Housing the Stranger (Back view, post-conservation)

Housing the Stranger is one of the Seven Works of Mercy taught by the Christian church. This panel is based on one print from a set illustrating the subject after designs by Maerten van Heemskerck (1498-1574) produced by Dirck Volkertsz Coornhert (1522-1590) in 1552. Travelers at the left, indicated by their hats and staffs, are greeted by a man in a doorway, behind whom sits another man on a bed.  Additional figures and a bed are depicted at the upper left. The fragments in the lower right are from another panel representing a different scene from the same series, Giving Drink to the Thirsty, hence the depiction of a large ewer and bottle. The stained glass artist has carefully reproduced the details of the print, and used subtle shades of vitreous paint to render a richly textured and finely detailed grisaille image.