Origins Coloured glass has been produced since ancient times. Both the
Egyptians and the
Romans excelled at the manufacture of small colored glass objects.
Phoenicia was important in glass manufacture with its chief centres
Sidon,
Tyre and
Antioch. The
British Museum holds two of the finest Roman glass pieces: the
Lycurgus Cup, which is a murky mustard color without light but glows purple-red when lit from behind and green when lit from the front, and the
cameo glass 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. Evidence of stained-glass windows in churches and monasteries in Britain can be found as early as the 7th century. The earliest known reference dates from 675 AD when
Benedict Biscop imported workmen from France to glaze the windows of the monastery of St Peter which he was building at
Monkwearmouth. Hundreds of pieces of coloured glass and lead, dating back to the late 7th century, have been discovered here and at
Jarrow. In the Middle East, the glass industry of Syria continued during the Islamic period with major centres of manufacture at
Raqqa,
Aleppo and
Damascus and the most important products being highly transparent colourless glass and gilded glass, rather than coloured glass. File:Alabastron Italy Louvre S2375.jpg|A
perfume flask from 100 BC to 200 AD File:Portland Vase BM Gem4036 n5.jpg|The
Portland Vase, a rare example of Roman flashed glass File:Orvieto083.jpg|An alabaster window in
Orvieto Cathedral, Italy
In West Asia The creation of stained glass in
West Asia began in ancient times. One of the region's earliest surviving formulations for the production of colored glass comes from the
Assyrian city of
Nineveh, dating to the 7th-century BC. The
Kitab al-Durra al-Maknuna, attributed to the 8th century
alchemist Jābir ibn Hayyān, discusses the production of colored glass in ancient Babylon and Egypt. The
Kitab al-Durra al-Maknuna also describes how to create colored glass and artificial gemstones made from high-quality stained glass. The tradition of stained glass manufacture has continued, with mosques, palaces, and public spaces being decorated with stained glass throughout the Islamic world. The stained glass of Islam is generally non-pictorial and of purely geometric design, but may contain both floral motifs and text. Stained glass creation flourished in Iran during the
Safavid dynasty (1501–1736 A.D.) and
Zand dynasty (1751–1794 A.D.). In Iran, stained glass
sash windows are called Orosi windows (also transliterated as Arasi or Orsi), and were once used for decoration, as well as controlling the incoming sunlight in the hot and semi-arid climate. File:Nasir-al molk -1.jpg|Extensive stained glasses of
Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque in
Shiraz, Iran, and the light passing through them File:Stained glass Photo From Sahand Ace..jpg|Stained glass at Dowlat Abad Garden in
Yazd, Iran File:Stained glass window in a mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem (12393551704).jpg|From a mosque in
Jerusalem, this window contains highly detailed text.
Medieval glass in Europe Stained glass, as an art form, reached its height in the
Middle Ages when it became a major pictorial form used to illustrate the narratives of the Bible to a largely illiterate populace. In the
Romanesque and Early
Gothic period, from about 950 to 1240, 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, affording greater illumination to the interiors, but were divided into sections by vertical shafts and tracery of stone. This 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 and
Rayonnant style in France. Integrated with the lofty verticals of Gothic cathedrals and parish churches, glass designs became more daring. The circular form, or
rose window, developed in France from relatively simple windows with openings pierced through slabs of thin stone to wheel windows, as exemplified by 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-Chapelle, Paris and the "Bishop's Eye" at
Lincoln Cathedral. While stained glass was widely manufactured,
Chartres was the greatest centre of stained glass manufacture, producing glass of unrivalled quality. File:Vitrail Chartres 210209 07.jpg|Detail of a 13th-century window from
Chartres Cathedral File:Musee-de-l-Oeuvre-Notre-Dame-Strasbourg-IMG 1465 crop.JPG|
Charlemagne from a Romanesque window in
Strasbourg Cathedral File:Poitiers, Cathédrale Saint-Pierre -PM 34985 lighter.JPG|The
Crucifixion window of
Poitiers Cathedral File:Vitrail Cathédrale d'Evreux 22 02 09 13.jpg|Late Gothic
Tree of Jesse window from
Evreux Cathedral File:Chartres RosetteSued 122 DSC08269.jpg|The south transept windows from Chartres Cathedral File:King David in Augsburg Cathedral light.JPG|
King David from
