401 



GLASS-PAINTING. 



GLASS-PAINTING. 



402 



and First Pointed or Early English styles. Thirteenth century painted 

 glass windows abound in France, and are not unfrequent in Germany 

 and our own country. They are of the kind known as mosaic and 

 medallion windows ; that is, the ground is made up of small pieces of 

 stained glass of the shapes and colours requisite to form the patterns, 

 while, as it were, imbedded in the midst of the mosaic ground, are 

 medallions of a circular, trefoil, or quatrefoil shape, on which subjects 

 from Scripture or the lives of the saints, are painted. The ground is 

 usually of a rich ruby or sapphire hue ; and a border of a playful and 

 often an extremely graceful design incloses the whole. The figures 

 are necessarily small, and, as in all the painting of that time, are drawn 

 without much artistic skill. In these early examples, the drawing of 

 the faces, hands, &c., is expressed by little more than a sort of outlining 

 with a bistre or other dark colour. Shading, properly so called, and 

 half -tints, are not attempted. The colour of the glass is preserved, for 

 the most part, unbroken. But the subjects are treated with much quiet 

 religious feeling, simplicity, and purity, while the colours are very rich 

 and finely harmonised. Indeed, as decorative works, the windows of 

 the 13th century are superior to those of any other period. The oldest 

 English examples are in Canterbury and Salisbury cathedrals ; but the 

 finest are the magnificent five sister lancets (50 feet high) of York 

 Minster, and the great rose window of Lincoln Cathedral, in which the 

 central Majesty (or Christ in Glory) is surrounded by sixteen compart- 

 ments containing the typical events of the life of Christ. The chief 

 French examples many of them of extraordinary grandeur and beauty 

 are in the cathedrals of Chartres, Bourges, Paris, Amiens, Soisson, 

 Rouen, and Sens, and the Sainte Chapelle, Pari.s. i 



The painted glass of the 14th century (the epoch of our Second 

 Pointed or Decorated Gothic style) was more vivid in colour, broader 

 in style, and the painting better executed than in that of the preceding 

 century ; but it was less pure in conception, and less strictly subor- 

 dinated to the general architectural effect. The mosaic ground is no 

 longer universal ; rich red or blue damasked stuffs or diapering being 

 often substituted ; and, instead of small Scriptural subjects in medal- 

 lions, we find a prevalence of single figures under large heavy canopies, 

 each occupying a single light (of the kind known as canopied windows, 

 first introduced in the latter part of the 13th century); heraldic 

 bearings are also now largely introduced ; foliated ornaments and 

 geometrical patterns abound, but the trefoil so common in the pre- 

 ceding style is seldom, if ever, seen in this ; and, instead of the graceful 

 arabesque border, we find frequently a running pattern of vine-leaves 

 and grapes. Grisailles, or subjects painted in gray, now first came 

 into vogue. One of the best examples of English work of this period 

 is the east window of Bristol Cathedral : other characteristic examples 

 occur at York Minster; Exeter Cathedral ; the chapel of Merton College, 

 Oxford ; Tewkesbury Abbey Church ; Norbury Church, Derbyshire ; 

 Lowick Church, Northamptonshire ; and several other parish churches. 

 Characteristic French examples occur in the cathedrals of Chartres, 

 Evreux, Beauvais, Limoges, Lyon, Strasbourg, and Narbonne. 



In the 15th century (the period of our Third Pointed or Perpen- 

 dicular Gothic) a great change took place in glass-painting. The 

 windows became still more individualised and less dependent on the 

 architecture. The subjects occupied a larger space, and were treated 

 more as pictures. Either each filled a distinct panel, or they were 

 placed one above another without any ground to separate them. The 

 mosaic pattern-work of stained glass was now altogether discarded, the 

 whole being painted. The details are usually put in with much care, 

 and very skilful manipulation is exhibited throughout. But the colour 

 is poor, white glass is chiefly employed, and the general effect is cold 

 and comparatively feeble. Some of the examples the earlier ones 

 especially are, however, very elaborate and impressive : of this class 

 is the magnificent east window of the choir of York Minster, which 

 consists of no fewer than 1 16 compartments, each having a separate 

 subject. This is undoubtedly the finest example of the style in 

 England ; and Lastruvie says it is one of the very finest in Europe. 

 It was during this period that buildings and landscapes began to be 

 freely introduced as backgrounds to the compositions. Canopied win- 

 dows of this date have the canopies of a very ponderous character. 

 Chichester and Winchester cathedrals ; Henry VII.'s Chapel ; Lincoln 

 College Chapel, Oxford ; Cirencester Church ; Barton Church ; Ludlow 

 Church, Shropshire ; and many other pariah churches, possess excellent 

 specimens of the painted glass of this period. Of French work, very 

 fine examples are found in the cathedrals of Bourges, Evreux, Aix, 

 Mans, &c. In Italy, where painting on glass had not hitherto been 

 practised with much success, many works of great ability, though in a 

 pictorial style, were now executed ; and the names are preserved of 

 many eminent artists who painted on glass, including several distin- 

 guished painters in oil and fresco. The artists of Florence particularly 

 excelled as glass-painters. 



