Medieval stained glass

Medieval stained glass is the coloured and painted glass of medieval Europe from the 10th century to the 16th century. For much of this period stained glass windows were the major pictorial art form, particularly in northern France, Germany and England, where windows tended to be larger than in southern Europe (in Italy, for example, frescos were more common).

Stained glass windows were used predominantly in churches, but were also found in wealthy domestic settings and public buildings such as town halls, though surviving examples of secular glass are very rare indeed. The purpose of stained glass windows in a church was both to enhance the beauty of their setting and to inform the viewer through narrative or symbolism. The subject matter was generally religious in churches, though "portraits" and heraldry are often included, and many narrative scenes give valuable insights into the medieval world.

Window glass was in use from at least the 1st century AD, and colored and painted window glass for use in religious buildings was also manufactured at an early date. The earliest extant example of ecclesiastical stained glass is possibly that from San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. A clear glass roundel with a depiction of Christ in Majesty, thought to be 6th century, was discovered here.

Some of the earliest known examples of coloured window glass, datable to c. 800–820, were recovered in excavations at the Abbey of San Vicenzo in Volturno, Italy. Glass of the same colour ranges and similar date is also found in England, at the monastic sites of Jarrow and Monkwearmouth, and at other sites in the north of England. These examples are not painted. However it was not until the advent of the monumental cathedral and church building campaigns in the 11th and 12th centuries that the demand for coloured glass began to increase significantly, reaching its highest level in the 14th and 15th centuries. The oldest surviving stained glass windows still in situ are thought to be the Prophet Windows in Augsburg Cathedral, of c. 1065.

A useful 12th-century source on medieval glass manufacture is the De Divers Artibus of Theophilus Presbyter. Theophilus was a Benedictine Monk, believed by some scholars to be Roger of Helmarshausen, a metal glass and pigment worker who practiced in the late 11th and early 12th centuries.De Divers Artibus describes a number of craft processes including glassmaking and glassworking.

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