Five Apostles in Stained Glass
English, probably Gloucestershire
1475-80
Stained Glass
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Acquisition No. 12.210.1a-bb
This is the center section of a composite window. According to the museum's web site the window was assembled by an English dealer early in the twentieth century and acquired by the museum in 1912. The bottom section pictures five other saints, only one of whom is an Apostle.
The first Apostle on the left is St. Andrew, holding the "cross saltire" that is his attribute. Like the other Apostles he is barefoot and wears a beard.
Next to him is a puzzling portrait of St. Peter. In traditional images he is partly bald and holds two keys, one silver and one gold. This figure has a full head of hair. He holds only one key, which is gold at the business end while the shaft is of a different color. Conceivably the figure may have originally represented some other saint and been modified when the composite window was assembled.
The saint in the center is James the Greater, identified by his staff, the pouch hanging from his belt, and the scallop-shell symbol on the pouch. Next is St. Philip, whose attribute is a long cross. On the far right is a figure holding a flaying knife, the attribute of St. Bartholomew.
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Photographed at the museum by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.