This [I 006&I007 / window] is particularly interesting. It includes detailed scenes, some of which are very beautifully designed and touching, and it conveys the idea popular in medieval theology that Old Testament stories prefigured events which took place in the New Testament. The [P 007 / story of Noah] was believed to be the story of Christ. Noah was a saviour and the ark was the church; the way in which people would be saved. The flood was a baptism and the Last Judgement.
The colors used throughout are bright and the shapes so simple that it almost resembles a children's book illustration. Scenes of violence and crime lead to the picture of Noah and his sons building an ark. Above this are panels of the animals in pairs, both those from Europe and Asia, moving resolutely towards the center of the window where the Ark sits on stormy waves, designed like a floating church. Corrupt humanity is seen drowning, with the curves of the waves and the bodies forming a continuous floating pattern across the window. The dove is sent out and returns with an olive branch, telling Noah and his family that the water is beginning to recede, symbolizing peace. Noah then finds land and plants the first vine. The grapes are trodden and wine is made. In the final scene, Noah and his wife kneel beneath a rainbow to give praise to God who is surrounded by angels.
Coopers, carpenters and wheelwrights who donated the window are seen in the bottom panels busy with their trades. Incidentally, as the builder of the ark, Noah was the patron of the Carpenters' Guild.
