Style of stained glass design in 12th to 16th century England
English Gothic stained glass windows
Detail of a Tree of Jesse Window from Canterbury Cathedral (late 12th–early 13th c.)
Years active
12th to 17th century
Location
England
English Gothic stained glass windows were an important feature of English Gothic architecture, which appeared between the late 12th and late 16th centuries. They evolved from narrow windows filled with a mosaic of deeply-coloured pieces of glass into gigantic windows that filled entire walls, with a full range of colours and more naturalistic figures. In later windows, the figures were often coloured with silver stain, enamel paints and flashed glass. Later windows used large areas of white glass, or grisaille, to bring more light into the interiors.
English Gothic windows followed roughly the same evolution of styles as English architecture: they followed windows in the Norman or Romanesque style, beginning in the late 12th century. somewhat later than in France. In the 13th century, the Decorated style appeared, which was divided into two periods: the later being the more ornate curvilinear. The next and last period was the Perpendicular Gothic, which lasted well into the 16th century, longer than in continental Europe.
Late 12th to end of 13th century: Early English Gothic
Characteristics
Seth and Adam Window, from Canterbury Cathedral (late 12th – early 13th c.)
Face from the Thomas Becket window at Canterbury Cathedral (late 12th – early 13th c.)
Reverse of the Thomas Becket window, showing leading and iron bars (late 12th-early 13th c.)
Portion of a Tree of Jesse window, York Minster (late 12th – early 13th c.)
The primary characteristics of early English glass are deep rich colours, particularly deep blues and ruby reds, often with a streaky and uneven colour, which adds to their appeal; their mosaic quality, being composed of an assembly of small pieces; the importance of the iron work, which becomes part of the design; and the simple and bold style of the painting of faces and details.[1]
All of the effects of the image are created by the colours of the pieces of glass. A single medallion at Canterbury Cathedral depicting Noah's Ark, no larger than a square foot (0.1m2), contains more than fifty pieces of glass, of blue, greenish-blue, green, and bits of white glass for the foam of the sea.[1]
A second important feature was the iron work. In early windows, before the introduction of stone tracery, the leaded panels of glass were inserted into an iron lattice or framework of upright and horizontal bars forming squares. The framework became a part of the design. In some cases, such as the upper windows, the figures were so large that they filled the whole window. In the lower windows, closer to the eye, each square space was filled with a single subject or image, usually framed by a circle. This was called a medallion window.[1]
The details of the early windows were added by painting in brown enamel, which was then fired onto the glass. Lettering and patterns were scratched out of the glass; there was no modelling of light and shade.[1]
In the later 13th century the windows gradually became more pictorial, more refined and mannerist, following the example of illuminated manuscripts. They took advantage of the delicate patterns of the tracery in the windows, added decorative illustrations in the margins, and often placed the central figures beneath elaborate arches and canopies.[2]
Grisaille windows became more popular in the 13th century because they allowed in more light. They were often decorated with floral motifs, such as cherry blossoms and ivy, in the borders. A famous set of these windows is found at Merton College, Oxford, from the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th century. They portray the Apostles, and also the donor of the window, Henry de Maunsfeld, who appears in some twenty medallions.[2]
History
Thomas Becket window at Canterbury Cathedral (13th c.)
Good Samaritan Window from Sens Cathedral (13th c.)
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 William of Sens, a French master-mason from Sens, introducing the French Gothic style to England.
The best-preserved is the east window in the part of the chapel called "Becket's Crown", in which only four or five of the twenty-four medallions are later copies. The Thomas Becket window features a decorative border in a repeat geometric pattern called a "mosaic diaper", which became a common feature of English windows in this period. Another novel feature of this window is a background of blue enamel painted on the glass, then scratched out to form a diaper pattern. This also became a common feature of later English windows.[3]
The Thomas Becket Window at Canterbury resembles the Thomas Becket window in Sens Cathedral in France, where Becket spent his exile, and the home of William of Sens, the architect of the remodelling of Canterbury. The two windows were likely made by the same craftsmen.
