The south aisle of the nave at Saint-Ouen preserves one of the most varied yet coherent hagiographic ensembles in the church’s glazing programme. Although the windows today comprise mixtures of sixteenth-century fragments, nineteenth-century architectural refitting, and extensive twentieth-century restoration, they collectively articulate a single, sustained theme: the commemoration of exemplary saints whose lives, virtues, and martyrdoms offered models for Christian devotion.

This window narrates episodes from the apocryphal infancy cycle concerning St Anne and St Joachim, parents of the Virgin Mary. Executed in the early sixteenth century by a Rouen workshop, the glass combines dense architectural canopies with clear, compartmentalised scenes, allowing the viewer to follow the story across multiple lights.

This window (c1508) depicts key moments from the life and martyrdom of St Catherine of Alexandria, a learned noblewoman whose legend was widely celebrated in late-medieval Europe. The glazing, produced by a Rouen workshop in the early sixteenth century, follows the characteristic format of the Saint-Ouen cycles: tightly framed narrative scenes beneath elaborate Gothic canopies, enriched with vivid colour and detailed architectural settings.

Brass of Thomas Knightley (1516).

The first sequence of sculpture around the choir screen, starting at the western end of the south ambulatory, is the work of Jehan Soulas from 1519-1521. Sculpted from the hard limestone from the Tonnerre quarry, they consist of scenes from the Gospel of James, depicting the annunciation of the Virgin Mary to Joachim and St Anne, the birth of Mary, and the presentation of Mary in the temple.