11 déc. 2011

The mission of St. Peter and St. Andrew - Saint-Etienne, Beauvais

Submitted by walwyn
06/1548
sam, 04/23/2011 - 13:25 - Stained glass 1548 by Nicolas le Prince. St Etienne Beauvais France 23/04/2011
link to flickr

This exquisite stained glass window, crafted in 1548 by Nicolas Le Prince, captures the moment of divine calling, Jesus summoning the brothers Peter and Andrew to follow him. A masterpiece of the French Renaissance, it adorns the Church of Saint-Étienne in Beauvais, radiating both spiritual intensity and artistic refinement.

On the left, Christ stands with serene authority, robed in deep blue, the folds of his garment rendered with remarkable depth and subtle gradation. A golden halo encircles his head, its soft glow illuminating his calm yet commanding presence. With a gentle, beckoning gesture, he calls to the fishermen laboring beside the waters, a moment that marks the beginning of their transformation from humble workers to “fishers of men.”

To the right, Peter and Andrew are depicted at their nets, their postures expressive of both surprise and reverence. One kneels in awe, his weathered hands still clutching the tools of his trade, while the other turns toward Christ, his expression caught between duty and revelation. The sea behind them glistens with Renaissance brilliance — a silvered expanse dotted with small boats and framed by the towers and trees of a distant port city, evoking both the earthly and the eternal.

Above, angels peer down from the tracery, their delicate faces framed by flowing hair and wings, bearing witness to this moment of divine vocation. The entire composition glows with rich, jewel-like colour, cobalt, emerald, and ruby tones mingling with golden light, each fragment of glass alive with the artist’s precision and the sacred narrative it conveys.

This window, like much of Le Prince’s work, blends Gothic spiritual intensity with the nascent realism of the Renaissance. It is both a theological vision and a human story: the call to faith rendered in color and light, the voice of Christ echoing across time through the beauty of stained glass.