Interpreting the Becket Miracle Windows: Canterbury Cathedral

Fascinating online lecture from British Museum looking at what has been learned from bringing a window from Canterbury Cathedral to the current Becket exhibition at the museum.

Leonie Seliger from Canterbury Cathedral, Glass Department and Rachel Kopmans from York University Toronto and an expert on the miracle stories of Becket were a great double act dividing the talk between then as a dialogue. They outline the discoveries they had made by combing their expertise. A great piece of detective work!

They talked about how some of the miracle stories were shown in the window and how closer observation and a deep knowledge of the stories had enabled them to confirm which story was which. I loved their description of closely studying a figure being washed at Becket’s tomb and finding spots confirming it a the story of Ralph the Leper. I loved Leonie’s story of phoning Rachel to says “Hurray we have leprosy”!

There work has also confirmed that one panel in in fact in the wrong window and should be part of the window depicting events soon after Becket’s death as it shows the giving away of his clothes. They have even tracked down a missing mitre seen in a 1920s photograph which had been misplaced in another window during some conservation work.

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