Detail from The Virgin Mary and Five Standing Saints above Predella Panels, 1440–46
German; Made in Middle Rhine Valley, Germany
Pot-metal glass, white glass, vitreous paint, silver stain; Each window 12 ft. 4 1/2 in. x 28 1/4 in. (337.2 x 71.8 cm)
Saint Barbara is shown holding a tower, her traditional attribute. The tower represents the place in which the saint was imprisoned in the legend of her martyrdom. Below her are the arms of the city of Maastricht. Saint Barbara is one of three virgin saints depicted in the six lancet windows from the Carmelite church at Boppard-am-Rhein installed at The Cloisters. The windows were originally arranged three over three to form a single unit on the north wall of the north nave of the church. The three lancets representing the virgin saints Dorothea, flanked by Catherine of Alexandria on the left and Barbara on the right, occupied the lower level in the original arrangement.