During English Civil War in 1642–43, Puritan iconoclasts attacked the windows throughout the cathedral, climbing ladders and swinging pikes to smash the glass, which they considered to be idolatrous. However, four of the windows of Trinity Chapel still have most of their original glass, and the others were restored in the 19th century with imitations of the old glass. Another important 13th-century window is the "Five Sisters" window at York Minster (about 1260), notable especially for its large size and density of images. The popular name was given to the window by Charles Dickens.[2] Another collection of early windows is found in the Jerusalem Chamber of Westminster Abbey, built by Henry III of England, the brother-in-law of Louis IX of France, the creator of Sainte-Chapelle. Unfortunately, only a small number of original medallions remain.[2]
14th century: Decorated style
The 14th century saw a major change in the style and technique of English windows. It was brought about in part by changes in the architecture of English cathedrals and churches, and also by technical innovations, such as the use of silver stain to colour the glass.[4] It corresponded roughly with the English architectural style called Decorated, which in turn was divided into two periods: the earlier Geometric, in which tracery usually featured straight lines, cubes and circles; and the later Curvilinear whose tracery used gracefully curving lines.[5]
The later part of the 14th century, after about 1360, saw the arrival in England of Perpendicular Gothic. It brought a continual reduction in the amount of coloured space in the windows, and more and more grisaille. The number of lancets increased, and the number of small windows over the lancets grew, filling the wall space.[6]
Deerhurst Priory, Gloucester, Saint Catherine (left) (beginning of 14th c.) and St. Alphege of Canterbury (right) (early 15th century)
English cathedrals were expanded with greater numbers of small chapels, each of which required more light. This meant that windows could no longer be composed entirely of a mosaic of small circular medallions of deep, rich colours, as in the 12th and 13th centuries. Each bay had a group of tall, narrow lancet windows, usually topped by several small circular or clover-like windows. Each lancet, instead of having a multitude of small figures in medallions, had a single major figure in each section, usually a saint or apostle, in coloured glass, surrounded and set off by delicate patterns of white or lightly-tinted glass. The edges were often decorated with designs of flowers, ivy, and other plants, or geometric borders, and the tops and bottoms of the windows were decorated with birds, angels and grotesques. The glass at the top of the window was often also filled with painted architectural detail, such as arches, pinnacles and canopies, which harmonised with the architecture of the church itself. The figures in the windows showed the influence of medieval manuscripts; the poses were more natural.[4]
The 14th-century glass also showed technical improvement; thanks to the use of better quality sand and other ingredients, and improved techniques of heating and forming the glass, it was thinner, clearer, and more consistent in colour. It lost much of the smoky and streaked appearance which had given charm to the early Gothic glass.[4]
A major change in the 14th-century glass was a great reduction in the number of pieces of glass in a single window, which gave it a mosaic appearance. This was made possible by a technique called silver stain, which added a very thin coat of glass mixed with silver compounds, particularly silver nitrate, which was baked onto the outside of the window. Depending upon the formula used, this produced a light yellow, orange or green, which could be very bright, or, in flashed glass, could be scratched to produce more subtle tones and shading.[6]
The Perpendicular style in glass was characterised not just by vertical lines, but also by colour and the distribution of the glass. The blue and ruby backgrounds went up the entire height of each alternate section. The blue is lighter and greyer than in Decorated glass. White became more predominant, especially in figures, which were just touched with yellow stain.[7]
History
The Tree of Jesse or "Golden Window" on the west of Wells Cathedral (1340–45), using silver stain for its golden colour
The first use of silver stain in England was at York Minster in about 1309,[6] and by the end of the century it was very widely used in English workshops, and gradually changed the nature of English windows. However, in English windows, the painting was often subtle. The most elaborate decoration was not in the painted glass, but in the tracery, in the stone mullions and iron bars that formed the framework for the window.[8] Examples included the west window of York Minster, whose glass was Decorated curvilinear, but whose tracery, especially at the top of the window, resembled that of the later French Flamboyant style. The curling form at the top gave the window the nickname "The Heart of Yorkshire".
Other important examples of the Decorated style are the Tree of Jesse Window, or "Golden Window", coloured with silver stain, in Wells Cathedral (c. 1345).[9][10] Others include the windows of the choir of the Chapel of Merton College at Oxford, donated by Henry de Mamesfeld. Oxford Cathedral and the Abbey Church of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire contain early white windows painted with silver stain.[8]
The Bishops's Eye, Lincoln Cathedral, in Decorated curvilinear style (completed 1330)
Detail of the Bishops's Eye window
Rose windows were rare in English Gothic cathedrals, but Lincoln Cathedral produced two fine examples: the Dean's Eye in the north transept and the Bishop's Eye in the south transept. The Dean's Eye was begun by the French-born Bishop, Saint Hugh of Lincoln, in the Early Gothic period in 1192, and was completed in 1235. The Bishops's Eye was not completed until a century later, in 1330, in the Decorated curvilinear style.
