Stories from the Old Testament

Milan Duomo's stained-glass window V02 is made up of 15th and 16th-century panels, mostly originating from the large apse window V21 dedicated to the Old Testament, though also present are a certain number of inserts referring to the New Testament made for apse window V19. The panels do not show the exact order as narrated in the Bible: many of these appear to be incomplete due to the varying sizes of the window columns, a feature that has led to notable exclusions and/or additions of the glass to better adapt the panels to their new place. The repositioning of the panels dates back to the 1830s, when Giovanni Battista Bertini and his sons Pompeo and Giuseppe began a huge project for the restoration and reconstruction of new windows for the apse area. Only a small section of the original apse panels are still with us: amongst these are easily recognisable the episodes depicting Original Sin, Moses and the Burning Bush, and Moses in Prayer. Many artists and master glassmakers collaborated in the creation of the panels (some ascertained and others hypothetical): Franceschino Zavattari, Maffiolo da Cremona, Niccolò da Varalllo, Corrado de Mochis, Biagio and Giuseppe Arcimboldi, Giovanni Luini, Cornelio Fiammingo, Battista “de Putheo”, Dirk Crabeth, Giorgio d’Anversa, and Antonio da Pandino.