Augsburg Cathedral (early 12th century). One of the oldest examples in situ. File:Graz_Leechkirche_20061105_adjusted.JPG|
Crucifixion with Ss Catherine, George and Margaret, Leechkirche,
Graz, Austria File:Koeln-Hohe Domkirche St Peter und Maria-Zentrum des Chorobergadens mit Koenigsfenstern b.jpg|The windows of the choir of
Cologne Cathedral (early 14th century) File:Kapellenfenster Köln um 1340 KGM paste.JPG|
The Crucifixion and
Virgin and Child in Majesty, Cologne Cathedral (1340) File:Ulm-Muenster-BessererKapelle-SuedFenster adjusted.JPG|
Ulm Munster,
The Last Judgement by Hans Acker (1430) File:England YorkMinster JesseTree c1170.JPG|Detail of a
Tree of Jesse from
York Minster (c. 1170), the oldest stained-glass window in England File:Canterbury Cathedral 020 Poor Mans Bbible Window 01 adj.JPG|The
Poor Man's Bible window from
Canterbury Cathedral (13th century) File:Canterbury Cathedral window crop.JPG|South transept window at
Canterbury Cathedral (13th century) File:York York minster windows 003 crop.JPG|The west window of York Minster (1338–39) File:Fairford st mary 011.jpg|
The Last Judgement, St Mary's Church,
Fairford, Barnard Flower (1500–17)
Renaissance, Reformation and Classical windows Probably the earliest scheme of stained-glass windows that was created during the
Renaissance was that for Florence Cathedral, devised by
Lorenzo Ghiberti. In Europe, stained glass continued to be produced; the style evolved from the Gothic to the Classical, which is well represented in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, despite the rise of
Protestantism. In France, much glass of this period was produced at the
Limoges factory, and in Italy at
Murano, where stained glass and faceted
lead crystal are often coupled together in the same window. The French Revolution brought about the neglect or destruction of many windows in France. Nonetheless, the country still holds the largest set of Renaissance stained glass in its churches, particularly in the regions of
Normandy and
Champagne where there were vivid ateliers in many cities until the early 17th century with the stained glass painter
Linard Gonthier being active in
Troyes until 1642. There are 1042 preserved 16th-century windows in the
Aube department alone. At the
Reformation in England, large numbers of medieval and Renaissance windows were smashed and replaced with plain glass. The
Dissolution of the Monasteries under
Henry VIII and the injunctions of
Thomas Cromwell against "abused images" (the object of veneration) resulted in the loss of thousands of windows. Few remain undamaged; of these the windows in the private chapel at
Hengrave Hall in Suffolk are among the finest. With the latter wave of destruction the traditional methods of working with stained glass died, and were not rediscovered in England until the early 19th century. See
Stained glass – British glass, 1811–1918 for more details. In the Netherlands a rare scheme of glass has remained intact at
Grote Sint-Jan Church,
Gouda. The windows, some of which are 18 metres (59 feet) high, date from 1555 to the early 1600s; the earliest is the work of
Dirck Crabeth and his brother
Wouter. Many of the original cartoons still exist. File:Paolo uccello, vetrata della resurrezione.jpg|
The Resurrection,
Paolo Uccello (1443–1445), one of a series in the dome of
Florence Cathedral designed by renowned Renaissance artists File:Giovanni di Domenico, The Angel of the Annunciation, 1498-1503, NGA 1472.jpg|
The Angel of the Annunciation, Giovanni di Domenico (1498–1503),
National Gallery of Art File:De-moles-vitrail.jpg|Renaissance stained glass,
Auch Cathedral, France, Arnaud de Moles (detail, 1507–1513) File:King's College Chapel, Cambridge - The Great East Window.jpg|East window of
King's College Chapel, Cambridge, Galyon Hone (1515–1531) File:Limours Saint-Pierre 738 adjusted.JPG|
The Passion of Christ: the Capture and Crucifixion, Saint-Pierre,
Limours, France (1520) File:Beauvais (60), église Saint-Étienne, baie n° 5 a.jpg|
Tree of Jesse window, Church of St-Étienne,
Beauvais, France, Engrand Le Prince (1522–1524) File:Stadtpfarrkirche Steyr - Renaissancefenster crop detail.JPG|The
Death and Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Church of SS Ägidius and Koloman,
Steyr, Austria (1523) File:Chalons-en-Champagne (81-A) straight.JPG|Detail of
Adam and Eve from the Cathedral of St-Etienne,
Châlons-en-Champagne, France File:Paris ArtsDécoratifs Paulus 54.JPG|alt=Domestic window by Dirck Crabeth for the house of Adriaen Dircxzoon van Crimpen of Leiden. (1543) The windows show scenes from the lives of the Prophet Samuel and the Apostle Paul. Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.|Domestic window by
Dirck Crabeth for the house of Adriaen Dircxzoon van Crimpen of Leiden (1543). The windows show scenes from the lives of the Prophet
