a history of stained glass

7/29/2019 A History of Stained Glass

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A History of Stained Glass

Origins of Stained Glass

The origins of the first stained glass windows are lost in history. The technique

probably came from jewelry making, cloisonn and mosaics. Stained glass

windows as we know them, seemed to arise when substantial church building

began. By the 10th century, depictions of Christ and biblical scenes were

found in French and German churches and decorative designs found in

England.

What is stained glass?

Glass is most like a super-cooled liquid. It captures light and glows from within.

As a material stained glass is glass that has been coloured by adding metallic salts during itsmanufacture.These minerals within the glass capture specific portions from the spectrum of white

light allowing the human eye to see various colors. Gold produces stunning cranberry; cobalt makes

blues; silver creates shades of yellow and gold while copper makes greens and brick red.

The coloured glass is crafted into stained glass windows in which small pieces of glass are arranged

to form patterns or pictures, held together (traditionally) by strips of lead and supported by a rigid

frame. Painted details and yellow stain are often used to enhance the design. The term stained glass

is also applied to windows in which the colours have been painted onto the glass and then fused to

the glass in a kiln.

Stained glass, as an art and a craftt, requires the artistic skill to conceive an appropriate andworkable design, and the engineering skills to assemble the piece. A window must fit snugly into the

space for which it is made, must resist wind and rain, and also, especially in the larger windows,

must support its own weight. Many large windows have withstood the test of time and remained

substantially intact since the late Middle Ages. In Western Europe they constitute the major form of

pictorial art to have survived. In this context, the purpose of a stained glass window is not to allow

those within a building to see the world outside or even primarily to admit light but rather to control

it. For this reason stained glass windows have been described as 'illuminated wall decorations'.

Techniques

Techniques of stained glass window construction were recorded from about 1100 AD. Recordsdescribe methods little changed over 900 years: "if you want to assemble simple windows, first mark

out the dimensions of their length and breadth on a wooden board, then draw scroll work or

anything else that pleases you, and select colors that are to be put in. Cut the glass and fit the pieces

together with the grozing iron. Enclose them with lead cames and solder on both sides. Surround it

with a wooden frame strengthened with nails and set it up in the place where you wish."


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The Gothic period and stained Glass

In the Romanesque and Early Gothic period, from about 950 AD to 1240 AD, the untraceried

windows demanded large expanses of glass which of necessity were supported by robust iron

frames, such as may be seen at Chartres Cathedral and at the eastern end of Canterbury Cathedral.

The Gothic age produced the great cathedrals of Europe and brought a full flowering of stained glass

windows. Churches became taller and lighter, walls thinned and stained glass was used to fill the

increasingly larger openings in them.

As Gothic architecture developed into a more ornate form, windows grew larger, affording greater

illumination to the interiors, but were divided into sections by vertical shafts and tracery of stone.

The elaboration of form reached its height of complexity in the Flamboyant style in Europe and

windows grew still larger with the development of the Perpendicular style in England.

Integrated with the lofty verticals of Gothic cathedrals and parish churches, the glass designs

became more daring. The circular form, or rose window developed in France from relatively simple

windows with pierced openings through slabs of thin stone to wheel windows, as exemplified by

that in the West front of Chartres Cathedral, and ultimately to designs of enormous complexity, the

tracery being drafted from hundreds of different points, such as those at Sainte-Chapellee, Paris and

the "Bishop's Eye" at Lincoln Cathedral.


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Symbolism and spirituality in glass

Abbot Suger of the Abbey of St. Denis rebuilt his church in what is one of the first examples of the

Gothic style. He brought in craftsmen to make the glass and kept a journal of what was done. He

truly believed that the presence of beautiful objects would lift mens souls closer to God. This belief

in the spiritual symbolism of light as represented by stained glass and its ability to support worshipand glorify God made stained glass a very important element of the great cathedrals.

The design of a window usually incorporates narratives drawn from the Bible and may represent

saints or patrons, or use symbolic motifs, in particular

armorial.

Pictures in glass

Stained glass windows are often viewed astranslucent pictures. Gothic stained glass windows are

a complex mosaic of bits of coloured glass joined with

lead into an intricate pattern illustrating biblical

stories and saints lives. Viewed from the ground, they

appear not as a picture but as a network of black lines

and colored light. Medieval man experienced a

window more than he read it. It made the church that special, sacred dwelling place of an all

powerful God.

Illustration rather than realism

We see medieval craftsmen were more interested in illustrating and idea than creating natural or

realistic images. Rich, jewel colors played off milky, dull neutrals. Paint work was often crude and

unsophisticated: A dark brown enamel, called grisaille, was matted to the glass surface to delineate

features, not to control the transmission of light.

Painting the detail

Stained glass artists became glass painters as the form became closer and closer to panel painting.

Lead lines that were once accepted as a necessary and decorative element became structural evils tobe camouflaged by the design.

The Renaissance brought the art of stained glass into a 300 year period where windows were white

glass heavily painted. They lost all their previous glory and it seemed the original symbolism and

innate beauty of stained glass was forgotten.

The Stained Glass of Chartres

Everywhere vivid color splashes on to the floor from the superb stained glass windows in Chartres

Cathedral. The glass largely escaped harm during the religious wars of the sixteenth century; it is

said to constitute one of the most complete and beautiful collections of medieval stained-glass in


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the world, despite modernization in 1753, when some of it was removed. Of the original 186

stained-glass windows, 152 have survived.

Several of the windows were donated by royalty, such as the rose window at the north transept,

which was a gift from the French queen Blanche of Castile. The royal influence is shown in some of

the long rectangular lancet windows which display the royal symbols of the yellow fleurs-de-lis on ablue background and also yellow castles on a red background. Windows were also donated from

lords, locals, and trades people.

Their subjects including biblical stories, legends of the saints, the lives of heroes like Roland and

Charlemagne, and scenes of everyday medieval life. At the same time as Cathedral stained glass

celebrated Christianity, it also proclaimed money and status. Clearly, given the extent of its stained

glass, Chartres was a cathedral of great significance and wealth.

The cathedral has three large rose windows: one on the west front with a theme of The Last

Judgment; one on the north transept with a theme of the Glorification of the Virgin; and one on the

south transept with a theme of the Glorification of Christ.

The windows are particularly renowned for their vivid blue color, especially in a representation of

the Madonna and Childknown as the Blue Virgin Window. One of the most celebrated windows in

Chartres Cathedral, the beautiful Blue Virgin Window is a rare Romanesque survivor from about

1150. Known in French as Notre Dame de la Belle Verrire, "Our Lady of the Beautiful Window," it is

now part of an otherwise 13th-century window at the start of the south ambulatory aisle. The face

of the Virgin is unfortunately a modern replacement, but the rest is original and the whole is quite

beautiful.

The Virgin sits crowned and enthroned, robed in blue against a ruby background. Angels support her

throne and surround it on both sides, swinging censers and holding candlesticks. A dove descendsonto her head from above, its beak connected with her halo by three blue rays. The 13th-century

panels at the bottom of the window depict the Temptation of Christ (three panels) and the Wedding

at Cana (six panels).


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a history of stained glass

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