Stained Glass - A History

No one really knows when stained glass was first invented because it happened before people really recorded history. However, some historians think that it was first used as an extravagance in the homes of affluent Romans in the first century AD. Stained glass was eventually acclaimed as an art form in the fourth century as Christians began to worship candidly and to build elaborate churches in which to observe their religion.

On the other hand, other historians demonstrate that there are remnants in pre-Christian ruins that suggest that pagans employed such glass in their rites. Although we will probably never really learn the start of this glass, it is fairly certain that the spread of Christianity is immediately connected with the spread of use of stained glass.

The Gothic Era commenced in the 12th Century and stained glass windows became an essential aspect in the design of cathedrals. It really all started with the novel style of the St. Denis Cathedral in France, where stained glass windows were employed to convey light into the church itself and into the minds of its worshipers. Unfortunately, most of the glass in the St. Denis Cathedral was destroyed during the French Revolution, but there are a few pieces left and even some complete windows on display in Europe.

Gothic style picture glass was composed of strong lines, but these increasingly went out of fashion as the Renaissance commenced. Throughout the Renaissance, artisans depicted greater detail and more subtle colouring in order to add to the realism. Windows became more like paintings on glass than architectural elements and some of the notable elements such as lead lines disappeared. Because of the difficulties in showing the great detail essential to the Renaissance era, the old style, which was true way of staining glass, almost died out.

Since this way of staining glass was used by and large by the Catholic Church, a great deal of the work was smashed during the reign of King Henry VIII after his split with the Pope. However, not only old stained glass windows were damaged, but many of the glass making works were sabotaged too. However, religious strife was not the only cause of the decline of this type of glass.

The fashion of the Baroque period was for more detailed murals, which meant the use of clear glass. Therefore, many of the remaining stained glass windows were permitted to fall into disrepair, and furthermore not many new stained glass windows were made. In the late 17th century, fashion returned to the Gothic style of architecture, which produced a renewed fascination in staining glass windows.

Artisans still tried to paint directly onto the glass at first, but later tried to imitate the old leaden frames of medieval days. However, since the original techniques had not been used for such a long time, they had become forgotten and the artisans of the time were unable to reconstruct the exact designs used in Gothic glass.

In the 19th century, La Farge and Tiffany created new variations of stained glass. La Farge was interested in window designs, while Tiffany went into new fields like the Tiffany lamp shade.

Nowadays, stained glass makers are not limited by religious doctrines, although much of the work they do involves restoration. Modern stained glass is also used as the centre pane in front doors, especially uPVC doors, by rich and poor equally in the West.