Cartons de vitraux du XVIIe siècle. La cathédrale Saint-Michel, Bruxelles.

This first volume in the ‘Etudes’ series is essential to our understanding of stained glass in the 17th century. Few stained glass windows from this period survive on the European continent, and cartoons - life-size models of them - have become extremely rare. Apart from the superb collection of cartoons for the stained glass windows in Gouda in the Netherlands, the cathedral cartoons held by the Royal Museums of Art and History are one of the few preserved collections in the world. For this publication, they have been fully documented photographically. A meticulous material study of these monumental drawings has made it possible to trace the working methods of the designer (Théodore Van Thulden), the way in which the drawings reached the maker (Jean De Labaere), the transposition of the drawings onto the glass, and of course the technique and style of the designer, the technique used to create the glass, and the important links between these and contemporary Antwerp art (Rubens in particular).