The Herkenrode Glass in Lichfield Cathedral

From the end of July 2009 the glorious East End of Lichfield Cathedral will be boarded up in preparation for the removal of the internationally important sixteenth century Herkenrode glass to renovation workshops, and the restoration of masonry which surrounds and supports it. The medieval pinnacles and buttresses are so weathered that the failure of any one buttress could lead to a catastrophic collapse of the wall and roof and the shattering of the glass. The work will take five years and cost an estimated £800,000 to complete.

We will keep you updated of our progress during the renovation but please be aware the Lady Chapel and the Herkenrode glass will be inaccessible.

Michael Wood, the well known broadcaster and historian, and his wife Rebecca Dobbs, are shooting a ten minute DVD which tells the story of the glass from its origins in Flanders to its installation in the Cathedral, the complexities of the restoration and an exploration of what the scenes in the glass tell us of the Renaissance mind.

The glass was made between 1532 and 1539 for a Cistercian Nunnery, founded in 1132, at Herkenrode in Flanders, now part of modern Belgium. It is thought that the sketches for the windows were produced in the Antwerp workshop of Pierre Coecke (1502–1550) who, having visited both Rome and Constantinople, is credited with bringing Italian Renaissance ideas to the Netherlands. Interestingly, scholars identify Coecke's work by his figures having overlarge earlobes! Still he was appointed Court painter to Charles V.

The nunnery attracted the nobility whose families gave generously to sponsor the windows. The subject matter is partly narrative covering the life of Jesus and partly portraying donors praying before an altar or image, often with a personal patron saint to intercede. In a very special way the glass encapsulates the values and practices of life during the Renaissance period, especially the central role of religion and culture. The glass was brought to England in 1802 by Sir Brooke Boothby when Napoleon dissolved religious houses in his Europe and purchased by the Lichfield Chapter to replace the stained glass destroyed during the English Civil War.

For more than 1,300 years Lichfield Cathedral has been a centre of pilgrimage, discovery and spiritual refreshment. It is Britain's only three-spired medieval cathedral and an architectural treasure trove of international importance.