Visual Arts And Crafts Codexery

Stained glass

Coloured glass used in windows and decorative art.

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Stained glass is coloured glass used for decorative windows, with colour achieved by adding metal oxides to molten glass.[1][2] The term "stained glass" derives from the silver stain technique, introduced in the early 1300s, which produces yellow to orange colours.[3][4] Vitreous paint, fired onto the glass surface, is crucial for transforming plain colored glass into detailed images of people and events.[5]

Quick Facts

Field
Art and architectural craft
Known for
Coloured glass windows and decorative glasswork
Material
Glass coloured with metallic salts
Techniques
  • Pot metal glass
  • flashed glass
  • cylinder glass
  • crown glass
  • rolled glass

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

Additives like potash, soda, and lead lower the melting temperature, while lime makes the glass more stable.[6] Glass coloured throughout its thickness is called "pot metal" glass.[1][2] Flashed glass, a thin coloured coating fused to colourless glass, was especially used for reds in medieval times because gold compounds were expensive.[7] Sanguine, an iron-based fired paint producing red colours, was introduced around 1500 and mainly used for highlighting small areas.[8][9]

Cold paint, applied without firing, is not very durable and very little medieval cold paint has survived.[10] Achieving the melting point of silica demanded extremely high temperatures that were beyond the capabilities of some glass factories.[6] Metallic oxide powders are introduced into molten glass to impart color; for instance, copper oxides yield green or bluish-green hues, cobalt produces a deep blue, and gold creates wine red and violet tones.[6] The technique of silver stain, which generates colors from yellow to orange, was first used shortly after 1300 and is the origin of the word "stain" in the term "stained glass".[3]

What the cited sources add

The Boppard Conservation Project notes that glass paint is made from powdered glass mixed with iron or copper oxides, a flux, and a binder like gum arabic.[5] The same source explains that painted glass is fired in a kiln at around 650–680°C to permanently fix the paint.[5] Very few stained glass examples survive from before the 12th century, and the glazing scheme for the Abbey of St. Denis, dating to the 1140s, is one of the most influential early examples.[5] A historical and chemical study by Schalm et al. concluded that only pigment grains about 0.01 micrometers in diameter give the painting powder its red tint.[11]

According to the Boppard Conservation Project, silver stain chemically integrates into the glass itself, whereas paint merely fuses to the surface.[4] The chemical processes involved in silver staining are intricate and remain poorly understood, and the specific heating and cooling methods used during firing have a major impact on the resulting colors.[12] The Boppard Conservation Project notes that early glass inscriptions were typically made as white lettering scratched through a layer of black paint.[13][5]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Stained glass" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Facts about Glass – Creating Coloured Glass; Pot-metal glass", Boppard Conservation Project – Glasgow Museums (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. "Facts about Glass – Creating Coloured Glass; Pot-metal glass", Boppard Conservation Project – Glasgow Museums. facts only, no text reused. boppardconservationproject.wordpress.com
  3. Wikipedia, "Stained glass" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Steinhoff, "Ceramic Industry", Industrial Publications, Incorporated, 1973; "Chambers's encyclopaedia", Pergamon Press, 1967 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. "Facts about Glass: Silver Stain", Boppard Conservation Project – Glasgow Museums; Historic England, 290. facts only, no text reused. boppardconservationproject.wordpress.com
  5. "Facts about Glass: Early Glass Painting", Boppard Conservation Project – Glasgow Museums; Historic England, 287-288. facts only, no text reused. boppardconservationproject.wordpress.com
  6. Wikipedia, "Stained glass" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Stained Glass in Medieval Europe", Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, October 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Stained glass" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Investigations in Medieval Stained Glass: Materials, Methods, and Expressions, xvii, eds., Brigitte Kurmann-Schwarz, Elizabeth Pastan, 2019, BRILL, , 9789004395 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Stained glass" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: In fact Jean Cousin the Elder was only born in 1500, at the same time as the tehnique; claims that he was the first French painter in oils might be more valid. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Stained glass" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Facts about Glass: Sanguine and Carnation", Boppard Conservation Project – Glasgow Museums; Historic England, 288; Historic England, 290 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Stained glass" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Historic England, 290 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. "Facts about Glass: Sanguine and Carnation", Boppard Conservation Project – Glasgow Museums; Historic England, 288. facts only, no text reused. boppardconservationproject.wordpress.com
  12. Wikipedia, "Stained glass" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Facts about Glass: Silver Stain", Boppard Conservation Project – Glasgow Museums; Historic England, 290 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  13. "Examples of Writing in Stained Glass", Boppard Conservation Project – Glasgow Museums. facts only, no text reused. boppardconservationproject.wordpress.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Stained glass (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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