Under a sky filled with angels, five shepherds kneel near Maria and the newborn baby Jesus. In the background, you can see the ruins of a Corinthian basilica. Near the bottom of the window, the patron saints of the Oude Kerk and the Nieuwe Kerk are depicted: Saint Nicolas and John the Baptist for the Oude Kerk and Maria and Saint Catherine for the Nieuwe Kerk. The window was gifted to the Oude Kerk by the city of Amsterdam in 1555.
Stained glass is a form of glass art. In the Middle Ages, the windows of churches were completely or partially stained glass which was held together in lead strips. As a result, light entered the church space in all kinds of sparkling colours. The Oude Kerk had a total of 33 stained-glass windows, most of them from the 15th and 16th centuries, four from the 17th century and one from the 18th century. The windows in the Lady Chapel are the oldest, albeit in altered and greatly restored form.
