God and the Tree of Knowledge ()

This panel forms the left half of a complete scene originally showing God the Father before the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, instructing Adam and Eve that they should not eat of the fruit of the tree (Genesis 2:16-17). It may have come from the cathedral of St. Pierre in Troyes, France. A nineteenth-century description of the stained glass from the cathedral notes scenes of the Creation in the east end of the church, and may have included this fragment. Later, these panels were removed during restoration work at the cathedral, but windows that remain share stylistic similarities, including treatment of the figure and foliage. It is also similar to another fragment from Troyes now at the Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. The recent restoration of this panel has revitalized the richness of the colored glass and the crispness of the painted details on the robes and face of God, as well as the floral designs. The majority of the cames (strips of lead that connect the pieces of glass) may be original to the creation of the window, a very rare circumstance.