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Stained Glass in Medieval Europe

• 
  Theodosius Arrives at Ephesus (Scene from the Legend of the Seven Sleepers), ca. 1200–1205
  French; From the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Rouen
  Pot-metal glass and vitreous paint; 25 x 28 1/4 in. (63.5 x 71.4 cm)
  The Cloisters Collection, 1980 (1980.263.4)
  
• 
  The Man of Sorrows and the Mater dolorosa, ca. 1480
  Strassburger Werkstattgemeinschaft (Lautenbach Master)
  German (Swabia); From the chapter house of Constance Cathedral
  Pot-metal glass and vitreous paint; (1998.215.1) 19 1/2 x 16 3/8 in. (49.5 x 41.6 cm); (1998.215.2) 19 5/8 x 16 3/8 in. (49.8 x 41.6 cm)
  The Cloisters Collection, 1998 (1998.215.1,2)
  
• 
  Christ Giving the Keys to Peter, ca. 1315
  German; Cologne
  Pot-metal glass and vitreous paint; Christ: 28 x 13 5/8 in. (71 x 34.5 cm), Peter: 27 3/4 x 13 1/8 in. (70.5 x 33.2 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1929 (29.55.1,2)
  
• 
  Playing at Quintain, ca. 1500
  French (Paris?)
  Colorless glass, silver stain, and vitreous paint; Diam. 8 in. (20.3 cm)
  The Cloisters Collection, 1980 (1980.223.6)
  
• 
  Scenes from the Passion of Saint Vincent of Saragossa and the History of His Relics, 1244–1247
  French; From the Church of St. Germain-des-Prés, Paris
  Pot-metal glass with vitreous paint; 147 x 43 1/2 in. (373.4 x 110.5 cm)
  Gift of George D. Pratt, 1924 (24.167a–k)
  
• 
  Stained-Glass Window, with Grisaille Decoration, ca. 1325
  French; From the abbey church of Saint-Ouen, Rouen, France
  Pot-metal and colorless glass, with silver stain and vitreous paint; 10 ft. 7 1/2 in. x 35 1/2 in. (323.9 x 90.2 cm)
  The Cloisters Collection, 1984 (1984.199.1–11 and 48.183.2)
  
• 
  The Adoration of the Magi, 1507
  Circle of the Strassburger Werkstattgemeinschaft
  German (Munich)
  Pot-metal and colorless glass, silver stain, and vitreous paint; 27 1/2 x 17 1/4 in. (69.9 x 43.8 cm)
  Inscribed (at the bottom): hans schwinli·vmünchen 1507
  The Cloisters Collection, 1996 (1996.262)
  
• 
  Adoration of the Magi (detail), ca. 1390
  Austrian; From the Schlosskapelle, Ebreichsdorf, Austria
  Pot-metal and colorless glass with silver stain and vitreous paint; Each lancet 11 ft. 8 in. x 12 1/8 in. (357.2 x 30.8 cm)
  The Cloisters Collection, 1986 (1986.285.1,2)
  
• 
  The Virgin Mary and Five Standing Saints above Predella Panels, 1440–1446
  German; From the Carmelite church at Boppard-am-Rhein
  Pot-metal glass, white glass, vitreous glass, silver stain; Each window 12 ft. 4 1/2 in. x 28 1/4 in. (337.2 x 71.8 cm)
  The Cloisters Collection, 1937 (37.52.1–6)
  
• 
  The Virgin of the Apocalypse, ca. 1480–1490
  Circle of the Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet (active 1470–90)
  German; Middle Rhineland
  Colorless glass, silver stain, and vitreous paint; 13 7/8 x 9 1/2 in. (35.2 x 24.1 cm)
  The Cloisters Collection, 1982 (1982.47.1)
  
• 
  Sorgheloos in Poverty, 1510–1520
  Netherlandish
  Colorless glass with vitreous paint and silver stain; Diam. 9 in. (23 cm)
  The Cloisters Collection, 1999 (1999.243)
  
• 
  The Visitation, 1444
  Probably Strasbourg; From the Carmelite church at Boppard-am-Rhein
  Pot-metal glass; 43 7/8 x 29 1/4 x 3/8 in. (111.4 x 74.3 x 1 cm)
  Francis T. Leland Fund, 1913 (13.64.3ab)
  

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Stained-glass windows have been admired for their utility and beauty since ancient Rome, when pieces of colored glass were assembled into patterned window frames. In Europe, the art of stained glass reached its height between 1150 and 1500, when magnificent windows were created for great cathedrals.




Most of what is known about medieval stained-glass making comes from a twelfth-century German monk who called himself Theophilus. An artist and metalworker himself, Theophilus described in his text, On Diverse Arts, how he carefully studied glaziers and glass painters at work in order to provide detailed directions for creating windows of "inestimable beauty."

