Stained Glass windows in the Sint-Walburga Church in Oudenaarde: The Genesis Window
The Saint-Walburga church is the main church in the city-center of Oudenaarde, and contains a number of beautifull stained glass windows. i’ll be splitting them out over several pages, to keep it in normal-sized chunks.
The choir has a lot of stained glass that can be divided in five parts, two on the left side (side and front). a series in the center and two on the right (side and front). This is about the window on the right to the front.
The windows were planned and created by Gustave Ladon (1863-1942) from 1903 on in a neogothic style, but were destroyed at the end of world war I in 1918 and recreated between 1921-1939.
This window centers around the book of Genesis.
this is the full window:
the window is chronologically readable from bottom to top and left to right, so that is order in which we will look at the separate scenes
Adam and Eve eat from the forbidden fruit
the scene shows Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, Eve giving the apple from the forbidden tree to Adam, with the snake in the background. (Gen 3:1-7)
Bible Text
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Adam and Eve expulsed from the garden of Eden
The next scene shows God throwing Adam an Eve out of the garden of Eden. Cursing the snake. (Gen. 3:8-23)
A very interesting element in this window is that Mary appears in the scene. This is uncommon, but not so strange. The eating of the apple of the tree of knowledge is ‘the original sin’, Mary is the counterpoint of this. it contrasts Eve’s disobedience against Mary’s obedience, and also hints at Mary giving birth to Jesus who is offering humankind a path to salvation.
Bible Text
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”13 Then he Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,“Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”16 To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground,since from it you were taken;for dust you are and to dust you will return.”20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
Kain murdering Abel
next is Kain murdering his brotehr Abel, because of jealousy. (Gen. 4:8-12)
Bible text
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
Noah Building the arc
Here we see Noah holding the plans of the arc, that is being built (Gen.6:15-17)
Bible Text
15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[e] high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.
From Biblegateway NIV
The flooding of the earth
The last scene of the first row is the flooding of the earth, with Noah’s arc in the background (Gen 7:11-12). This a a less typical depiction, as usually the end of the flood is shown.
Bible Text
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
From Biblegateway NIV
The building of the tower of Babel
The first scene of the second row is the building of the tower of Babel (Gen 11:3-9)
Bible Text
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
From Biblegateway NIV
Abraham receiving three angels
The next scene is Abraham receiving three visitors (angels), where the angels tell him that Sara will give him a son by the next year even if they both are of old age, with Sara listening in in the back in the tent (Gen 18:1-12)
Bible text
The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord,[a] do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs[b] of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.“There, in the tent,” he said.10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
From Biblegateway NIV
Lot fleeing from Sodom and Gomorra
The next scene is Lot and his daughters and wife fleeing from Sodom, that is on fire, Lot’s wife is turning around to look back (Gen 19:23-26)
Bible Text
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
From Biblegateway NIV
Abraham offering Isaac
Next is the famous scene of Abraham offering, as instructed, his son Isaac, but being stopped at the last moment by an angel. instead a ram is being offered (visible on teh left) (Gen 22:9-13)
Bible Text
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
From Biblegateway NIV
Isaac blessing Jacob (in stead of Esau)
The next scens shows isaac blessing Jacob, after Jacob and Rebecca deceived him into thinking he is blessing Esau (the older son), who is just getting back from hunting (Gen 27:5-30)
Bible Text
5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”13 His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.18 He went to his father and said, “My father.” [….] 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. [….] 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.” 27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him […]30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.
From Biblegateway NIV
Jacob’s ladder
Next is the scene where Jacob has a dream and sees a ladder, hearing the promise from God that this will be his land (Gen 28: 11-15)
Bible Text
11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it[c] stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[d] 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
From Biblegateway NIV
Jacob fighting the angel
Next is the scene where Jacob wrestles with an Angel (Gen 32:24-28)
Bible Text
24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered.28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
From Biblegateway NIV
Joseph is sold to Egypt
in the next scene Joseph is sold to Egypt by his brothers (Gen 37:19-28)
Bible Text
19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
From Biblegateway NIV
Joseph before the pharaoh
Joseph is able to explain the dreams of the pharaoh and is put in charge of Pharaoh household (Gen 41:39-40)
Bible Text
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”
From Biblegateway NIV
Joseph reunited with his father
Joseph is finally reunited with his father (Gen 46:28-29)
Bible text
28 Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen, 29 Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time.
From Biblegateway NIV
Above these scenes there are five angels, 4 making music 1 holding papers (the music to play)
on top is a rose window with eight small circles with flower motives
In the central circle is an image of the holy trinity. There is the son (crucified on the cross), the cross is held by the father (with the papal tiara) with in between the symbol of the holy spirit: a dove. In the background is a rainbow, a bibical symbol for the covenant between God and Man (made after the flooding)
The choir of the church has also other stained glass, discussed on other pages, like the rosary window and the windows of the apostles and the old testament windows
All pictures taken by me and copyrighted, on 17 May 2025
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