Marienkirche Stained Glass
2 April, 2002 - 1 September, 2002

An exhibition prepared by the Hermitage restorers opened at the museum on 2 April, 2002. The exhibition shows 15 unique pieces of art.
One hundred eleven stained glass fragments kept at the museum are a unique extant ensemble from the 14th century created for the altar of the Virgin Mary Church (Marienkirche) in Frankfurt an der Oder.
The three stained glass windows of the Marienkirche express a single idea. Two of them show scenes from the Old Testament and Gospels. The first window is devoted to scenes from the Book of Genesis, from the creation of the world and the life of the first men to Noah's drunkenness. The second window is the so-called ''Bible of the Poor'' showing a sequence of scenes from the Old and New Testaments. For a medieval man, the ''Bible of the Poor'' was an easily readable book, since events of the Old Testament were believed to foretell those in the New Testament. The latter was the key to the stories told in the former. For example, Abraham's Sacrifice and the Raising of the Brass Serpent foretold the Crucifixion of Christ. The third, southern window of the altar is especially noteworthy being the only stained glass showing scenes from the legend of the Antichrist. The legend told of eschatological battle between the good and the armies of Satan headed by a ''man of sin'', embodying every evil, otherwise known as the Antichrist. The Marienkirche stained glass shows him as a handsome youth in fashionable dress whose true identity is revealed by the sign ''T'' in his nimbus and demons who accompany him everywhere.
Frankfurt an der Oder became the residence town of the Wittelsbach Margraves by the middle of the 14th century. In all likelihood, it was then that large-scale works were undertaken to expand and decorate the church. Some art historians believe three of the seven stained glass windows in the altar were created around the same time but the style of the stained glass relates it more probably to the end of the 14th century. Initially the Marienkirche was a parish church. Later it was handed over to the Evangelical community patronized by the Town Council. The Marienkirche served as a Protestant church till it was destroyed during the Second World War. The stained glass was dismantled in the summer of 1943 when the allied aviation started to bomb Frankfurt an der Oder continuously; also pictures of the windows were taken and their description was made. As the Soviet Army was approaching the Oder, the stained glass was taken to Potsdam where it stayed in the New Palace till the capitulation of the Third Reich. The Hermitage documents show that the 111 stained glass fragments from the Marienkirche arrived to the museum on 20 August, 1946.
A special laboratory was created in 2001 at the Hermitage to restore these unique works of art, headed by Yelena M. Krylova. The exhibition ''Marienkirche Stained Glass'' shows the first results of this work, fifteen stained glass fragments from the 14th century restored and prepared for display.
Various German specialists in medieval art have been introduced to the stained glass and possible cooperation has been discussed. The State Hermitage Museum suggested a joint Russian-German project to examine and restore the stained glass which would symbolize a cultural cooperation. Unfortunately, nothing came of this plan. The exhibition introduces visitors to both the fifteen stained glass fragments and the efforts of the Hermitage restorers to revive these fragile luminous mementos of medieval art.

The Fall
Stained glass after restoration

At the exhibition