In Europe, the art of stained glass reached its height between 1150 and 1500, when magnificent windows were created for great cathedrals.

Related

Timelines (4)

• Central Europe (including Germany), 1000–1400 a.d.
• France, 1000–1400 a.d.
• Italian Peninsula, 1000–1400 a.d.
• Low Countries, 1400–1600 a.d.

Primary Thematic Essays (3)

• Gothic Art
• Medieval European Sculpture for Buildings
• The Age of Saint Louis (1226-1270 A.D.)

Other Thematic Essays (17)

• Alice Cordelia Morse (1863–1961)
• Ceramics in the French Renaissance
• Classical Antiquity in the Middle Ages
• Glass from Islamic Lands
• Images of Antiquity in Limoges Enamels in the French Renaissance
• Jews and the Arts in Medieval Europe
• Life of Jesus of Nazareth
• List of Rulers of Europe
• Monasticism in Western Medieval Europe
• Patronage at the Early Valois Courts (1328
• Patronage of Jean de Berry (1340
• Pilgrimage in Medieval Europe
• Roman Glass
• Roman Mosaic and Network Glass
• Stained, or Luster-Painted, Glass from Islamic Lands
• The Cult of the Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages
• The New York Dutch Room

Maps (2)

• Europe, 1000-1400 A.D.
• World, 1000-1400 A.D.

Index Terms (12)

Art Movement/Style

• Romanesque Medieval Art

Artist

• Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet (active 1470–90)
• Strassburger Werkstattgemeinschaft (German)

Geography/Place

• European Medieval Art

Material and Technique

• Glass from Europe
• Pot–metal
• Stained Glass

Object

• Church Architecture from Europe
• Window

Subject Matter/Theme

• Saint from Central Europe (including Germany)
• Christianity
• Christian Architecture

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The basic ingredients for making glass are sand and wood ash (potash). The mixture is melted into liquid which, when cooled, becomes glass. To color the glass, certain powdered metals are added to the mixture while the glass is still molten. Molten glass can be blown into a sausage shape, then slit on the side before being flattened into a sheet; it can also be spun with a pontil iron into a round sheet (crown). A window's pictorial image is created by arranging the different pieces of colored glass over the design drawn on a piece of board. If fine details such as shadows or outlines are required, the artist paints them on the glass with black paint.




To assemble the window, pieces of colored and painted glass are laid out on the design board, with the edges of each piece fitted into H-shaped strips of lead (cames). These cames are soldered to one another so that the panel is secure. When a panel is completed, putty is inserted between the glass and the lead cames for waterproofing. The entire composition is then stabilized with an iron frame (armature) and mounted in the window.



Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation Department of Medieval Art. "Stained Glass in Medieval Europe". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/glas/hd_glas.htm (October 2001) Further Reading Brown, Sarah, and David O'Connor Glass-Painters. London: British Museum Press, 1991. Hayward, Jane English and French Medieval Stained Glass in the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Harvey Miller Publishers and Metropolitan Museum of Art for American Corpus Vitrearum, Inc., 2003. Raguin, Virginia Chieffo Stained Glass: From Its Origins to the Present. New York: Abrams, 2003. Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions)

These related Museum Bulletin or Journal articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship. Carboni, Stefano, et al. "Ars Vitraria: Glass in The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 59, no. 1 (Summer, 2001). JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs "American Decorative Arts" PDF "Ancient Near Eastern Art" PDF "Arms and Armor" PDF "Asian Art" PDF "Director’s Note" PDF "Egyptian Art" PDF "European Sculpture and Decorative Arts" PDF "Greek and Roman Art" PDF "Introduction" PDF "Islamic Art" PDF "Medieval Art and the Cloisters" PDF "Modern Art" PDF "Musical Instruments" PDF "Robert Lehman Collection" PDF "Technical Examinations and Conservation of Glass" PDF Lillich, Meredith P. "The Arms of Coucy in Thirteenth-Century Stained Glass." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vols. 19–20 (1984–85). JSTOR | PDF Papanicolaou, Linda Morey "Stained Glass from the Cathedral of Tours: The Impact of the Sainte-Chapelle in the 1240s." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 15 (1980). JSTOR | PDF Hayward, Jane, and Thomas Hoving "Stained-Glass Windows." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 30, no. 3 (December, 1971–January, 1972). JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs "Director’s Note" PDF "Painted Windows" PDF "Stained-Glass Windows: An Exhibition of Glass in the Metropolitan Museum’s Collection" PDF "Techniques of Stained Glass" PDF Hayward, Jane "Medieval Stained Glass from St. Leonhard in Lavanttal at the Cloisters." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 28, no. 6 (February, 1970). JSTOR | PDF Hayward, Jane "Stained-Glass Windows from the Carmelite Church at Boppard-am Rhein: A Recontruction of the Glazing Program of the North Nave." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 2 (1969). JSTOR | PDF