Although biographical information on Catherine Menu remains scarce, her surviving ecclesiastical glass situates her within the post-war renewal of sacred art in France, a movement that sought to reconcile liturgical tradition with the visual language of modernism. Menu appears to have been active from the 1970s through the 1990s, producing windows for parish churches in the Loir-et-Cher and surrounding departments.
The left hand side of the Zodiac window at Chartres Cathedral contains the twelve months of the year. The panels here depicting January to June, were donated by count Thibault VI on behalf of Thomas of Perche.
The left hand side of the Zodiac window at Chartres Cathedral contains the twelve months of the year. The panels here depicting July to December, were donated by count Thibault VI on behalf of Thomas of Perche.
This third sequence of sculpture on the choir screen, starting at the western end of the south ambulatory, is the work of Jehan Soulas from 1521-1535. Sculpted from the hard limestone from the Tonnerre quarry, this consist of scenes depicting the Nativity, Circumcision, and Epiphany.
The centre of Neufchâtel-en-Bray was almost completely demolished during heavy German bombing on June 7, 1940. Some 800 of the towns 1200 houses were destroyed. The church of Notre-Dame, dating from the twelfth century was severely damaged, and almost all of the stained glass windows from the 13th century shattered. These windows have now been recreated from drawings and descriptions that were made in the 1930s.
This early 13th century window depicts the story of Noah, was donated to the Cathedral of Chartres by the town's carpenters, wheelwrights, and coopers.
These 5 stained glass windows are part of a series of 10 windows on the life of Joan d'Arc. They are part of a commission by Jacque Galland and Esprit Gibelin for Orleans Cathedral in France.
The north portal of Bourges Cathedral is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The Tympanum dates from between 1160 and was part of the older church the the Gothic cathedral replaced. This portal suffered a lot of damage during the Wars of Religion in 1562.
Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 for the coherence of its plan, and the beauty of its three-tier interior elevation Notre-Dame d'Amiens, is the tallest completed Gothic church and largest cathedral in France. The Romanesque cathedral had been destroyed by fire in 1218, and Bishop Evrard de Fouilly employed Robert de Luzarches as the architect to build the new cathedral in the Gothic style to house the head of John the Baptist which had been bought back as a relic by Wallon de Sarton returning from Constantinople in 1206 after the 4th crusade.
