St Cuthbert (634-87) is wearing full episcopal (bishop's) costume, as if about to celebrate mass. The borders of his chasuble are decorated with ‘gems’ made of fused glass, a costly technique which shows the importance of the saint. He raises his right hand in blessing, with a crozier in the crook of his arm. He is shown holding the head of St Oswald in his left hand. This is because St Oswald’s head was carried in the coffin of St Cuthbert when the monks fled Lindisfarne in the ninth century.
