Stained glass facts for kids

The north transept rose of Chartres Cathedral. It represents the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven, surrounded by Biblical kings and prophets. The window includes the arms of France and Castile

Stained glass is glass coloured by adding metallic salts when it is made. The coloured glass is made into stained glass windows. Small pieces of glass are arranged to form patterns or pictures. The glass is held together by strips of lead and supported by a rigid frame.

Painted details and yellow stain are often used to improve the design. The term stained glass is also applied to windows in which the colours have been painted onto the glass and then fused to the glass in a kiln.

Stained glass is much used in Christian art but other themes are not rare. It is still popular today, and often called art glass. It is often used in luxury homes and commercial buildings.

Some colours are added to stained glass by the salts of:

Copper: metal gives dark red glass
Gold: metal in tiny amounts (0.001%) produces ruby red glass
Silver, usually silver nitrate, gives range of red to yellow colours
Cobalt: brilliant blue
Manganese dioxide: green
Iron(II) oxide: blue-green
Chromium: dark green

De Stijl abstraction by Theo van Doesburg, Netherlands (1917): an example of modern art in glass
The Bald Eagle, Dryden High School, USA. Dynamic figures are unusual in stained glass

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The north rose window of the Chartres Cathedral (Chartres, France), donated by Blanche of Castile. It represents the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven, surrounded by Biblical kings and prophets. Below is St Anne, mother of the Virgin, with four righteous leaders. The window includes the arms of France and Castile
Outside-view of a stained glass of the Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk from Ostend (Belgium), built between 1899 and 1908
Renaissance roundel, inserted into a plain glass window, using only black or brown glass paint, and silver stain in a range of yellows and gold. The local bishop-saint Lambrecht of Maastricht stands in an extensive landscape, 1510–20. The diameter is 8+3⁄4 in (22 cm), and the piece was designed to be placed low, close to the viewer, very possibly not in a church.
Part of German panel of 1444 with the Visitation; pot metal of various colours, including white glass, black vitreous paint, yellow silver stain, and the "olive-green" parts are enamel. The plant patterns in the red sky are formed by scratching away black paint from the red glass before firing. A restored panel with new lead cames.
German glass, Nuremberg, after a drawing by Sebald Beham, c. 1525. Silver stain produces a range of yellows and gold, and painted on the reverse of the blue sky, gives the dark green of the cross.
Detail from a 13th-century window in the Basilica of Saint-Quentin depicting the creation of a stained glass window in Middle Ages
Swiss armourial glass of the Arms of Unterwalden, 1564, with typical painted details, extensive silver stain, Cousin's rose on the face, and flashed ruby glass with abraded white motif
13th-century window from Chartres showing extensive use of the ubiquitous cobalt blue with green and purple-brown glass, details of amber and borders of flashed red glass.
A 19th-century window illustrates the range of colours common in both Medieval and Gothic Revival glass, Lucien Begule, Lyon (1896)
A 16th-century window by Arnold of Nijmegen showing the combination of painted glass and intense colour common in Renaissance windows
A late 20th-century window showing a graded range of colours. Ronald Whiting, Chapel Studios. Tattershall Castle, UK
A window by Tiffany illustrating the development and use of multi-coloured flashed, opalised and streaky glasses at the end of the 19th century
A window in Nouveau art style illustrate the range of colours and contrasts, 1898-1899 by Józef Mehoffer, Fribourg Cathedral
Maquette by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, 19th-century English manufacturers
Exterior of a window at Sé Velha de Coimbra, Portugal, showing a modern steel armature
Thomas Becket window from Canterbury showing the pot metal and painted glass, lead H-sectioned cames, modern steel rods and copper wire attachments
Skilled glass cutting and leading in a 19th-century window at Meaux Cathedral, France
Detail from a 19th or 20th-century window in Eyneburg, Belgium, showing detailed polychrome painting of face.
A perfume flask from 100 BC to 200 AD
An alabaster window in Orvieto Cathedral, Italy
Extensive stained glasses of Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque in Shiraz, Iran and the light passing through them
Stained glass in Dowlat Abad Garden at Yazd, Iran
From a mosque in Jerusalem, this window contains highly detailed text.
Detail of a 13th-century window from Chartres Cathedral
Charlemagne from a Romanesque window in Strasbourg Cathedral
The Crucifixion window of Poitiers Cathedral
Late Gothic Tree of Jesse window from Evreux Cathedral
The South Transept windows from Chartres Cathedral
King David from Augsburg Cathedral, early 12th century. One of the oldest examples in situ.
Crucifixion with Ss Catherine, George and Margaret, Leechkirche, Graz, Austria
The Crucifixion and Virgin and Child in Majesty, Cologne Cathedral, (1340)
Ulm Munster, The Last Judgement by Hans Acker (1430)
The windows of the choir of Cologne Cathedral, (early 14th century)
Detail of a Tree of Jesse from York Minster (c. 1170), the oldest stained-glass window in England.
The Poor Man's Bible Window from Canterbury Cathedral
South Transept window at Canterbury Cathedral, 13th century
The west window of York Minster (1338–39)
The Last Judgement, St Mary's Church, Fairford, (1500–17) by Barnard Flower
Stained-glass windows in the Toledo Cathedral (14th to 17th century)
