The Virtues
The Virtues

Image credit: The Stained Glass Museum

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Three angelic virtues are labelled with the inscription 'Virtus Uranica' (heavenly virtues) and are shown wearing diadems, dalmatic clerical robes and albs with apparels. They hold open books, sceptres and curiously, urine flasks. The inclusion of the urine flask may be a pun on the word uranica or perhaps indicates the virtues' power to perform healing miracles. The scale of the panel suggests it may have been for a domestic setting. The panel would have been one of a series of nine, showing the different hierarchies of Christian angelic beings, according to the beliefs put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius in his sixth century book 'De Coelesti Hierarchia' (On the Celestial Hierarchy). The style of the panel suggests it is likely fifteenth century in date, and possibly English.

The Stained Glass Museum

Ely

Title

The Virtues

Date

1445–1490

Medium

stained glass

Measurements

H 18 x W 15 cm

Accession number

ELYGM:2015.7.2

Acquisition method

purchased from Bonhams, 2015

Work type

Stained glass

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Normally on display at

The Stained Glass Museum

South Triforium Ely Cathedral, Ely, Cambridgeshire CB7 4DL England

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