15th to early 16th century: Perpendicular and International Gothic
Detail from the Great East Window, "Adam and Eve, the Fall from Grace" (1405-08)
Through the use of painting, silver stain and flashed glass, figures became more naturalistic, with shading and more details. The complex bays and vaults of Perpendicular architecture, with multiple decorative colonettes, ribs and openwork decoration spreading upwards and across the vaults, influenced the style. It encouraged the use of windows depicting hosts of angels in the upper windows. In the windows, heraldry and coats of arms of wealthy clients replaced portraits of the donors. The use of pale backgrounds continued, particularly panels of white delicately decorated with flowers, animals and coats of arms, which surrounded and set off the more colourful main figures.[11]
In the second half of the 15th century, the early tradition of surrounding figures with painted architectural features in the windows became less frequent, and figures began to appear against more varied backgrounds, such as landscapes.[11]
Improvements in the techniques of painting on the glass in vitreous enamel accelerated the tendency toward realism and a painterly[clarification needed] style. The designs in the English windows became more intimate and anecdotal.[12]
During the late Gothic, the problem was sometimes not how to bring more light into the deeply coloured windows, but how to bring more colour into the pale white windows. Even the flesh of the figures was usually white. In a 15th century window, it was rare that more than one-fourth of the area was composed of coloured glass.[7] To add more colour, sometimes light colour was added to the background. Colourful figures occupied windows of the south transept window at York Minister, surrounded by delicately-coloured quarries, or panels, rather than a white background. Additional colour was brought in by adding touches of gold (made with silver stain) to the painted architectural canopies, pinnacles and crockets around and above the figures.[7]
The Perpendicular style called for figures that were longer, to fill the tall, narrow windows. In the windows of All Souls College, the figures occupied about one-half of the length of the window. The space above the figure was filled with painted architectural detail. The faces in Late Gothic were more finely drawn than in earlier styles, a development influenced by Flemish painting.[7]
The International Gothic style, which appeared in the first half of the 15th century, was the final form of European Gothic, which borrowed from French, Dutch and German artists, and influenced the English style. German engraving and Flemish painting of the period had a particular influence on stained glass, not only in England but across Europe.[11]
The English perpendicular style was the other major influence.[11] New glass production was abundant, despite the War of the Roses. English glass craftsmen established important workshops in York, Norwich, and Oxford, which served clients in the surrounding regions. These clients included not only cathedrals and nobles, but also wealthy merchants and landowners who wanted impressive windows for their new residences.[11]
Glaziers developed personal styles, and their names became known. Examples were Thomas of Oxford, who made the windows of the Chapel of William of Wykeham's College at Winchester, and William of Coventry, the glazier of the Great East Window at York Minster (1405–1408). Another example was John Prudde, the King's glazier, who made the glass for Beauchamp Chapel of Saint Mary's at Warwick, which was commissioned in 1447.[12] Other important examples of the new style were the East window of the Priory of Great Malvern in Worcestershire (1423–39), and the windows of the chapel of All Souls' College at Oxford (1441–47).[12]
Another important influence was from Flemish painting. England developed close trade and political links with Flanders, and Flemish glaziers began to arrive in England, causing some disputes with the London Guild of Glaziers. Several important English works, such as windows at Fairfield Church in Gloucestershire and at King's College Chapel, Cambridge, were probably by Flemish artists, such as Dirk Vallet. By the early 17th century, the art of English Gothic windows was in its final decline. Some of the last windows, such as those by Abraham Van Linge at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, were simply like large paintings viewed through a grid of lead lines.[12]
The dividing line between Gothic stained glass art and Renaissance glass is traditionally placed at about 1530. The first important group of Renaissance windows in England was commissioned between 1516 and 1526 and installed at King's College Chapel, Cambridge.[13]
Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. It originated in the Île-de-France and Picardy regions of northern France. The style at the time was sometimes known as opus Francigenum ; the term Gothic was first applied contemptuously during the later Renaissance, by those ambitious to revive the architecture of classical antiquity.
York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the mother church for the diocese of York and the province of York. It is administered by its dean and chapter. The minster is a Grade I listed building and a scheduled monument.
The Sainte-Chapelle is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century, on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine in Paris, France.
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture. Modern vernacular usage has often extended the term "stained glass" to include domestic lead light and objets d'art created from foil glasswork exemplified in the famous lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany.
Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term rose window was not used before the 17th century and comes from the English flower name rose.
Tours Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church located in Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France, and dedicated to Saint Gatianus. It is the seat of the Archbishops of Tours, the metropolitan cathedral of the Tours ecclesiastical province. It was built between 1170 and 1547. At the time construction began, the church was located at the south end of the bridge over the river Loire, on the road from Paris to the south-west of France. It has been a classified monument historique since 1862. Since 1905 it has been owned by the French State, with the Catholic Church having the exclusive rights of use.
Tracery is an architectural device by which windows are divided into sections of various proportions by stone bars or ribs of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the glass in a window. The purpose of the device is practical as well as decorative, because the increasingly large windows of Gothic buildings needed maximum support against the wind. The term probably derives from the tracing floors on which the complex patterns of windows were laid out in late Gothic architecture. Tracery can be found on the exterior of buildings as well as the interior.
The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Amiens, or simply Amiens Cathedral, is a Catholic cathedral. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Amiens. It is situated on a slight ridge overlooking the River Somme in Amiens, the administrative capital of the Picardy region of France, some 120 kilometres north of Paris.
