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Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Table of Contents Expand. Definition of Stained Glass. History of Stained Glass Windows.
How to Make Stained Glass. Gothic Window Shapes. Medieval Cathedrals. Medieval Meaning. Cistercian Stained Glass Grisailles. Gothic Revival and Beyond. Selected Sources. Kris Hirst K. Kris Hirst. Kris Hirst is an archaeologist with 30 years of field experience. Her work has appeared in scholarly publications such as Archaeology Online and Science.
Learn about our Editorial Process. Key Takeaways: Stained Glass Stained glass windows combine different colors of glass in a panel to make an image. The earliest examples of stained glass were done for the early Christian church in the 2nd—3rd centuries CE, although none of those survived. The art was inspired by Roman mosaics and illuminated manuscripts. The heyday of Medieval religious stained glass took place between the 12th and 17th centuries.
Abbot Suger, who lived in the 12th century and reveled in blue colors representing the "divine gloom," is considered the father of stained glass windows. The entire composition is then stabilized with an iron frame armature and mounted in the window. Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters.
Hayward, Jane. Raguin, Virginia Chieffo. New York: Abrams, Visiting The Met? Christ Presenting the Keys to Saint Peter. The enamels actually change the color of the light but are applied only to the surface of the glass and are fired on as enamels on copper. Often the glass is highly textured to the point of using a three-dimensional glass for the folds of drapery or wings of an angel.
The opalescent glass is that glass which is nearly opaque. It usually looks milky and is held together by lead or copper cames. Faceted windows are made from slabs of glass ranging anywhere from one-half inch to three or four inches in thickness.
The legend recounts shipwrecked sailors who set their cooking pots on blocks of natron soda from their cargo then built a fire under it on the beach. The resultant mass had cooled and hardened into glass. Today, though, it is thought that Pliny — though energetic in collecting material — was not very scientifically reliable. It is more likely that Egyptian or Mesopotamian potters accidentally discovered glass when firing their vessels.
The earliest known manmade glass is in the form of Egyptian beads from between and BC. Artisans made these beads by winding a thin string of molten glass around a removable clay core. This glass is opaque and very precious. A varied thickness adds to their nuances. Several pieces showed a right angle and traces of a grozer on the edge.
In the first century AD, the Romans glazed glass into windows. They cast glass slabs and employed blowing techniques to spin discs and made cylinder glass. The glass was irregular and not very transparent. One of the oldest known examples of multiple pieces of colored glass used in a window were unearthed at St. The oldest complete European windows found in situ are thought to be five relatively sophisticated figures in Augsburg Cathedral.
These five windows are no longer in their original setting. They have recently been moved into a museum and replaced with copies. These five windows show fired glass painting which utilizes line and tonal shading and they are made of bright, varied colors of glass.
Where are the children who are father to these men? Where are the earlier windows? Stained Glass. Authorities believe that Arabian glass windows appeared in the second half of the thirteenth century. Lewis F. Pieces of glass were either inserted into intricate pierced marble or stone, or glazed in plaster before the plaster had set hard.
Ribs of iron were often used to strengthen the plaster. Arabian filigree windows moved into Europe when the Moors entered Spain. As the fashion moved farther north into areas of more inclement weather, covering became more necessary. This covering usually came in the form of slices of alabaster. In Europe, plates of pierced lead replaced the plaster grillwork. The first of these had no glass in the decorative openings, but later small pieces of glass were attached using strings of lead.
Traces of cold paint on glass have been found in the mid-east indicating that windows probably stood up better than those windows in damper climates. In at Saint Vitale in Ravenna, Italy, the archaeologist Cecchelli dug up three glass fragments showing Christ with a cruciform nimbus standing between an alpha and omega painted with grisaille. The word grisaille applies equally to vitrifiable glass paint, as well as a style of lightly toned window that has been painted and stained in a decorative pattern.
It is assumed these fragments date from approximately AD, the time of the construction of the building. In at a dig in a cemetery abandoned about AD at Sery les Mezieres, Aisne, France, Jules Pilloy found about 30 pieces of glass which had suffered from an apparent fire, a lead strip with two channels and a small slab of bone among some charred wood.
The bone which might have been a holy relic pre-dated Charlemagne. Edmond Socard arranged the glass into a small, simple window. A cross patee, from which hung an alpha and omega, were painted and fired on it. This symbol was very popular from the sixth to ninth centuries. Unfortunately, this treasure was destroyed in during World War I. Fragments of a very early head of Christ were excavated in at Lorsch Abbey in Germany. The latter has more advanced glass painting with both trace line and wash.
