Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery (one of a set of 12 scenes from The Life of Christ)

Jan Rombouts

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The common phrase “to cast the first stone” is derived from the story shown on this panel, in which Jesus defends a woman accused of adultery. Though artists often borrowed stained-glass compositions from paintings or prints, their techniques were unique to the material. The deep blue of Christ’s robe comes from costly cobalt mixed into molten glass. The fabric’s folds were painted on the blue glass, and then the piece was fired. This colored glass was then joined to pieces of clear glass with lead strips called cames, creating the window’s framework and dynamic composition.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art