Stained Glass
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Stained Glass The highly developed art of creating pictorial windows from small pieces of colored glass reached its peak in the churches of the Middle Ages. Colored glass was made by adding various metallic oxides to the molten glass mix; the glass was formed into sheets, and then pieces of this glass were cut into appropriate shapes. The components were finally assembled in soldered lead frames to form a decorative mosaic of colored light. Religious themes dominated virtually all stained glass production until after the Renaissance, when secular buildings also began to make use of the art. The use of decorative glass in windows dates from ancient times. Throughout the Roman Empire, clear window glass was used in the caldaria, or "hot rooms" of the Roman baths, as a means of confining the heated air while admitting light. The Romans knew how to make colored glass and manufactured many colored glass vessels, but no windows made of colored glass have been found to date. In early Christian times, writings by the Byzantine court usher and poet Paulus Silentiarius describe colored glass pieces set into stone or stucco to create the "pierced screens" of Byzantine churches; some of these screens have survived to the present day in Moslem mosques.
The practice of assembling small pieces of colored glass in metal frames to form artistic patterns did not appear until about the 10th century. The earliest reference to a true stained glass window appears in a contemporary manuscript that describes the building of the French royal coronation church in Reims, which was completed in 988. By the 12th century, Gothic architectural innovations allowed major development of stained glass as an important art. Gothic churches incorporated larger windows, providing larger expanses for stained glass mosaics and greater illumination in-the formerly dim cathedrals. In fact, stained glass church images provided a means for the mainly illiterate population to learn stories from the Bible. Since stained glass was so expensive, few secular buildings could afford to incorporate it into their designs. Thus, stained glass windows were used almost exclusively in churches until about the 16th century. Even many churches received insufficient donations for more than one or two stained glass windows, leaving all other windows to be made of clear glass. Medieval stained glass is usually called "pot metal" glass because the coloring, usually from metal oxides, was added directly to the molten glass in the melting
pot. Cobalt oxide gave a blue color, manganese oxide gave purple, antimony oxide yielded yellow, iron oxide yielded red, and copper oxide produced ruby red. The ruby glass was so deeply red, however, that it was nearly opaque. In order to obtain sufficient transparency, medieval glassmakers "flashed" small pieces for stained glass windows—i.e., they dipped still-pliant clear glass into the molten ruby glass, coating the outside with a thin layer of red. Flashed ruby glass allowed stained glass artists to create unusual detail effects by grindi
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