Because of their size and their aspect — that is, with the heads forward like the icon called the Panto crater, as well as the lack of any fragments showing bodies — Catherine Brisac thinks these heads were displayed as icons in the middle of windows in which they would have been the only painted elements. Christian iconography developed from pagan illustrations found in the catacombs. A beardless Greek hero and son of a muse, Orpheus, was transformed into a youthful Christ the Good Shepherd.
From the fourth century forward, He had a beard. The pagan phoenix and peacock were used for resurrection symbols. Wall paintings gave way to mosaics of ceramic tiles, stones and glass bits. Moving from the catacombs, the earliest Christians worshiped in their homes; then, when they became politically secure enough, the Christians built churches. The first churches housed the relics of saints. Architecturally, they were based on the basilica, the Roman law court.
The cruciform floor plan developed from the Byzantine square floor plan with a dome added. European kings and bishops sent to Jerusalem and the east for holy relics. Their emissaries brought back small works of art such as cloisonne , damascene and carved ivory set with jewels and precious glass. Oriental and African craftsmen and glassmakers found their way to Europe as early as the third century. Its traditions do not extend back beyond the great times of Gothic architecture.
Romanesque architecture is more uniform than the stained glass that adorns it. The walls are thick and the window openings small with rounded tops. Because the glass was set in small openings, it had to let in considerable light.
Today Romanesque windows seem darker because of corrosion. Some figures in Romanesque stained glass stand or sit staring straight ahead. Some are involved in action as witnessed by their billowing garments. Some windows are made up of a series of events enclosed in medallions.
The earlier windows of this style are more simple, primitive and rare. They depict well-known saints or stories from the Bible. Reverence for the Virgin Mary is prevalent at this time and she is often depicted as a queen. The windows use stylized vegetal ornament and decorative beading around the scenes and figures. The predominant colors are red and blue. This style of stained glass seems to have developed from cloisonne enamels and miniature paintings. Few Romanesque windows remain.
Those that do remain are frequently found as illustrations in books; thus, they often seem familiar. Some examples of the Romanesque style are the Augsburg figures mentioned previously, c.
The medieval Church was the most important patron of the arts. Having made that statement, the name of the single person who most personifies this concept must immediately follow: Abbot Suger of Saint Denis, the royal abbey located just outside Paris. His writings show him to have been a shrewd businessman, a politician with a genius for detail, and a devoted servant to his king. Suger reformed and rebuilt the abbey and augmented its wealth.
As its treasures increased, many pilgrims told stories of it and its influence spread. Suger was guided by a philosophy including the mysticism of light; this philosophy compelled him to enlarge the windows and beautify them with colored glass. Window subject treatment grew during the Gothic period, expanding from simple figures to a complex iconography fully understood by only a few experts today. Today, scholars study these windows to learn about the daily life of the time.
Guilds of workmen donated windows that included likenesses of themselves engaged in their businesses. The appearance of heraldry in the windows demonstrates the increasing importance of secular families. This time saw the formation of new religious orders that needed new buildings. Many cathedrals and churches were built. The relationship between Saint Denis and Chartres is well established through a similarity of style and iconography.
Stained glass historians today re-trace the work of traveling studios. A Jesse Tree window was soon after installed in Chartres. As the studios traveled from job site to job site, they took sketches and models along with their tools. The windows in Laon Cathedral show the influence of the Ingebourg Psalter. Although the cathedral is a contemporary of Chartres, the windows of Bourges are more archaic. The Gothic style was also developing outside France.
The stained glass in the cathedral of Lausanne, Switzerland shows a marked French influence. Stained glass craftsmen from France are known to have worked at Canterbury in England, as did the French architect, William of Sens. French influence can be seen in Spanish stained glass of this time, especially in Aragon, Toledo and Castille. The windows in Leon Cathedral are significant although greatly restored. In Germany, the Romanesque style endured longer than in other areas.
The international Gothic style came late to Vienna and Prague. The earliest remaining glass in Italy, in Assisi, is the work of German glaziers. The window is a circle with a metal grid structure, rather than stone mullions, dividing it into petals. By the end of the medieval period, the second quarter of the fourteenth century , perspective and volume were becoming evident.
