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Stained glass is a term that refers to both the material of coloured glass and to the art and craft of working with it.
As a material the term generally refers to glass that has either been painted and fired or colored by adding metallic salts during its manufacture and often both. The latter process is exemplified by, for example, the use of copper to produce green or blue glass or gold oxides to produce reds and oranges.
Stained glass, as an art and a craft, requires the artistic skill to conceive the design, and the engineering skills necessary to assemble the decorative piece, traditionally a window, so that it is capable of supporting its own weight and surviving the elements.
Manufacture
The process used in the 12th century has changed remarkably little even in modern times. The molten glass was annealed in a furnace to produce sheets of coloured glass. This so-called 'pot-metal' glass was sometimes rather dark and, to overcome this, 'flashed glass' was made by dipping a lump of white glass on a blowpipe into a pot of red glass and then blowing. This provided sheets of glas with the thin layer of colour. This could then be made bicoloured by grinding off some parts of the colour. The coloured glass was cut into different shapes with a 'grozing iron' and laid out on a table over the original design so that details of the drawing could be seen through it and painted with the oxide pigment on the surface. The pieces were then fired in a kiln.
The oxides permanently fused with the glass to produce the painting, this is the derivation of the term "stained glass". The pieces were then re-assembled with strips of shaped lead, the glass being slotted into the grooves on each side. The pieces were then soldered together, and an oily cement rubbed into the joints to make them watertight, and installed in a frame to create a window.
Copper foil is now sometimes used instead of lead. For further technical details, see Lead came and copper foil glasswork.
Modern coloured glasses are available in varied textures—smooth, wavy, rippled, hammered, pebbled, or very rough. Stained glass is sold by weight and by square foot in sheets, usually about 3' x 4'.
Although described as 'windows' the purpose of stained glass is not to allow those within a building to see out or even to primarily to admit light but rather to control it. As such stained glass windows have been described as 'illuminated wall decorations'. The glass provides visual clues to the purpose of the building and, in a church, tells the Christian story.
History
Origins
Coloured glass has been produced since ancient times. Both the Egyptians and the Romans excelled at the manufacture of small coloured glass objects. The British Museum holds two of the finest Roman pieces, the Lycurgis Cup, which is a murky mustard colour but glows purple-red to transmitted light, and the Portland vase which is midnight blue, with a carved white overlay.
In Early Christian churches of the 4th and 5th centuries there are many remaining windows which are filled with ornate patterns of thinly-sliced alabaster set into wooden frames, giving a stained-glass like effect. Similar effects were achieved with greater elaboration using coloured glass rather than stone by Muslim designers in Western Aisa.
Medieval glass
The art of making true stained glass reached its height in the Middle Ages. In the Romanesque and Early Gothic period, from about 950 CE to 1240 CE, 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. As Gothic architecture developed into a more ornate form, windows grew larger, afforded greater illumination to the interiors, but were divided into sections by vertical shafts and tracery. 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 St. Chapelle, Paris and the Bishop's Eye, Lincoln.
Destruction and continuation
At the Reformation, in England large numbers of these windows were smashed and replaced with plain glass. The dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII and the injunctions of Oliver Cromwell against 'abused images' (the object of veneration) resulted in the loss of thousands of windows. Few remain undamaged; of them the windows in the private chapel at Hengrave Hall in Suffolk are among the finest. With the latter wave of destruction the art of glass painting died and was not to be rediscovered in England until the nineteenth century.
In Europe, however, stained glass continued to be produced in the Classical style widely represented in Germany, despite the rise of Protestantism, in Belgium, in France, particularly at the Limoges factory, and at Murano in Italy where stained glass and facetted lead crystal are sometimes in evidence in the same window. Ultimately, in France the French Revolution brought about the neglect or destruction of many windows.
Revival
The Catholic revival in England, gaining force in the early 19th century, with its renewed interest in the mediaeval church brought a revival of church building in the Gothic style, claimed by John Ruskin to be "the true Catholic style". The architectural movement was led by Augustus Welby Pugin. Many new churches were planted in large towns and many old churches were restored. This brought about a great demand for the revival of the art of stained glass window making.
William Morris
Among the foremost designers were the Pre-Raphaelites, William Morris (1834-1898) and Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898). While Burne-Jones was best known as a painter, William Morris's studios created designs for architectural and interior decorating of many sorts including paintings, furniture, tiles and textiles. As part of Morris's enterprise, he set up his own glass works, producing glass to his own and Burne-Jones designs.
