The Window of the Holy Bishops and Deacons

A story of four saints and eight virtues — stained glass as a “formative programme”. This window functions as a lesson in light: at the centre stand four saints, yet above their heads—like a discreet “caption to the image”—runs a band of virtues. Mehoffer does something very astute here: he does not ask us merely to admire the figures, but sets them on the path of virtues, as if saying: “Look—this is what faith looks like in practice, when it has legs, hands, and character”.

The colouristic effect is striking: reds, whites, and golden yellows dominate, which in natural light can sound like fanfares. At the same time everything is ordered and “cathedral-like”: the vertical rhythm of the four lancets keeps the composition in check.

How to read this stained glass (a simple key)

1) Top — ornament like a crown

Finials and canopies are pure Secessionist delight in line: vegetal motifs, rhythm, symmetry, decorative elegance. Here Mehoffer “dresses” the window like an altar in silk and gold.

2) Band of names — who are the protagonists?

In the inscription band you can clearly see:
S. ETIENNE (Stephen), S. LAURENT (Lawrence), S. MARTIN (Martin), S. CLAUDE (Claude).

This is the moment when the artist says: “Don’t guess—know”.

3) Band of virtues — what is this really about?

Below the names appear eight virtues (two above each saint), like moral signposts:

• beside Stephen: ESPERANCE (Hope), JUSTICE (Justice)
• beside Lawrence: SCIENCE (Knowledge / prudence in the cognitive sense), FORCE (Fortitude)
• beside Martin: PRUDENCE (Prudence), FOI (Faith)
• beside Claude: CHARITE (Charity), TEMPERANCE (Temperance)

It is a brilliant device: the saints are not a “legend from a book” here, but models of conduct.

Four saints — four gestures, four temperaments

St Stephen (S. Etienne) — a gesture of courage

Stephen stands in reds and white, with an almost theatrical gesture: a raised hand, a face open to the viewer. He is the figure of the “first witness”—a man who does not retreat when things become difficult. In the gigapixel view it is worth seeing how Mehoffer leads the lead along the folds of the drapery: the contour is not only a technique, but a drawing of character.

St Lawrence (S. Laurent) — gaze upwards

Lawrence is calmer in stance, but his face and gaze do all the work: the head slightly lifted, as if the answer were not here on earth, but higher. This “silence” in the middle of the window works like a pause in music—and suddenly the viewer hears more.

St Martin (S. Martin) — love that has a cloak

Martin bends toward the beggar—and this is the moment when stained glass ceases to be decoration and becomes a story of gesture. The famous motif of dividing the cloak is shown not as a moral tale from a textbook, but as a human reflex: the bow, the meeting of eyes, the movement of the hand. This will read superbly at enlargement.

St Claude of Besançon (S. Claude) — kindness without fanfare

The most moving scene is on the right: the bishop bends toward a child. The child is only lightly clothed—defencelessly candid—and Claude does not look like an “official of sanctity,” but like someone who understands what the word “care” means. This part of the window is emotionally soft, though formally still monumental.

Bases: fountains and candelabra — symbols that create both backdrop and meaning

In the lower zones Mehoffer sets two kinds of “foundations”:

• fountains (at the sides) — water, renewal, life
• candelabra (in the centre) — light, liturgy, vigil

This is no accident: the saints stand above “water” and “light” as above two pillars of spirituality. And in the gigapixel view one can see how precisely the workshop could “orchestrate” the transitions in whites and blues.

How to view the gigapixel (a 60-second plan)

1. First the band of names — you establish the protagonists.
2. Then the band of virtues — you receive a “map of meaning”.
3. Next, the faces and hands — this is where the psychology resides.
4. Finally, the bases (fountains/candelabra) — because that is where rhythm and symbolism are concealed.

Frames for enlargements (12 “clicks” that demonstrate mastery)

1. Finials / rosettes — the rhythm of tracery and ornament
2. Ornamental canopies — Secessionist line and symmetry
3. Inscriptions with the saints’ names — typography as part of the image
4. Band of virtues (ESPERANCE / JUSTICE / SCIENCE / FORCE / PRUDENCE / FOI / CHARITE / TEMPERANCE)
5. Stephen’s face and hand — the expressiveness of the gesture
6. Lawrence’s upward gaze — modelling in schwarzlot
7. Martin and the beggar — the contact of figures and the drama of a warm gesture
8. Claude and the child — “tenderness in a cathedral” (a detail that breaks the distance)
9. Gilding and reds of the draperies — a “musical” breaking of colour fields
10. Lead as drawing — how the contour builds form (cloisonnism)
11. Candelabra (centre of the base) — gold and the geometry of the pedestal
12. Fountains (edges of the base) — the blues of water and the whiteness of light

Monographs (core bibliography)

• Tadeusz Adamowicz, Witraże fryburskie Józefa Mehoffera: monografia zespołu, Wrocław: Ossolineum, 1982.
  The most complete classic study in Polish: iconography, the genesis of the programme, analysis of style and context (from the perspective of Polish art history).
• Hortensia von Roda, Die Glasmalereien von Józef Mehoffer in der Kathedrale St. Nikolaus in Freiburg i. Üe., Bern: Gesellschaft für Schweizerische Kunstgeschichte (GSK), 1995 (series Beiträge zur Kunstgeschichte der Schweiz, no. 7; ISBN 3-7165-0969-8).
  “A window-by-window monograph”: documentation, attributions, a description of the programme and workshop practice; a foundation for research on the Swiss/German side.
• Gérard Bourgarel / Grzegorz Tomczak / Augustin Pasquier (ed./collab.), Józef Mehoffer: de Cracovie à Fribourg, ce flamboyant art nouveau polonais, Fribourg: Pro Fribourg 106/107, 1995 (collective volume; approx. 120 pp.).
  The most important volume in the “Francophone” corpus: local reception, Fribourg contexts, workshop threads (incl. Kirsch & Fleckner), interpretative essays.
• Tadeusz Stryjeński, Vitraux de Joseph Mehoffer à la Cathédrale de Fribourg, Kraków, 1929.
  An early historical treatment (valuable as testimony of its time and of the circulation of opinion).
• Hortensia von Roda, Les vitraux de Jozef von Mehoffer, Fribourg: Pro Fribourg (no. 67), 1985.
  An early synthetic publication (preceding the “full” monograph of 1995).