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Grisaille Panels

1270–80
On view at The Met Cloisters in Gallery 04
In stained-glass painting, the term grisaille refers to an ornamental nonfigurative design painted in black line on colorless glass. Grisaille windows developed after a prohibition on the use of colored glass was issued by the Cistercian Order in 1134. By the thirteenth century, limited amounts of colored glass were introduced into grisaille designs. Here, a latticework of blue glass overlays one of the most intricate and complex patterns found in grisaille windows of the period. The design of this window finds its closest parallels in Normandy in the 1270s.
The top and bottom panels and the red border are modern. The right sides of the four central panels have been expanded.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Grisaille Panels
  • Date: 1270–80
  • Geography: Made in probably Normandy, France
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: Pot-metal and colorless glass with vitreous paint
  • Dimensions: Overall installation: 11 ft. 6 in. × 28 1/2 in. (350.5 × 72.4 cm)
    .1: 20 7/8 × 28 1/2 × 3/8 in. (53 × 72.4 × 1 cm)
    .2: 25 in. × 28 1/2 in. × 3/8 in. (63.5 × 72.4 × 1 cm)
    .3: 24 5/8 × 28 1/2 × 3/8 in. (62.5 × 72.4 × 1 cm)
    .4: 20 13/16 × 28 1/2 × 3/8 in. (52.9 × 72.4 × 1 cm)
    Modern panel, top: 23 1/4 × 28 1/2 × 3/8 in. (59.1 × 72.4 × 1 cm)
    Modern panel, bottom: 21 1/2 × 28 5/8 × 3/8 in. (54.6 × 72.7 × 1 cm)
  • Classification: Glass-Stained
  • Credit Line: The Cloisters Collection, 2010
  • Object Number: 2010.253.1–.12
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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Grisaille Panel
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Grisaille Panel
1270–80
Grisaille Panel
ca. 1265
Grisaille Panel
ca. 1265
Grisaille Panel
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