Samuel and the Apostle
Paul. Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. Examples of these more modern works of art are the Basílica Nuestra Señora de Lourde and the Templo Vótivo de Maipú, both located in Chile. File:Quito’s Basilica del Voto Nacional.jpg|Largest rose window in the
Basílica del Voto Nacional, located in
Quito, Ecuador File:Basílica Nuestra Señora de Lourdes.jpg|Large stained-glass window at the Basílica Nuestra Señora de Lourdes, located in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Revival in Great Britain and Ireland The Catholic revival in England, gaining force in the early 19th century with its renewed interest in the medieval 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. Among the earliest 19th-century English manufacturers and designers were
William Warrington and
John Hardman of Birmingham, whose nephew, John Hardman Powell, had a commercial eye and exhibited works at the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876, influencing stained glass in the United States of America. Other manufacturers included
William Wailes,
Ward and Hughes,
Clayton and Bell,
Heaton, Butler and Bayne and
Charles Eamer Kempe. A Scottish designer,
Daniel Cottier, opened firms in Australia and the US. File:St Andrews window 08 6 west John and Paul.jpg|Detail,
Apostles John and Paul,
Hardman of Birmingham (1861–1867), typical of Hardman in its elegant arrangement of figures and purity of colour.
St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney File:Lincoln Cathedral East window.jpg|One of England's largest windows, the east window of
Lincoln Cathedral,
Ward and Nixon (1855), is a formal arrangement of small narrative scenes in roundels File:Chilham StMarys EastWindow19thC.JPG|
William Wailes. This window has the bright pastel colour, wealth of inventive ornament, and stereotypical gestures of windows by this firm. St Mary's, Chilham File:Peterborough Cathedral glass 02 b.JPG|
Clayton and Bell. A narrative window with elegant forms and colour which is both brilliant and subtle in its combinations.
Peterborough Cathedral Revival in France In France there was a greater continuity of stained glass production than in England. In the early 19th century most stained glass was made of large panes that were extensively painted and fired, the designs often being copied directly from oil paintings by famous artists. In 1824 the
Sèvres porcelain factory began producing stained glass to supply the increasing demand. In France many churches and cathedrals suffered despoliation during the
French Revolution. During the 19th century a great number of churches were restored by
Viollet-le-Duc. Many of France's finest ancient windows were restored at that time. From 1839 onwards much stained glass was produced that very closely imitated medieval glass, both in the artwork and in the nature of the glass itself. The pioneers were Henri Gèrente and André Lusson. Other glass was designed in a more Classical manner, and characterised by the brilliant cerulean colour of the blue backgrounds (as against the purple-blue of the glass of Chartres) and the use of pink and mauve glass. File:Vitrail du 19ème siècle Reims 020208 03.jpg|Detail of a "Tree of Jesse" window in
Reims Cathedral designed in the 13th-century style by L. Steiheil and painted by Coffetier for Viollet-le-Duc (1861) File:Thouars église St Médard (10).JPG|
St Louis administering Justice by Lobin in the painterly style, Church of St Medard,
Thouars (19th century) File:Cassagnes vitrail 1.JPG|A brightly coloured window at
Cassagnes-Bégonhès, Aveyron File:Vitrail Saint-Urbain Troyes 110208 05.jpg|West window from
Saint-Urbain, Troyes ()
Revival in Germany, Austria and beyond During the mid- to late 19th century, many of Germany's ancient buildings were restored, and some, such as
Cologne Cathedral, were completed in the medieval style. There was a great demand for stained glass. The designs for many windows were based directly on the work of famous engravers such as
Albrecht Dürer. Original designs often imitate this style. Much 19th-century German glass has large sections of painted detail rather than outlines and details dependent on the lead. The Royal Bavarian Glass Painting Studio was founded by Ludwig I in 1827. The Scottish artist Douglas Strachan (1875–1950), influenced by Whall's example, developed the Arts & Crafts idiom in an expressionist manner, in which powerful imagery and meticulous technique are masterfully combined. In Ireland, a generation of young artists taught by Whall's pupil Alfred Child at Dublin's Metropolitan School of Art created a distinctive national school of stained glass: its leading representatives were Wilhelmina Geddes, Michael Healy and Harry Clarke.
