The Patron Saint of Stained Glass
Jakob Griesinger, better known as Blessed James of Ulm, is the patron saint of glass painters and stained glass workers.
He was born in Germany in 1407, died in Bologna (Italy) on the 11th October 1491 and was beatified in 1825 by Pope Leo XII
In 1432 he became a mercenary in the Neapolitan army and later worked as a lawyer’s secretary.
While passing through Bologna in 1441 he stopped to pray at the tomb of St. Dominic. It was here that he found his true vocation and he later became a lay brother with the Domincan monks in Bologna. He would have been living in the same monastery with the renowned Savonarola.
Jakob Griesinger spent most of the next 50 years immersing himself in the art of stained glass. Unfortunately, most of his work as been lost but some can still be seen in the Cathedral of San Petronio in Bologna.