Subject was more pictorial and not subservient to the architecture. Renaissance stained glass is very different from that of the previous period. The themes are still principally biblical. Because subjects in renaissance stained glass are shown dressed in period clothing, a knowledge of the history of costume helps date windows.
Allegorical themes are even more elaborate than medieval iconography. Figures represent abstract ideas. There are secular scenes in church windows. Stained glass was used in secular buildings during the renaissance period.
Historic scenes or heraldry were placed in town halls and small panels usually silver stain and paint on white glass were incorporated into clear glass windows in homes. The labors of the seasons are a favorite theme during this period. In large church windows, the scenes extended over the whole, ignoring the mullions.
Buildings portrayed in the windows are solid, in classical style, shown with correct perspective. Some action takes place far back from the picture plane with vistas in the distance. Faces have individuality and show emotion. The way stained glass craftsmen worked also changed. Artists drew cartoons on paper and were able to carry those cartoons to different clients. Sample books of patterns were also transported. Workshops stayed in one place through several generations, often attached to a cathedral that constituted their major employer.
Finished windows were shipped to secondary customers at a distance. Studios joined together in corporations or guilds. Silver stain, flashed glass abraded rather than acid etched, and colored enamels were widely used. The diamond cutter was used, making possible larger, more complicated pieces of glass.
Leads became thinner and less important to the design. In the fifteenth century, the city of Bruges, Belgium had 80 stained glass operations. The glass painting style of this area shows the influence of woodcuts. Although Gothic stained glass came late to Italy, the Renaissance style flourished early.
Flemish stained glass designs in the Renaissance are akin to the oil paintings of the Van Eycks; that is, they often show energetic forms and contrasting colors. A characteristic crisp fold in garments is evident in this period. The drapery used on all of the figures is white, set against colored backgrounds. Wouter Crabeth did windows in Gouda and then went to England to work. The cities of York and Norwich were very prosperous and have many parish churches with fine traditions of Renaissance stained glass.
Spain had no early tradition of stained glass because Moorish occupation limited Christian church building. The Renaissance is its golden age. Italian, Flemish and French glaziers established the craft after the Moors left. Two brothers, Arnao de Vergara and Arnao de Flandres who worked on the Seville Cathedral, are particularly noteworthy.
Experts agree that stained glass reached a low ebb sometime between the late medieval age and the nineteenth century. Why did stained glass fall from favor? The reasons were religious, political and aesthetic. The Church had been the principal patron of the arts. The new Protestants were hostile to elaborate art and decoration.
Even in the Roman Catholic countries, the Counter-Reformation called for simpler religious buildings. Their destruction saw an end to the glass workshops that centered in the area. By colored glass was very scarce.
This necessitated painting on white glass with enamels. The little decorative glass that was produced was mostly small heraldic panels for city halls and private homes.
Stained glass that had been so popular just a few years before was no longer in demand. The glass craftsmen were in great misery, pushing their barrows from place to place in search of work. The Puritan principles of the Commonwealth inspired English adherents to smash stained glass windows with vigor. Some fragments of early glass remain in traceries, as they were too high to easily reach. The cost of replacing stained glass with clear glass finally stopped the destruction.
Sometimes shattered pieces, left behind by the vandals, were reassembled into windows with no regard for subject. In Brittany, a congregation covered a window with dung and mud and whitewashed over to avoid spending money to replace it. In England, church buildings remained churches. This was not always the case in France, where, as a result of the French Revolution, they were often turned to secular uses.
For example, Strasbourg Cathedral became a Temple of Reason. Some became museums, but many became stables, arsenals or storerooms. Several factors turned fashion toward the classic style. Even before the French Revolution, the baroque style was associated with vapid royalty. Ancient Rome became a symbol for a republican, rather than a monarchical government. Europeans became excited by antiquities. During this period, some windows were made in Oxford. Abraham and Bernard van Linge painted in enamels.
William Peckett of York provided figures in enamels for the south transept of the York cathedral. Thus in the event of it being proved that it the art had been lost and that it had been rediscovered, people would not know what use to make of it. Glass making was the first industry set up in America in Jamestown, settled in The English were running out of wood to fuel their furnaces. The endless forests and sand in the New World dictated the choice. To reassure his English investors, Captain John Smith wrote that the glass-making venture was a success, but the operation was very short lived.
Bottles and window glass were the primary glass products of this venture. The sort of small house windows he made can be seen in Dutch paintings: a small round, square or oval panel set in a background of clear glass quarries. The subjects, often a family coat of arms, were applied with enamels and silver stain. In , Duyckingh took on Cornelius Jansen as an apprentice.
