The Life of St. Leonard
1325-1370
Stained glass
St. Peter's Cathedral, Regensburg, Germany
Second bay of the south aisle
The story starts at the top but does not follow an exact chronology. In the top right panel the King of France meets the hermit Leonard and asks him to pray for his wife, who is having a difficult labor. On the left the saint prays by the queen's bedside while a midwife on his left holds the baby and the king stands behind the bed. In gratitude, the king gives Leonard as much land as he can ride through on his ass in one night. This is seen in the second panel on the left. Next to it is the panel in which Leonard, having built an monastery on this land, is joined by two monks. (Even in the 6th century, it seems, if you build it they will come.)
In the third panel on the left, angels bear the saint's soul to Heaven. The panel on the right is hard to interpret. It may represent one of the many miracles by which St. Leonard frees captives.
The fourth panel on the left depicts Leonard's baptism by St. Remigius. On the right, he has died and his fellow monks perform the last rites. This break with chronology may have been inspired by the Pauline teaching that baptism is a "death" to sin and a gateway to "newness of life" (Romans 6:4).
The fifth panel on the left seems depict the building of the monastery. The saint holds a board while a helper works it with an awl (not a screwdriver, which had not yet been invented when the window was created). To the right is a panel I cannot interpret.
In the sixth panel on the left two prisoners pray to St. Leonard for emancipation. On the right, Leonard has his monks dig a dry pit, which will thereupon fill with water every day.
(The last two panels are obscured by the latticework.)
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Read more about St. Leonard.
Photographed at the cathedral by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.