Cathedral Gothic Stained Glass Windows

Stained glass windows were a prominent feature of towering gothic churches.

Cathedral gothic stained glass windows.

In their simplest form they typically depict birds and flowers in small panels often surrounded with machine made cathedral glass which despite what the name suggests is pale coloured and textured. Gothic cathedrals were transformed into a vision of heaven a place of retreat from the noise of the city. Stained glass is arguably one of the most important aspects of gothic cathedrals. The 167 stained glass windows of chartres cathedral built 1190 1220 ce are the most complete group surviving anywhere from the middle ages several windows date to the mid 12th century ce while over 150 survive from the early 13th century ce.

Architecturally the most foundational role of gothic stained glass windows was to admit enormous amounts of light into the cathedral. The gothic style in stained glass had first appeared in france in 1142 with the dedication of the stained glass windows in the ambulatory of the basilica of saint denis the earliest existing windows in the style in england are probably those at canterbury cathedral including the methuselah window in the choir clerestory the choir of canterbury was destroyed by a fire and was rebuilt by. Stained glass windows in saint denis cathedral paris france. The craft of stained glass colored by mineral oxides dated to late roman times but the introduction of large window spaces in the gothic era opened a whole new world of stained glass.

The oscar niemeyer designed cathedral s distinctive stained glass was created by artist marianne peretti in 1990. Some large homes have splendid. Stained glass windows in houses were particularly popular in the victorian era and many domestic examples survive. There are religious scenes to tell the faithful the key stories of the bible as well as countless depictions of saints kings queens nobles knights.

Greg christensen photographer s choice getty images plus medieval meaning. Stained glass windows are closely tied to the architectural developments of gothic cathedrals. The 22 000 square foot work features waves of blue green white and brown glass. Gothic was a style of architecture that developed in france around 1140 and spread throughout europe.

In this sense the glass functioned both as a practical means to illuminate the interior and in contrast to romanesque architecture which favored massive walls and small window openings to create an atmosphere of vast soaring spaces and thin curtainlike.