Rayonnant was a very refined style of Gothic Architecture which appeared in France in the 13th century. It was the defining style of the High Gothic period, and is often described as the high point of French Gothic architecture. French architects turned their attention from building cathedral of greater size and height towards bringing greater light into the cathedral interiors and adding more extensive decoration. The architects made the vertical columns and supports thinner, made extensive use of pinnacles and moldings. They combined the triforium gallery and the clerestory into single space and filled it with stained glass. They made extensive use of moldings and bar tracery to decorate the exteriors and interiors.
Rouen Cathedral is a Catholic church in Rouen, Normandy, France. It is the see of the Archbishop of Rouen, Primate of Normandy. It is famous for its three towers, each in a different style. The cathedral, built and rebuilt over a period of more than eight hundred years, has features from Early Gothic to late Flamboyant and Renaissance architecture. It also has a place in art history as the subject of a series of impressionist paintings by Claude Monet, and in architecture history as from 1876 to 1880, it was the tallest building in the world.
Flamboyant is a lavishly-decorated style of Gothic architecture that appeared in France and Spain in the 15th century, and lasted until the mid-sixteenth century and the beginning of the Renaissance. Elaborate stone tracery covered both the exterior and the interior. Windows were decorated with a characteristic s-shaped curve. Masonry wall space was reduced further as windows grew even larger. Major examples included the northern spire of Chartres Cathedral, Trinity Abbey, Vendôme, and Burgos Cathedral and Segovia Cathedral in Spain. It was gradually replaced by Renaissance architecture in the 16th century.
Troyes Cathedral is a Catholic church, dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, located in the town of Troyes in Champagne, France. It is the episcopal seat of the Bishop of Troyes. The cathedral, in the Gothic architectural style, has been a listed monument historique since 1862.
A revival of the art and craft of stained-glass window manufacture took place in early 19th-century Britain, beginning with an armorial window created by Thomas Willement in 1811–12. The revival led to stained-glass windows becoming such a common and popular form of coloured pictorial representation that many thousands of people, most of whom would never commission or purchase a painting, contributed to the commission and purchase of stained-glass windows for their parish church.
English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed arches, rib vaults, buttresses, and extensive use of stained glass. Combined, these features allowed the creation of buildings of unprecedented height and grandeur, filled with light from large stained glass windows. Important examples include Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral. The Gothic style endured in England much longer than in Continental Europe.
The medieval cathedrals of England, which date from between approximately 1040 and 1540, are a group of twenty-six buildings that constitute a major aspect of the country's artistic heritage and are among the most significant material symbols of Christianity. Though diverse in style, they are united by a common function. As cathedrals, each of these buildings serves as central church for an administrative region and houses the throne of a bishop. Each cathedral also serves as a regional centre and a focus of regional pride and affection.
High Gothic was a period of Gothic architecture in the 13th century, from about 1200 to 1280, which saw the construction of a series of refined and richly-decorated cathedrals of exceptional height and size. It appeared most prominently in France, largely thanks to support given by King Louis IX(1226-1270). The goal of High Gothic architects was to bring the maximum possible light from the stained glass windows, and to awe the church goers with lavish decoration.
Early Gothic is the term for the first period of Gothic architecture which lasted from about 1120 until about 1200. The early Gothic builders used innovative technologies to resolve the problem of masonry ceilings which were too heavy for the traditional arched barrel vault. The solutions to the problem came in the form of the rib vault, where thin stone ribs passed the weight of the ceiling to rows of columns and outside the walls to another innovation, the flying buttress.
Gothic cathedrals and churches are religious buildings created in Europe between the mid-12th century and the beginning of the 16th century. The cathedrals are notable particularly for their great height and their extensive use of stained glass to fill the interiors with light. They were the tallest and largest buildings of their time and the most prominent examples of Gothic architecture. The appearance of the Gothic cathedral was not only a revolution in architecture; it also introduced new forms in decoration, sculpture, and art.
Perpendicular Gothic architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-centred arches, straight vertical and horizontal lines in the tracery, and regular arch-topped rectangular panelling. Perpendicular was the prevailing style of Late Gothic architecture in England from the 14th century to the 17th century. Perpendicular was unique to the country: no equivalent arose in Continental Europe or elsewhere in the British-Irish Isles. Of all the Gothic architectural styles, Perpendicular was the first to experience a second wave of popularity from the 18th century on in Gothic Revival architecture.
French Gothic stained glass windows were an important feature of French Gothic architecture, particularly cathedrals and churches built between the 12th century and 16th century. While stained glass had been used in French churches in the Romanesque period, the Gothic windows were much larger, eventually filling entire walls. They were particularly important in the High Gothic cathedrals, most famously in Chartres Cathedral. Their function was to fill the interior with a mystical colored light, representing the Holy Spirit, and also to illustrate the stories of the Bible for the large majority of the congregation who could not read.
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