Hardman of Birmingham
Because of the technical requirements, stained glass making was generally on an industrial scale. Firms such as Hardmans of Birmingham and Clayton and Bell of London employed artists who were never known outside their particular trade but who filled English churches with their glass. Hardmans did much work for other designers. Initially Hardmans used A.W.N. Pugin for their design work, mostly on buildings which he had designed, but on his death in 1852, his nephew J. Hardman Powell (1828-1895) took over. A keen Catholic, Powell's work appealed to Anglo-Catholic tastes but he also had a commercial eye and exhibited his works at the Philadephia Exhibition of 1873. After that the firm did a good deal of work in the United States of America.
Gallery of 19th Century windows, all from Peterborough Cathedral, displaying four very different styles.
Clayton and Bell, and Kempe
Clayton and Bell's output was considerable and it was said that most English churches had one of their windows and many had nothing else. Among their designers was Charles Eamer Kempe (1837 - 1907) who set up his own workshop in 1869. His designs were lighter than that of his former employers: it was he who designed all the windows for the chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge. He is credited with having produced over 3,000 windows. His cousin Walter Tower took over the business - adding a Tower to the Wheatsheaf emblem used by Kempe - and which continued until 1934.
Ward and Hughes, William Wailes
Another important firm was Ward and Hughes which, though it had begun by following the Gothic style changed direction in the 1870s towards a style influenced by the Aesthetic Movement. The firm remained operational until the late 1920s. Yet another was William Wailes (1808-1881) whose firm produced the West window of Gloucester cathedral. Wailes himself was a business man, not a designer but used designers such as Joseph Baguley (1834-1915) who eventually set up his own firm.
Tiffany and La Farge
Notable American practitioners were John La Farge (1835-1910) and Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933). As to which of them invented the copper-foil alternative to lead is a matter of dispute, but Tiffany is universally credited with developing an opalescent coloured glass and with making extensive use of copper-foil in windows, lamps and other decorations.
Twentieth Century
Many of these firms failed in the twentieth century. Much of the work had become merely washed out and colourless; the Gothic movement had been superseded by newer styles. A revival occurred because of the desire to restore the thousands of church windows throughout Europe, destroyed as a result of bombing during the World War II. German artists led the way. Notable artists include Ervin Bossanyi, Ludwig Schaffrath, Johannes Shreiter and many others who transformed an ancient art form into a contemporary art form.
Thus while there is a deal of often mundane representational work, much of which is not made by its designers but industrially produced, there have been notable examples of symmbolic work of which the west windows of Manchester cathedral in England by Tony Hollaway are some of the finest.
Today there are a few academic establishments that teach the traditional skills. One of those establishments is Florida State University's Master Craftsman Program who recently completed the world's largest secular stained-glass windows installed in Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium. More info at Master Craftsman Program
See also
- Arts and crafts
- Art glass
- Beveled glass
- Favrile Iridescent Glass - Tiffany's technique to make stained glass art
- Cathedral glass
- Float glass
- G. Owen Bonawit
- Marc Chagall
- Glass mosaic
- Glassblowing
- Glass beadmaking
- Hot glass
- Stained glass windows
- Churches - Stained glass windows are often used in more traditional church architectures, especially in the nave, to depict saints and scenes from the Bible. This was important when the bulk of the population was illiterate. See also icon and Poor Man's Bible.
- Important examples of stained glass windows include Sainte-Chapelle, in Paris, France and Cathedral of Chartres, in Chartres, France
- Houses - Stained glass was particularly popular in the UK in the prosperous Victorian era and many domestic examples survive, typically depicting birds and flowers. Most of them rely on machine made patterned glass to refract the light rather than the more expensive hand-made glass used in church windows.
- Public houses - In Britain, traditional pubs make extensive use of stained glass and leaded lights to create a comfortable atmosphere and retain privacy.
- Churches - Stained glass windows are often used in more traditional church architectures, especially in the nave, to depict saints and scenes from the Bible. This was important when the bulk of the population was illiterate. See also icon and Poor Man's Bible.
- Stained glass lamp / Lampshades
- Sculpture
- Jim Gary - among the body of his work he created many sculptures of stained glass, most were life-sized fine art and his subjects ranged from human figures to fish, butterflies, and prehistoric insects of gigantic proportions. He also used stained glass in architectural sculptures and sculptures integrated into furniture commissions.
- Stained glass artists
- Venetian glass
External links
- Stained-Glass Windows
- The Stained Glass Museum (Ely, England)
- Preservation of stained glass
- Stained Glass Gallery
Architectural elements | Glass | Windows | Glass art
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"Stained glass"