Art Nouveau or
Belle Époque stained glass design flourished in France and Eastern Europe, where it can be identified by the use of curving, sinuous lines in the lead, and swirling motifs. In France it is seen in the work of Francis Chigot of Limoges. In Britain it appears in the refined and formal
leadlight designs of
Charles Rennie Mackintosh. File:David's Charge to Solomon, by Burne-Jones and Morris, Trinity Church, Boston, Massachusetts.JPG|''David's charge to Solomon'' shows the strongly linear design and use of flashed glass for which Burne-Jones' designs are famous. Trinity Church, Boston, US (1882) File:Kraków - Church of St. Francis - Stained glass 01.jpg|
God the Creator by
Stanisław Wyspiański, this window has no glass painting, but relies entirely on leadlines and skilful placement of colour and tone. Franciscan Church,
Kraków, Poland () File:Mucha window in St Vitus.JPG|Window by
Alfons Mucha,
Saint Vitus Cathedral Prague, has a montage of images, rather than a tightly organised visual structure, creating an Expressionistic effect. File:Aquarium de l'Ecole de Nancy 04 by Line1.jpg|Art Nouveau by Jacques Grüber, the glass harmonising with the curving architectural forms that surround it,
Musée de l'École de Nancy (1904).
Innovations in the United States J&R Lamb Studios, established in 1857 in New York City, was the first major decorative arts studio in the United States and for many years a major producer of ecclesiastical stained glass. Notable American practitioners include
John La Farge (1835–1910), who invented opalescent glass and for which he received a U.S. patent on 24 February 1880, and
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933), who received several patents for variations of the same opalescent process in November of the same year and he used the copper foil method as an alternative to lead in some windows, lamps and other decorations. Sanford Bray of Boston patented the use of copper foil in stained glass in 1886, However, a reaction against the aesthetics and technique of opalescent windows - led initially by architects such as Ralph Adams Cram - led to a rediscovery of traditional stained glass in the early 1900s. Charles J. Connick (1875–1945), who founded his Boston studio in 1913, was profoundly influenced by his study of medieval stained glass in Europe and by the Arts & Crafts philosophy of Englishman Christopher Whall. Connick created hundreds of windows throughout the US, including major glazing schemes at Princeton University Chapel (1927–29) and at Pittsburgh's Heinz Memorial Chapel (1937–38). Many famous works by late 19th- and early 20th-century painters, notably
Picasso, have been reproduced in gemmail. A major exponent of this technique is the German artist
Walter Womacka. Among the early well-known 20th-century artists who experimented with stained glass as an
abstract art form were
Theo van Doesburg and
Piet Mondrian. In the 1960s and 1970s, the
Expressionist painter
Marc Chagall produced designs for many stained-glass windows that are intensely coloured and crammed with symbolic details. Important 20th-century stained glass artists include
John Hayward,
Douglas Strachan,
Ervin Bossanyi,
Louis Davis,
Wilhelmina Geddes,
Karl Parsons,
John Piper,
Patrick Reyntiens,
Johannes Schreiter,
Brian Clarke,
Paul Woodroffe,
Jean René Bazaine at
Saint Séverin,
Sergio de Castro at Couvrechef- La Folie (
Caen),
Hamburg-Dulsberg and
Romont (Switzerland), and the Loire Studio of
Gabriel Loire at
Chartres. The west windows of England's
Manchester Cathedral, by
Tony Hollaway, are some of the most notable examples of symbolic work. In Germany, stained glass development continued with the inter-war work of
Johan Thorn Prikker and
Josef Albers, and the post-war achievements of
Georg Meistermann, Joachim Klos, Johannes Schreiter and Ludwig Schaffrath. This group of artists, who advanced the medium through the abandonment of figurative designs and painting on glass in favour of a mix of biomorphic and rigorously geometric abstraction, and the calligraphic non-functional use of leads, are described as having produced "the first authentic school of stained glass since the Middle Ages". The works of Ludwig Schaffrath demonstrate the late 20th-century trends in the use of stained glass for architectural purposes, filling entire walls with coloured and textured glass. In the 1970s young British stained-glass artists such as
