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Stained Glass Window Periods - Transition From Designs To
by Devina Venter
http://www.fmwindow.com

Humans have long known how to fashion colored glass. Do you
know that prehistoric people knew how to make glass and add
metallic salts and oxides to clear glass to add color? As
ordinary light passes through the altered glass, the added
minerals filter the light such that only certain portions
of the color spectrum shine through and the result is the
appearance to the human eye of a solid color. Metallic
gold added to glass produces a cranberry color, while cobalt
results in a blue color; adding silver creates gold or
yellow tones while adding copper makes brick red or green.

The first written record of the stained glass technique was
found during 1100 AD. These window patterns were mostly
elaborate designs, as found in grand European Gothic-style
cathedrals. Pictures, which supposedly were meant for man's
benefit only, were not created since this era felt designs
should honor the glory of God.

The 1400 AD to 1700 AD period began with the 15th Century
High Gothic period where stained glass windows art evolved
into pictures. During this early period, some artisans
preferred to paint the glass rather than use parts of glass
panels to create a scene. By 300 years later, painting on
clear glass became the norm rather than the exception. Many
noble homes and public buildings showed off finely painted
glass pictures. Unfortunately, by the 1700s, churches
started to remove their stained glass window art and this
art fell out of style.

This move away from stained glass window paints didn't last
long. When the Gothic Revival movement in the middle of the
1800s was all the rage in England, many stained glass
windows started to appear among England's architecture.
Then, when European immigrants took this art to America,
American churches and cathedrals soon were decorated with
intricate stained glass windows. Once the average
middle-class started to place stained glass in their
doorways and side panels in the 1920s and 1930s, this art
form was soon seen at home.

During the last 30 years, a large resurgence of interest in
stained glass windows has gained momentum. While stained
glass is more modernly referred to as art glass, this glass
is now commonly seen free-hanging as a piece of decorative
art in anyone's home. In response to this craze, Andersen
Corporation, a U.S. manufacturer of quality windows and
doors, started a line of art glass windows and patio doors
patterned after Frank Lloyd Wright designs.

The historic techniques for making stained glass windows
remain in use today. A few hundred dedicated artisans
make their living carefully restoring stained glass
windows in churches and public buildings.

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