On the left, Christ stands in the river Jordan. Above him is the Dove of the Holy Spirit and above that God the Father appearing on a balcony in a celestial revelation. John, to the right, extends his hand over Christ to pour the water, He is shown “clothed in camel hair” represented by his brown tunic, over which, however, he wears a great red cloak. Two angels carrying Christ’s robes appear in the back of the scene. A dense crowd silhouetted against the landscape looks on from the right. At the sides. St. Renward is on the left and the Archangel Michael is on the right. An inscription panel supported by angels culminates the arch. Below, a coat of arms sits in the center of the dedicatory inscription flanked by angels. Fallenter’s love of variety in color finds its expression in the juxtaposition of the blues and greens of the landscape. Figures are in dramatic interaction, for example, the onlookers at the baptism who seem to be engaged in conversation. Drapery treatment evokes a density of fabric where folds coalesce into dense clusters as in the red cloaks worn by the Baptist and the Archangel Michael. Such pulsating compositions are augmented by twisting bodies, exemplified by St. Renward and St Michael.

The panel has been augmented with modern infill in the spandrels, producing a rectangular rather than arched format. The wings of both angels at the top date from this intervention. In addition, the Baptist's head and the right arm of the tunic are new. The lower inscription on the left is also replaced. In the same area, the figure of the angel is problematic. The lighter tonality and more superficial feel to the draftsmanship may very well mark an early replacement, or a stopgap used from another window in the series. Alternatively, the differences may be attributed to another painter’s hand within the Fallenter workshop.

The original composition of Rathausen’s cloister, with its sixty-seven panels illuminating its walks, must have created an extraordinary space of prayer and meditation. The Baptism of Christ combines theology and personal expression as well as dramatic landscape imagery. The donor, Renward Göldlin (1531–1600), built a highly distinguished career. He was canon of the collegiate church of Beromünster in the canton of Aargau, since 1551, entering the priesthood in 1556. In 1574, he was named a Protonotary Apostolic, an office normally associated with a college of prelates in the Roman Curia, but which can be conferred by the Pope as a special honor to a prelate outside of Rome. He became a member of the collegiate chapter of Basel in 1578, and Custos (superior) of this chapter in 1592. Due to the Protestant presence in Basel, the Basel chapter was then situated in Freiburg im Breisgau, where it remained until 1678 (Boesch, 1953b),pp. 91–96). A circular panel of 1578 shows St. Renward with the arms of Renward Göldli surrounded by a border depicting the Seven Sacraments (VAM_21; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2212-1855). His biographers characterized Göldlin as an effective agent for the Catholic Counterreformation in Switzerland.

The patron’s name saint, St. Renward, on the left, dressed in armor and holding a staff, is historically problematic. Göldlin’s book plate from the Dietenberer Bible in the collegiate library of Beromünster shows his patron with a halo inscribed S. RENWART REX PORTOCAL (Boesch, 1953b, p. 94, fig. 3). Further exploration of the saintly king of Portugal has not been fruitful. On the right is St. Michael, the champion of God’s heavenly host, who vigorously transfixes a spotted dragon. As explained in the Golden Legend, Michael can easily be seen as a perennial symbol of the vanquishing of those who set themselves against the wisdom of God (Ryan, 1993, vol. II, pp. 20, 201–211). Thus, a champion of the Counterreformation would see Michael defeating Satan as a metaphor for the struggle against the heresy of the Reformers. There is further testimony of Göldlin’s affection for the archangel, however, as he depicted him on a bookplate dated 1576 (Boesch, 1953b, p. 94, n. 8).

Cited in:
Garland sale, 1924, no. 338, illustration showing the window in its original casements
Hayward, 1989, pp.72–73.
Raguin, 2024, vol. 1, pp. 24–26, 165–70, 176–77.