Resumen de Glazing on white-washed tables =: Vitrals sobre taules de vitraller : la taula de Girona
An examination of the two surviving examples of white-washed tables has been compared with the most relevant literature on the subject, revealing new information about medieval procedures as well as challenging previous studies of these objects. The close examination of the Girona tables is the main focus of this study, the resulting analyses have been considered in relation to the German example and relevant European historic sources for the first time in history, leading to new conclusions. The results have disproved some previously published information and demonstrate that the preconceived idea of a white-washed table, established over many decades, was not completely forgotten with the discovery of the real tables in the twentieth century.
The analysis of the fourteenth-century tables, and of earlier and contemporary sources, raises questions about the role of the master glazier during the middle ages. The considerable degree of freedom given to the master’s team, and possible collaboration with other guilds, has also been determined by study of the tables. Moreover, differences in the process of preparing, and drawing on, wooden glazing tables, have been associated with the evolution of stained glass designs, as well as with the specific requirements of each project, normally linked to its scale.
Regarding the conservation of stained glass, the re-examination of the Girona tables has proved the value of historical research. The surviving tables have maintained enough clues to recover lost parts of the original design of the higher windows of the apse of Girona cathedral. This new information will be key in all future approaches to the oldest glass of Girona.
The collaboration of the Museu d’Art de Girona and the Centre de Restauració de Béns Mobles de Catalunya in studying the Girona tables, as well as facilities provided by Dr. Rüdiger Frhr. Von Schnurbein for examining the Brandenburg table, have been crucial to this project. The results of this collaboration have demonstrated that the use of new methods to examine the tables and a review of the information available, was a necessary step in understanding medieval glazing methods. The new perspective provided by this study has raised new questions, which it is hoped will encourage future research and inspire new debate amongst specialists in medieval glazing.
