178. Self-portrait of the Stained Glass Painter Gerlachus,

c. 1150-1160. Stained glass. Westphalian State

Museum of Art and Cultural History, Münster. Gothic.

 

 

The stained glass window that portrays one of the first self-portraits from the Middle Ages, that of Gerlachus in the Arnstein Cathedral in Germany. The image depicts the master glazer with a beard and moustache in a sky blue coloured coat with a paint brush in his right hand and a bowl of paint in his left. The panel also represents different scenes from the life of Moses using complex glazing and painting techniques. The signature at the bottom of the panel reads: REX REGUM CLARE GERLACHO PROPICIARE which makes the identity of the creator unquestionable. Gerlacho has also been attributed to The Crucifixion stained glass window that was located in the Kaiser Friederich Cathedral in Berlin, which was unfortunately destroyed in 1945. The artist was well known for his use of glazing and pictorial techniques that were both elegant and decorative.