Annunciation - Bourges Cathedral

This stained glass window (baie no. 25), located in the Chapel of Jacques Cœur (also known as the Chapel of St. Ursin) on the north side of the ambulatory in Bourges Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Étienne), depicts the central Annunciation scene flanked by the patron saints of the donor: St. James the Greater (left, identifiable by his pilgrim's staff and red scallop shell) presenting Jacques Cœur's family, and St. Catherine of Alexandria (right, with her wheel and sword). Commissioned around 1448–1450 by Jacques Cœur—the wealthy royal financier (Grand Argentier) to King Charles VII—as an act of piety and atonement shortly before his fall from grace in 1451, the window exemplifies late Gothic stained glass artistry with its vibrant blues, reds, and golds, intricate grisaille detailing, and Flemish-influenced naturalism.