During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, it was customary for royal households to spend lavishly on the maintenance of their regal estate, dressing themselves and their palaces in an unsurpassed splendour as a conspicuous demonstration of their elevated status and power. Beyond their own court and household, it was also expected that monarchs would give generously to their supporters, enrich churches and fund public building projects to the benefit of the kingdom.Despite this great expenditure little decorative art survives outside of official royal collections that can be confidently ascribed to royal patronage. Assembled over some 60 years the medieval and Renaissance collection is one of the many highlights of the extraordinary gift that Sir William Burrell and his wife, Constance, Lady Burrell, made to their native city of Glasgow in 1944. Sir William took particular delight in acquiring pieces of historic significance, and he was especially enthusiastic about items that were understood to have belonged to, or had associations with, royalty.
Join Ed Johnson for his introduction into the fine royal collections of Sir William Burrell, with examples drawn from a broad range of the world class medieval and Renaissance collections.
Ed Johnson is Curator of Medieval and Renaissance Art at Glasgow Museums.
STAINED AND LEADED GLASS
stained glass panel
Princess Cecily
Prudde, John
England (place of manufacture)
15th century
coloured glass, lead
overall: 400 mm x 305 mm; framed: 419 mm x 320 mm x 32 mm
Rectangular stained glass panel with the bust of Princess Cecilia from the Becket window in Canterbury Cathedral (north-west transept). Facing three-quarter left with long golden hair; pearl-studded coronet and collar; wine-red dress trimmed with ermine; fragmentary blue ground. Yellow stain.
