Stories of Moses

One of the largest gothic windows in the world, the imposing absidal window V21, was designed at the beginning of the 15th century and shows episodes taken from the Old Testament, with particular emphasis on Genesis. Over 130 panels can be seen: among them, hundreds of figures who have incarnated the alliance between God and the people of Israel, episodes from the life of Moses stand out: from being a slave in Egypt to people freed from slavery.

The ancient stories are told according to the principles of glasswork art of Milanese Romanticism, and can be red from bottom to up, and from left to right.

Only a small number of panels of window V21 date back to the first phase, particularly to the 16th century, for example the Sibyls and Prophets at the very top of it.

For the remaining part, the window was subjected to extensive restorations in the 19th century by the  Giovanni Battista Bertini and sons workshop.

The life of Moses is recounted by tracing the main stops on a journey that brought Israel people from slavery in Egypt to freedom.

The man who was saved from the waters of the Nile, still wrapped in a swaddling blanket...

The purifying waters indicate the beginning of a new destiny, and the water itself represents a key element in the life of Moses, since from his childhood. From the Nile to the crossing of the Red Sea…

Gusts of wind seem to echo among the rushes. Adopted by the emperor's daughter, Moses follows a new path.

Stories from Moses life are depicted in various sections of window V21: including the episode in which he receives the Tablets of the Law on Mount Sinai.

... or the one in which, with milded eyes, he hurls them at the idolatrous population.

And then the episode of Moses and the bronze serpent. God sends venomous snakes to punish them.

Moses begs  God the Father to end the punishment. He is then ordered to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole.

And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

The biblical stories are shown in the window with a new artistic language, that of Romantic Style, each section resembles a small theatrical sketch.

Appearances, gestuality and faces: the Old Testament is effectively retold through the language of 19th-century Romanticism.

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