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The term stained glass can refer to the material of
colored glass or the craft of working with it. Throughout its
thousand-year history, the term "stained glass" has been applied
almost exclusively to the windows of churches, cathedrals, chapels,
and other significant buildings. Although traditionally made in flat
panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass
artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture.
Modern vernacular usage has often extended the term "stained glass" to
include domestic leadlight and objets d'art created from lead came and
copper foil glasswork such as exemplified in the famous lamps of Louis
Comfort Tiffany.
As a material stained glass is glass that has been colored by adding
metallic salts during its manufacture. The colored glass is crafted
into stained glass windows in which small pieces of glass are arranged
to form patterns or pictures, held together (traditionally) by strips
of lead and supported by a rigid frame. Painted details and yellow
stain are often used to enhance the design. The term stained glass is
also applied to windows in which the colors have been painted onto the
glass and then fused to the glass in a kiln.
Stained glass, as an art and a craft, requires the artistic skill to
conceive an appropriate and workable design, and the engineering
skills to assemble the piece. A window must fit snugly into the space
for which it is made, must resist wind and rain, and also, especially
in the larger windows, must support its own weight. Many large windows
have withstood the test of time and remained substantially intact
since the late Middle Ages. In Western Europe they constitute the
major form of pictorial art to have survived. In this context, the
purpose of a stained glass window is not to allow those within a
building to see the world outside or even primarily to admit light but
rather to control it. For this reason stained glass windows have been
described as 'illuminated wall decorations'.
The design of a window may be non-figurative or figurative; may
incorporate narratives drawn from the Bible, history, or literature;
may represent saints or patrons, or use symbolic motifs, in particular
armorial. Windows within a building may be thematic, for example:
within a church - episodes from the life of Christ; within a
parliament building - shields of the constituencies; within a college
hall - figures representing the arts and sciences; or within a home -
flora, fauna, or landscape |