I would like to learn more about the history and craft of stained glass. It would be my first entry into the visual arts, which I've neglected for my entire life.
Well, I've been reading up. As I've learned more, I've found that the church we attend has some beautiful pieces. There are some grand, exquisite works with painted glass and stained glass, but they're not my style right now. I'm more intrigued by the series of windows on the north wall. The best, in my opinion is the western-most window in that group (see picture above): the colors, the geometric patterns, etc. It clicks. The picture doesn't do it justice. I spent a large part of one Sunday morning just enjoying the light pouring through the window. The thing that is most enchanting about stained glass is that it is both an art and a functioning part of a building. To be successful, designers can't get carried away or over-indulgent with any one element because everything in the piece is a slave to the light. There are so many constraints, but the ultimate product can be otherworldly.
The other aspect that I most love about stained glass is that, due to the fact that it is functional, every piece is a living work of art. Glass breaks, buildings shift, things have to be replaced. It's tough to tell from a distance, but most aged windows have obvious patches (see close-up image below). I'm sure that bugs some people, but I love this part of the process, the restoration.
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3 comments:
I have been thinking along the same lines as well. The use of stained glass as a method by which to communicate to the illiterate in the middle ages is truly fascinating. I am always amazed, ridiculously-yes, that glass is an incredibly viscous liquid. The aesthetic, functionality and engineering that goes into a structure is simple, elegant and seemingly, to me anyway, pretty complex. And don't even get me started on the plumbing...
I recall something being said in my art history classes in college about World War II and the stained glass in the French churches and the English churches. They had to cover the stained glass with black paint or something... and after the war was over they had to clean the paint off the windows to restore them. And the English people figured out a chemical solution that stripped only the black off, retaining full color to the windows. But they wouldn't share their chemical secret with the French, so the French stripped the color off the windows accidentally too.
I have never had the time to prove whether this is true or not and would love to know. I find it hard to believe, because I've never seen photos of a French church that was missing the color on the stained glass windows.
Wendy
Stained glass is fairly easy to do. I took a 6 week continuing ed class in it at a local high school a few years ago and made some pretty cool things- nothing as elaborate as a church window or anything. You would like it... you know in all your free time. But it really is cool- you should look around for classes.
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