Brian Clarke were influenced by the large scale and abstraction in German twentieth-century glass. Since 1924 the BSMGP has published an annual journal, The Journal of Stained Glass. It continues to be Britain's only organisation devoted exclusively to the art and craft of stained glass. From the outset, its chief objectives have been to promote and encourage high standards in stained glass painting and staining, to act as a locus for the exchange of information and ideas within the stained glass craft and to preserve the invaluable stained glass heritage of Britain. After the First World War, stained-glass window memorials were a popular choice among wealthier families. Examples can be found in churches across the UK. In the United States, there is a 100-year-old trade organization, The Stained Glass Association of America, whose purpose is to function as a publicly recognized organization to assure survival of the craft by offering guidelines, instruction and training to craftspersons. The SGAA also sees its role as defending and protecting its craft against regulations that might restrict its freedom as an architectural art form. The current president is Kathy Bernard. Today there are academic establishments that teach the traditional skills. One of these is Florida State University's Master Craftsman Program, which recently completed a high stained-glass windows, designed by Robert Bischoff, the program's director, and Jo Ann, his wife and installed to overlook
Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium. The
Roots of Knowledge installation at
Utah Valley University in
Orem, Utah is long and has been compared to those in several European cathedrals, including the
Cologne Cathedral in Germany,
Sainte-Chapelle in France, and
York Minster in England. There are also contemporary stained glass artists in the US who create stained-glass windows based on grids, rather than recognizable images. File:Theo van Doesburg - Composition with window with coloured glass III.JPG|
De Stijl abstraction by
Theo van Doesburg, Netherlands (1917) File:Tudeley church window.jpg|
Expressionist window by
Marc Chagall, at All Saints' Church,
Tudeley, Kent, UK File:Vitro_buckfast.jpg|
Christ of the Eucharist, slab glass designed by
Dom Charles Norris from
Buckfast Abbey, Devon, UK File:Sergio de Castro, vitrail de Jonas.jpg|
Abstract, detail of
Jonah window by Sergio de Castro for the Collegiate of
Romont, Switzerland File:Christinae kyrka tree of life01.jpg|
Postmodernist symbolism,
Tree of Life at Christinae Church,
Alingsås, Sweden File:Grossmünster - Innenansicht IMG 6434 ShiftN.jpg|Thin slices of
agate set into lead and glass by Sigmar Polke,
Grossmünster, Zürich, Switzerland (2009)
Combining ancient and modern traditions Meistratzheim StAndré 60.JPG|
Madonna and Child by
Joseph Ehrismann, late 1910s. (Église Saint-André,
Meistratzheim). Combines a traditional representation in a
mandorla with an
Art Nouveau style celestial background. File:Derby DRI stained glass window at St Peters squared.JPG|Mid-20th-century window showing a continuation of ancient and 19th-century methods applied to a modern historical subject.
Florence Nightingale window at St Peters, Derby, made for the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary File:Ins Kirchenfenster.jpg|Figurative design using the lead lines and minimal glass paint in the 13th-century manner combined with the texture of
Cathedral glass, Ins, Switzerland File:St Michael Paternoster Royal, College Hill, London EC4 - Window - geograph.org.uk - 1085224.jpg|
St Michael and the Devil at the church of St Michael Paternoster Row, by English artist John Hayward combines traditional methods with a distinctive use of shard-like sections of glass. File:Vitral Templo Maipu.JPG|The principal window of the Temple of Maipú, Chile, depicting the Virgin Mary and Christ Child, by
Adolfo Winternitz, showing the traditional use of blue as the predominant colour, emphasising an association with
Heaven. ==Buildings incorporating stained-glass windows==