An Introduction to Stained Glass
The discovery of glass dates from over 4,000 years ago and was made in the Near East in Mesopotamia and Egypt, where it rapidly became a cheaper substitute for gems and was fashioned into beads and other jewellery.
By 1650 BC, glass vessels were being made, along with glass plaques to ornament royal palaces, seals, amulets and jewellery, as well as inlays for furniture.
The Romans have a central place in glass development. It wasn't until the second half of the first century BC that the technique of glass blowing developed, with widespread effect. Glass blowing also encouraged the use of glass in windows.
In the first century AD the Syrians introduced painted glass to northern Italy. Bright colours were painted on the outside of a vessel then fired in a furnace so the colours would fuse.
By the twelfth century in England, new cathedrals were filled with stained glass showing scenes from the lives of (or imaginary portraits of) Christ, the Virgin Mary, the prophets, martyrs and saints. Stained glass was practical for letting in light and the brilliance is all the more intense because of dark church interiors. It can be thought of as a decorative adornment to architecture but also as something in its own right.
"The qualifying of light coming into a building is fairly straightforward. What calls for a leap of imagination, is the idea of putting the figurative element of a fresco or painting into the very source of light. This is where the art of stained glass begins to separate itself from the mere craft of keeping the weather out..."
Patrick Reyntiens, "The Beauty of Stained Glass"
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