Art History and Appreciation Rosses Community School Miss O’ Hart

Art History: Medieval Europe THE GOTHIC PERIOD Miss O’ Hart 2011-2012

STAINED GLASS

Stained glass windows were not a Gothic invention. They had been used before but with the great

Gothic cathedrals they evolved to become translucent coloured walls. Sunlight pouring through the

coloured glass filled the interiors with glorious mosaics of colour, creating the impression of a carpet

of transparent rubies, emerald and gold covering the floor and falling on the heads of the faithful.

The origins of stained glass technique are not fully known but it may have come from the East and

possibly developed from jewellery-making and mosaics. St Denis was the first to fully explore its

possibilities and Abbot Suger brought in craftsmen to do the work. He kept a journal, so we know

from what he wrote that he truly believed its beauty would lift men’s souls closer to God.

Technique-making a stained glass window

The same basic method for making stained glass windows has been in use since medieval times.

the leading to provide additional strength and support against wind pressure.

Step 6: The joints in the leading are soldered.

Stained Glass at Chartres

Step 1: The artist makes a coloured

design on a small scale. A full-size

drawing called a cartoon, which

emphasis the leading is made on

paper. In medieval times a

whitewashed board or table was

used for the cartoon. Pieces of glass

are cut to shape and laid on the

cartoon.

Step 2: Black or dark brown enamel

paint is used to paint details and

textures. The glass is then fired in a

muffle kiln to fix the paint.

Step 3: Leading in a variety of

cross0sections is very flexible

Step 4: The painted glass is laid

back on the cartoon and the leading

is fitted around it and cut into size.

Step 5: In larger windows, iron bars

are set in the frames and wired onto

Art History and Appreciation Rosses Community School Miss O’ Hart

Art History: Medieval Europe THE GOTHIC PERIOD Miss O’ Hart 2011-2012

Chartres Cathedral was designed to have the maximum amount of space for stained glass windows,

which would have been the single most expensive item in the cathedral. This suggests that the

chapter of Chartres was very wealthy. The glass in Chartres is full of stories of the saints. All the

popular, well-known stories of St Stephen, St James and many others are found in windows large

and small. Some are relatively easy to ‘read’ like those featuring Christ and Mary and others tell

detailed stories of popular, well-known saints. Each of these many saints have has an entire window

dedicated to them. The life of St Martin for example in which he shares his cloak with a freezing

beggar and dreams that Christ appears to him wearing the same cloak, is told in 33 panels.

Rose Windows

Chartres has three large circular windows known as rose windows because of their shape. They are

found over the entrance door on the western front and over the doorways on both transepts. The

northern rose is dedicated to the glorification of the Virgin and the southern glorifies Christ.

The South Rose window

The Blue Virgin Window

(Left) In the centre Christ sits enthroned surrounded by

angels together with the four evangelists and in the

outer circles by the 24 elders of the Apocalypse.

(Below) The North Rose window with the death of the

Virgin below, left.

Art History and Appreciation Rosses Community School Miss O’ Hart

Art History: Medieval Europe THE GOTHIC PERIOD Miss O’ Hart 2011-2012

The most famous window at Chartres is known as the Blue Virgin of Chartres is in four panels of blue

glass on a ground of ruby. This masterpiece of 12th century workmanship belonged to the former

cathedral before the fire in 1194. Similar to the imagery found in the sculpture of the period, she is

portrayed as a queen, with her lap forming a throne for her child; she is Queen of Heaven, with

angels all around and Queen of Earth with authority over demons. Great reverence was shown to

Mary in the art of the Gothic period, as the image of the Mother of God.

14th Century Stained Glass

Sainte-Chapelle

The church of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris was built by King Louis IX in 1246. For him Sainte Chapelle had

to be perfect. It was to house his most precious relic-a fragment of the crown of thorns worn by

Jesus during the crucifixion. It is a jewel of Rayonnant Gothic architecture and consists of two

churches, one above the other. The lower chapel is quite plan but the upper chapel holds very

special place among the monuments of Paris due to its beautiful stained glass windows.

The windows-colour and light

Structural supports on the exterior walls were reduced to a minimum to make way for a complete

wall of tall and narrow lancet windows. The effect is a wondrous atmosphere of fragile beauty and a

feeling of being enveloped in light and colour. Part of the reason for this is the blending of deep reds

and blues to form a purplish haze. This gives the windows a certain unity, but it does make the

individual scenes quite difficult to make out.

Art History and Appreciation Rosses Community School Miss O’ Hart

Art History: Medieval Europe THE GOTHIC PERIOD Miss O’ Hart 2011-2012

Although stained glass was not a

new art, it evolved during the gothic

era to a level of great sophistication.

The great new cathedrals filled with

the ‘heavenly’ light created by

stained glass windows undoubtedly

supported Abbot Sugers conception

of artistic beauty that would lift

men’s souls closer to God