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Bay 209 - The Life of St Nicholas
(All images © Dr Stuart Whatling)
A1 - Nicholas' elderly parents-to-be praying for a child B1 - The infant Nicholas observing the fast by refusing his mother's milk C1 - The young Nicholas at school D1 - Nicholas gives dowries for a poor man's three daughters A2 - The old man tries to thank Nicholas, who flees from him B2 - Nicholas arrives at the church early one morning C2 - Despite his youth, Nicholas is installed as Bishop of Myra (1/2) D2 - A sceptical crowd watching the young Bishop's installation (2/2) A3 - Nicholas celebrating Mass with his fellow Bishops B3 - A moneylender entrusts his treasure to a statue of St Nicholas (scene 1 of 3) C3 - Finding he has been robbed, the moneylender thrashes the statue (scene 2 of 3) D3 - Nicholas commands the robbers to return their loot (scene 3 of 3) A4 - A man commissions a gold cup for St Nicholas's shrine (scene 1 of 3) B4 - At sea, the son falls overboard with his father's gold cup (scene 2 of 3) C4 - The penitent parents continue to the shrine - where they find their son (scene 3 of 3) D4 - During a famine, three young clerics arrive at an inn (scene 1 of 3) A5 - During the nght, the innkeeper murders the three clerics (scene 2 of 3) B5 - St Nicholas revives the murdered clerics (scene 3 of 3) C5 - During another famine, Nicholas stops a passing grain ship (left panel of pair) D5 - During another famine, Nicholas stops a passing grain ship (right panel of pair) A6 - The captain gives Nicholas one tenth of his precious grain cargo B6 - The devil gives some pilgrims a bottle of oil for Nicholas' shrine C6 - The pilgrims throw the oil into the sea, where it burns furiously D6 - St Nicholas warning the pilgrims about the oil E - Geometric motif (Not photographed) F - Geometric motif (Not photographed) G - Unidentified bishop saint
Index to panels:
First Register:
A1 - Nicholas' elderly parents-to-be praying for a child
B1 - The infant Nicholas observing the fast
C1 - The young Nicholas at school
D1 - Nicholas gives dowries for a poor man's three daughters

Second Register:
A2 - The old man tries to thank Nicholas, who flees from him
B2 - Nicholas arrives at the church early one morning
C2 - Despite his youth, Nicholas is installed as Bishop of Myra (1/2)
D2 - A sceptical crowd watching the young Bishop's installation (2/2)

Third Register:
A3 - Nicholas celebrating Mass with his fellow Bishops
B3 - A moneylender entrusts his treasure to a statue of St Nicholas
C3 - Finding he has been robbed, the Jew thrashes the statue
D3 - Nicholas commands the robbers to return their loot

Fourth Register:
A4 - A man commissions a gold cup for St Nicholas's shrine
B4 - At sea, the son falls overboard with his father's gold cup
C4 - The parents continue to the shrine - where they find their son
D4 - During a famine, three young clerics arrive at an inn

Fifth Register:
A5 - That nght, the innkeeper murders the three clerics
B5 - St Nicholas revives the murdered clerics
C5 - During another famine, Nicholas stops a passing grain ship (1/2)
D5 - During another famine, Nicholas stops a passing grain ship (2/2)

Sixth Register:
A6 - The captain gives Nicholas one tenth of his precious grain cargo
B6 - The devil gives some pilgrims a bottle of oil for Nicholas' shrine
C6 - The pilgrims throw the oil into the sea, where it burns furiously
D6 - St Nicholas warning the pilgrims about the oil

Upper section:
G - Unidentified bishop saint

Overview:
Direction of reading follows a simple left to right, bottom to top pattern. Panels A1-A3 are a conventional telling of the saint's life from birth to his elevation to the episcopacy. The remaining panels are more distinctive - five groups of three panels, each telling one of the many legends associated with St Nicholas. The chronological sequence here becomes irrelevant - indeed events from the saint's lifetime (e.g. the grain ship and the three clerics stories) are positioned after a couple of posthumous miracles. It is a characteristics of some saints (St Martin of Tours is another good example) that their narratives become fragemented and episodic, with legends and miracles accreting over the years as hagiographers add more and more material. The episodic structure here is made even more obvious by the way that each of the five stories is told in three panels.

Although there are no reused cartoons in this window, the artist has used some very similar scenes carefully positioned to increase the visual interest. For example Panel D5 has St Nicolas reaching out to address some mariners approaching from the left (C5) - an arrangement which is then repeated in a different context in the two panels above (D6-C6).