Figure 17 : Reconstruction of a donor panel by John Harvey ( 1950s ). The majority of this panel is now in Thurbern ’ s Chantry , but the lower inscription is missing ( archives , 14 / 6 / 65 )
( 1474 – 85 and 1490 – 92 ). After contributing financially to the building of Thurbern ’ s Chantry in the 1470s , he became the chaplain of Fromond ’ s Chantry from 1492 to 1498 . Dogoode ’ s death in the winter of 1501 suggests the window was made partially in his commemoration . The window ’ s glaziers were Richard Twygge and Thomas Wodshawe of Malvern , who completed the north transept window of Great Malvern Priory only months before their work in Winchester .
Content . At the very top of the window is the Annunciation . The Angel Gabriel comes from the right , holding a scroll that reads ‘ Ave [ Maria ] gratia plena ’ ( Hail Mary , full of grace ). Mary holds the words of her response ‘ Ecce ancilla domini ’ ( Behold the Handmaiden of the Lord ). Below is a row of eight female saints , most of them holding identifying symbols . The main lights contain five elongated figures , who stand beneath canopies . From left to right , these are Mary Magdalene , St Helena , the Father of Pity ( God holding the body of Christ ), and St Anne instructing the Virgin Mary to read . The identity of the right-hand figure has long been disputed as the glass at her chest has been reassembled , meaning whatever she held in her left arm is now missing . The sword in her right hand provides a clue . St Catherine is one of a small number of female saints depicted with a sword , and she is often shown holding a book . In this case , Catherine looks down to what was probably once an open book in her hand , her face with a hint of a smile as she reads .
Dominated by female figures , this window is distinct from the others in chapel . Why would a school that had catered only to boys and celibate men have such a window ? This was possibly to emphasise devotion to the supreme female saint , the Virgin Mary , who is after all the college ’ s patron saint and represented six times in the fourteenth- century glass . It has also been suggested that this was an attempt to ‘ redress the balance ’, both of the all-male institution , and of the fourteenth-century stained glass in chapel in which only three female saints are represented . 8
Yet it must be remembered that the glass , moved and reassembled twice , has changed since its original arrangement , and evidence of its patronage has been lost over time . Fortunately , clues as to its earlier appearance survive in early photographs in the college ’ s archives ( such as fig . 17 ), and in a description
12 Medieval Glass at Winchester College