The wealthy Katerina Lemmel entered the Maria Mai monastery in 1516--and rebuilt it. In Katerina's Windows, readers can observe how stained glass was donated and commissioned and witness spectators' reaction to it, ranging from critical aesthetic assessments to iconoclastic acts.

The book presents historical texts and interpretive analysis. Katerina Lemmel and those around her are given voice through translations of seventy-three sources, including personal and business letters, chronicle accounts, and legal documents, most of which have never been transcribed or published...