In the central panel, the Law Council meets within a room glazed with butzenscheiben (bulls’-eye window panes). One man sits in an elaborate chair in the center holding his staff of office and across from him another takes notes. Ten additional men, all dressed alike are seated, five to the right and five to the left. Two men appear at the front and gesture, the one on the right dressed in blue, the single point of color in the monochromatic rendering of the scene. At the sides of the panel, coats of arms appear in a variety of colors, six on each side. Council members’ names, most followed by the designation Richter (judge) appear above their arms. Directly above the council scene, is the devotional image of the Virgin and Child on a crescent moon flanked by angels. Below her is a coat of arms and an inscription naming the mayor. Below the council scene is a larger inscription framed by scrolls that presents another coat of arms and gives the date. All told, fourteen men are commemorated by their arms.

This lively scene of members of a law court, called a Gerichtsscheibe, is a characteristic type of Swiss society panel of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In a broad view of Swiss glazing history, Paul Boesch (Boesch, 1955) notes different types of Gerichtsscheiben found in both rectangular and circular form, including the law court in session, the law court in convivial setting, and personifications. Most common is the court in session, such as the rectangular panel of the Law Court of Niederbussnang, of 1591 (TG_91; artist Wolfgang Breny, Thurgau History Museum, Frauenfeld). Niederbussnang’s panel shows the plaintiffs before a table surrounded by members of the court; one member keeps notes of the proceedings. The bird’s eye-perspective of the room, looking down on the proceedings, is similar to that employed for the Walters’ Lottstetten panel. See also a panel dated 1597 of the Law Court of Tablat (a region east of the city of St. Gallen). Featuring eleven coats of arms, the Tablat scene shows two plaintiffs who have inspired a lively debate among five of the members while others either take notes or observe (Historisches Museum St. Gallen; Egli, 1927), pp. 41–45, no. 93, fig. 15).
The Lottstetten panel depicts the Virgin Mary on a crescent triumphing over the serpent of evil at the top, an image inspired by John’s vision (Revelation 12). This is a clear indication of the adherence of the town to Catholicism in the era of Reformation challenges. Directly below her is the name of Johann Martin Einberger, the mayor of the town. Lottstetten lies in the district of Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg in Germany on the border with Switzerland. To the west, south and east of the town lies the Rhine and Swiss territory. At this time in small towns in Switzerland and Germany, municipal service was not a life-long occupation. Members elected/appointed to limited terms also exercised other professions at the same time. Thus, the commemoration of a group of individuals serving their community at a specific time was important.

Cited in:
Hayward, Kummer-Rothenhäusler, & Raguin, 1987, p. 66.
Hayward, Kummer-Rothenhäusler, & Raguin, 1989, p. 311.