Brilliant blues and reds, yellows and greens, browns and whites… These are all colors that are commonly found in the beautiful, yet fragile masterpieces we call stained glass windows. As the light changes during the course of a day, the colors change as well; reds and yellows get more brilliant at noon, blues become brilliant as the light fades in the afternoon. All the while, the pictures tell important stories or symbolize truths. Light radiating through glass adds life, beauty, is transcendent, and spiritual connections become apparent.
Development first began in the Middle East, but making these windows is an art from the Christian Era, and they don’t reveal their true meaning at a quick first glance, simply because there is so much to them. This has not always been the chosen form of church art; Pharaohs sedated light in temples by using alabaster sheets, the Byzantines had mosaics, and the Romans invented translucent glass (although it was rare and costly). Though this art has been around for quite some time, a more complete understanding wasn’t gained until recent years.
It is believed that stained glass windows had their origin in the ancient times. Though not looked upon automatically as an art, the development of this concept was made possible in the 12th century by the Gothic style. Windows of this period have a lot in common with other windows; the intensity of colors (somber and brilliant colors combined), as well as the ornament and figure scenes being reduced to bare essentials. Pieces were put together like a puzzle and joined by lead strips, although most pieces were no larger than the palm of a hand (about ½ inch wide by 1-2 inches long) (Arnold, 1956). These windows were luminous colored walls that filled the empty space where murals and mosaics were before. A light philosophy (“God is light”) was expressed, and it was thought that light reflected on earth is the closest we can get to the divine (Gant, 1995). Using symbolic abstraction, the story being depicted was easily understood by even the most illiterate people, and used as teachings of their faith. For example, biblical events, pictures of saints and prophets, as well as symbols were used to spread a message to the society. These windows were usually 2- dimensional with emphasis put on glazing, and usually framed by a border, designed under the direction of clergy, and often used by them to teach gospel stories to the congregation population (Armitage, 1959). During the Middle Ages, this art form was often looked upon as a symbol of heaven.
During the Renaissance period, stained glass remained important in architecture, and the colors brilliant, but character and religious themes changed, and the windows eventually lost power. As far as the style for this period goes, color was distributed over the entire surface instead of inside frames of the window (Beyer, 1964). There are mainly three different periods (a shirt transitional period between them) with changing characteristics within the Renaissance period. They are the Early English (earliest examples to end of 13th century), Decorated (14th century), and Perpendicular (to the end of the 15th century) periods. During the Early English period, the windows were rich in color, had mosaic character, and the painting method as well as the ironwork was important and had influence on the design. During the Decorated period, the ironwork was simplified even more, natural plants were incorporated as ornaments within the painting, and a canopy of sorts developed. The Perpendicular period consisted of a thinner and more flat material used, a more advanced drawing style, and more use of the color white.
As the centuries progressed, more and more changes occurred in the development of these windows. For example, in the 15th century, a winder range of color tints were used, there was no conventional border, and the main interest was beauty (but quality was still important). In the 16th century, artists no longer tried to convey religious stories with piety and sincerity. During the 17th and 18th centuries, older techniques were obliterated, and stained glass became an independent form of art, and the windows became merely pictorial (Hill, 1976). It was during this time that the craft was at its lowest level of production. During the more recent times (19th and 20th centuries), many of the church windows have been re-vamped, with the construction of a window being done by several people, rather than just one as it was before. There is more interest and appreciation than in the previous times, and “boom periods” were experienced due to World Wars I and II (Armitage, 1959).
