas Becket’s murder and the growth of his cult in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.
This presentation will focus on the latest window to be analysed, numbered nIV, in which the glaziers depicted miraculous cures for lameness, paralysis, insanity, kidney pain, stomach ache and malarial fevers.
The results of the re-evaluation of the miracle windows have been striking. Close analysis has produced much fuller descriptions of individual panels and allowed pieces of glass to be reclassified. In turn, this has enabled Rachel to identify specific miracle narratives in scenes that were previously described only in general terms—for example, simply as depicting a 'sick man'.
Another important discovery has been the recovery of traces of lost paint, revealing details such as facial expressions and letters within inscriptions. These provide further vital clues to the identities of the miracle narratives represented in the glass. Rachel’s recently published translation of Benedict of Peterborough’s miracle narratives has proved invaluable in this work, helping to bring the stories depicted in these extraordinary windows into much sharper focus.
The results are genuinely exciting, offering new insights into the making, meaning and remarkable survival of Canterbury’s Becket Miracle Windows.
Please do come along and listen to this fantastic talk on Thursday 8 October which kickstarts the MEMS Seminars for this term. The full programme is listed below:
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