Duyckingh also made a window for the City Hall showing the coat of arms of New Amsterdam. He wrote complaining he had not been paid. Labadist missionaries arrived on a ship in on which Evert Duyckingh Jr. Their new church window was made by Evert Sr. In , the Duyckingh operation passed on to Jacob Melyer. In , Jan Smeedes set up glass works in lower Manhattan to make roundels. At first, the outer part of the roundel was in greater demand for glazing windows.
The center with the punty mark was cheaper. Churches in early America were simple meeting houses of wood or brick and white woodwork. Stained glass was out of fashion or economically impractical. Old Swedes Church in Philadelphia, when it opened, had no glass in the windows, only shutters. Small shutters inside the larger outside ones were used in cold weather. In the nineteenth century, William Gibson began the earliest known glass business in America around in New York City. Robert Bolton, elder of one of the most interesting families in American stained glass history, came from England when he inherited property in Savannah, Georgia.
After a time, the family returned to New York and built a home in Pelham. William was a talented artist and studied with Samuel F. They made some small stained glass windows for their home and followed them in with the first-known American-made figural window, the Nativity for Christ Church at Pelham, New York. After this job, William Bolton returned to England and opened a stained glass studio in Cambridge where he worked restoring the windows of Kings College. Another window by him was recently rediscovered at West Lynne in Norfolk, England.
When he went to Cambridge, William attended classes that were not available in America. While a student, he married, but his wife soon fell ill and died. This so upset him that he studied for holy orders and became an ordained clergyman. He married a second time and had several children. Meanwhile, his brother John continued to make stained glass in America long enough to do windows for the Church of the Holy Apostles in Manhattan.
While there, he made the decorative aisle windows. The chancel window in that church is by La Farge and is a memorial to members of the Bolton family. The story so excited her she arose from her bed and traveled from England to the United States to see the windows.
Upjohn contributed to the design that was probably produced by Thomas F. They were fabricated by Abner Stephenson. In the s several important studios were established that would survive and promote the industry. Despite these advances, the industry was still delicately balanced; it was growing slowly, which was a reflection of individual dedication and struggle.
The quality of materials was limited compared to what it would be only a few decades later; further, the window artistry was largely derivative of foreign trends in the trade and decorative furnishings industry. By the s, the economic prospects for the industry were improving. The wealthy built castles for themselves modeled on those described in the Gothic novels.
As early as the s, Horace Walpole collected medieval stained glass and employed one of the few stained glass craftsmen left in England, William Price, to restore it and install it in his fashionable Gothic mansion, Strawberry Hill. Many windows were sent to England from the continent.
A few enthusiasts kept their interest in medieval stained glass and assiduously collected pieces being discarded that would otherwise have been lost. Artists sought to recreate the lost technique of medieval stained glass windows.
John La Farge and Louis Comfort Tiffany were makers of stained glass during the Art Nouveau period, and created opalescent, confetti, drapery, and ridged glass. In the last thirty years, interest in stained glass windows has again been revived. Select fine art programs within colleges and universities teach the art of making stained glass and many individual artists have flourished. Stained glass making is also a very popular hobby.
Stained Glass: Some basic information on stained glass and stained glass windows is presented in this article. History of Stained Glass : Follow the history of stained glass from the accidental discovery of glass during ancient times to stained glass post World War II.
Brief History on Stained Glass Windows: Read about some of the earliest examples of stained glass windows in this brief history. Gothic Cathedrals: Characteristics of Gothic style stained glass windows are given, and several pictures of stained glass windows in Gothic cathedrals are featured.
Glass : This article explains how stained glass was made in ancient times and includes a section on stained glass windows. Window Glass : Read a brief synopsis on how to make window panes and stained glass windows. Sacred Stained Glass: Stained glass windows were more than just windows and art; they contained symbolic messages and illustrated the Bible for lay people who could not read.
Images in Light : View images of Gothic stained glass windows and listen to discussions of particular windows on this page from The Getty Museum. The Art of Stained Glass: A history of stained glass is included in this article about the stained glass windows of this university. Stained Glass History PDF : Explore the history of stained glass and learn about what the different colors symbolized in medieval times. Stained Glass in Short: Read a short explanation of how stained glass windows were made and how methods changed over time.
The Language of Stained Glass : Modern American glass studios are discussed, and the symbolism of colors used in stained glass windows.
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