Stories of Saint James the Great

Stained-glass window V10 of Milan Duomo is found in the southern transept of the Cathedral and depicts episodes from the life of James the Great, brother of John the Apostle, the first amongst the apostles to suffer martyrdom. The work was commissioned by Pope Pius IV (real name Giovan Angelo Medici, maternal uncle of Charles Borromeo) to commemorate his brother Gian Giacomo Medici, known as the Medeghino, famous Milanese ruler, remembered by a funeral monument placed near to the window in question. The large window, made by Corrado de Mochis based on cartoons by an unknown author, presents significant compositional novelties. Monumental architecture surrounds the episodes that extend over several frames, the characters occupy double rows of panels, the figures and the clothes are as if in motion and a clear influence from Nordic glass art is evident, modulated by a typically Roman style. The reading of these episodes takes place from bottom to top, from right to left, the red of the robes and the blue of the sky emerge with a disruptive force: in succession the Conversion of Philetus and his Liberation, the Dispute with the Magician Hermogenes, the Saint before the High Priest, the Healing of a Paralytic, Hermogenes in Chains, James Condemned to Torture by Herod, and the Beheading of the Saint.