Armorial panel of Georg von Massmunster

Description

The armorial panel of Georg von Massmunster is the only surviving glass painting of the series of four panels executed after designs by Hans Holbein the Younger which were donated for the newly built refectory of the Dominican convent of St. Maria Magdalena an den Steinen in Basle, probably in 1520. An expansive Renaissance style architectural backdrop, enlivened by putti dancing and making music, frames the donor's coat of arms. The lunette frieze below the coffered barrel vaulting depicts a triumphal procession. The quartered escutcheon with a mitre and two abbot's staffs above shows the coat of arms of the von Massmunster family along with the rampant dog of the monastery of Murbach in Upper Alsace and the blessing hand of Lure Abbey; Georg von Massmunster had been abbot of both monasteries since 1513.