Detail, Apostles John and Paul, Hardman of Birmingham, 1861–67, typical of Hardman in its elegant arrangement of figures and purity of colour. St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
One of England's largest windows, the east window of Lincoln Cathedral, Ward and Nixon (1855), is a formal arrangement of small narrative scenes in roundels
William Wailes. This window has the bright pastel colour, wealth of inventive ornament, and stereotypical gestures of windows by this firm. St Mary's, Chilham
Clayton and Bell. A narrative window with elegant forms and colour which is both brilliant and subtle in its combinations. Peterborough Cathedral
South aisle east window of St. Mary Redcliffe Bristol by Clayton and Bell, 1861.
Detail of a "Tree of Jesse" window in Reims Cathedral designed in the 13th-century style by L. Steiheil and painted by Coffetier for Viollet-le-Duc, (1861)
St Louis administering Justice by Lobin in the painterly style. (19th century) Church of St Medard, Thouars.
A brilliantly-coloured window at Cassagnes-Bégonhès, Aveyron
West window from Saint-Urbain, Troyes, (about 1900)
One of five windows donated to Cologne Cathedral by Ludwig II
Ghent Cathedral, Belgium
A window in the Late Gothic style, St Maurice's Church, Olomouc, Czech Republic, early 20th century
David's charge to Solomon shows the strongly linear design and use of flashed glass for which Burne-Jones' designs are famous. Trinity Church, Boston, US, (1882)
God the Creator by Stanisław Wyspiański, this window has no glass painting, but relies entirely on leadlines and skilful placement of colour and tone. Franciscan Church, Kraków (c. 1900)
Window by Alfons Mucha, Saint Vitus Cathedral Prague, has a montage of images, rather than a tightly organised visual structure, creating an Expressionistic effect.
Art Nouveau by Jacques Grüber, the glass harmonising with the curving architectural forms that surround it, Musée de l'École de Nancy (1904).
Many of the distinctive types of glass invented by Tiffany are demonstrated within this single small panel including "fracture-streamer glass" and "drapery glass".
John La Farge, The Angel of Help, North Easton, MA shows the use of tiny panes contrasting with large areas of opalescent glass. Window restored by Victor Rothman Stained Glass, Yonkers NY
Religion Enthroned, J&R Lamb Studios, designer Frederick Stymetz Lamb, c. 1900. Brooklyn Museum. Symmetrical design, "Aesthetic Style", a limited palette and extensive use of mottled glass.
The Holy City by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1905). This 58-panel window has brilliant red, orange, and yellow etched glass for the sunrise, with textured glass used to create the effect of moving water.
A trompe l'oeil glass c. 1884, Eugène Stanislas Oudinot, design Richard Morris Hunt, for home of Henry Gurdon Marquand, New York City.
Expressionist window by Marc Chagall, at All Saints' Church, Tudeley, Kent, UK
Christ of the Eucharist designed by Dom Charles Norris from Buckfast Abbey, Devon, England, slab glass.
One of four 64-metre (210 ft)-high stained glass panels, Rio de Janeiro Cathedral, Brazil
Sergio de Castro, detail of Jonah window for the Collegiate of Romont Switzerland.
Postmodernist symbolism, Tree of Life at Christinae church, Alingsås, Sweden.
The abstract stained glass ceiling of the Victoria Quarter, Leeds (1990) by Brian Clarke, which spans the 400 foot length of the street to form a covered arcade
Thin slices of agate set into lead and glass, Grossmünster, Zürich, Switzerland, by Sigmar Polke (2009)
Madonna and Child by Joseph Ehrismann, late 1910s. (Église Saint-André, Meistratzheim). Combines a traditional representation in a mandorla with an Art Nouveau style celestial background.
Mid-20th-century window showing a continuation of ancient and 19th-century methods applied to a modern historical subject. Florence Nightingale window at St Peters, Derby, made for the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary
Figurative design using the lead lines and minimal glass paint in the 13th-century manner combined with the texture of Cathedral glass, Ins, Switzerland
St Michael and the Devil at the church of St Michael Paternoster Row, by English artist John Hayward combines traditional methods with a distinctive use of shard-like sections of glass.
The dazzling display of medieval glass at Sainte-Chapelle, Paris
Sunlight shining through stained glass onto coloured carpet of Nasir ol Molk Mosque
The stained glass windows and dome flanking the Torah ark of the Holocaust Memorial Synagogue, Darmstadt, designed by artist Brian Clarke
Interior of the Blue Mosque, Istanbul.
Stained glass windows in the Mosque of Srinagar, Kashmir
St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney has a cycle of 19th-century windows by Hardman of Birmingham
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, Georgia
Coventry Cathedral England, has a series of windows by different designers.
Late 20th-century stained glass from Temple Ohev Sholom, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania by Ascalon Studios.
West Window, Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania)
Stained glass in the crypt Mausoleum of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (Los Angeles)
Chapel stained glass showing the Resurrection of Jesus, All Saints Cemetery Community Mausoleum, Des Plaines, Illinois
Stained-glass window in the Benedum mausoleum, Homewood Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Shabaka (stained glass) at the Palace of Shaki Khans
Sliding pantry door installed in a suburban home.
Stained glass in the Town Hall, Liberec, Czech Republic
Windows of the Hungarian Room, University of Pittsburgh
The Federal Palace, Switzerland
Abstract design by Marcelle Ferron at a Metro station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Windows by Mordecai Ardon at the Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem

Stained glass facts for kids

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See also