By the end of the 15th century Gothic architecture was everywhere 

 dead or dying ; and the old mediscval spirit had departed also from 

 the painting of glass. Palatial and domestic buildings were now 

 adorned with painted glass windows as well as ecclesiastical edifices. 

 The aim of glass painters was to rival the effects of oil paintings. 

 Windows were indeed often mere imitations of oil pictures. The 

 works of Raffaelle, Giulio Romano, Albert Durer, and other distin- 

 guished painters, were either copied or imitated. Subjects in which 

 were a multitude of personages arranged with all the elaborate artifices 



ARTS AMD SCI. DIV. VOL. IV. 



of pictorial composition; landscapes with the effects of aerial, and 

 buildings showing complex linear, perspective ; foreshortened figures ; 

 the depth and obscurity of chiaroscuro, all were attempted to be 

 exhibited in painted windows, and the result was that what would have 

 been impressive on a wall or canvas, looked on glass a shallow and feeble 

 transparency. We have in this country some of the least unsatis- 

 factory, because among the earliest and transitionary examples, in the 

 splendid series of twenty-seven large windows of King's College Chapel, 

 Cambridge (painted in 1527 and succeeding years). But in them is 

 seen how entirely the true character of window painting was now lost 

 sight of. The glass is treated as though it were canvas or panel, the 

 picture being carried over the entire surface, without any regard being 

 paid even to the massive stone mullions which occasionally cut the 

 compositions in the most awkward manner. Another very superior 

 example of its class is the great east window of St. Margaret's, West- 

 minster. The celebrated windows of Fairford church also belong to 

 this date ; they are usually ascribed to Albert Durer, but no doubt 

 inaccurately, though they are of German or Flemish execution. In 

 France there are numerous fine examples of 16th century windows in 

 the cathedrals of Bourges, Auxerre, Aueh, Beauvais, Sens, Rheims, &c. ; 

 in St. Ouen, at Rouen ; St. Gervais, Paris ; and the Sainte Chapelle, 

 Versailles. The cathedrals of Germany and the Netherlands afford 

 many fine examples of this period, treated, as are those of Italy and 

 France, quite in the spirit and much in the manner of the contem- 

 poraneous painting in oil. In many instances, indeed, the brilliant 

 colours of glass were altogether neglected, the picture being a dingy 

 monochrome. Several specimens, mostly of small size, of the German, 

 Flemish, and Swiss painted glass of this period are in the South Ken- 

 sington Museum. 



From this time glass painting fell more and more into disrepute ; 

 though windows continued to be painted, and some glass painters, 

 especially in France, acquired a certain celebrity. But the works pro- 

 duced up to some time in the present century continued to be copies 

 of oil paintings, or of designs which could only be effective if painted 

 in oil. What these were in our own country, even when artists of the 

 highest standing were commissioned to prepare the designs, may be 

 seen in the windows of New College Chapel, Oxford, designed by 

 Sir Joshua Reynolds and painted by Jarvis ; and of Trinity College 

 Library, Cambridge, designed by Cipriani. 



The renovation of the art was coincident with the revival of Gothic 

 architecture. It has since been studied earnestly by archaeologists, 

 and pursued zealously by a numerous body of practitioners (aided by 

 the experiments of many eminent chemists) in England, France, and 

 Germany ; and great success has been attained in the preparation of 

 the glass, and in the various technical and manipulative processes. 

 Hitherto, however, little original power has been exhibited in the 

 designs ; the object aimed at being mainly to produce faithful imitations 

 of mediaeval glass, the style selected being that of the 13th, 1 4th, or 15th 

 century, according to the taste of the artist or the desire of the patron. 



We have now to describe very briefly the method of painting on 

 glass. Obviously this can only be done generally. The art can only 

 be learnt from a practitioner, and of processes so strictly technical 

 even a description would be out of place here. We shall at the end 

 of the article give references to technical treatises, where the several 

 processes are explained at length, and the various materials employed 

 are fully described. 



The first step is to prepare a careful cartoon the size of the painting. 

 For a small work on a single plate of glass, the glass is laid on the 

 cartoon, or on a tracing made from it, and the outline is accurately 

 traced on the glass with black or brown, composed of a very fusible 

 vitreous flux, coloured with a metallic oxide, and ground extremely 

 fine in an essential oil (tar, spike, or lavender). The parts intended to 

 be yellow, orange, or red are then coated, either on one or both sides, 

 according to the tint required, with a mixture composed of an alloy of 

 silver and antimony ground up with the red oxide which is obtained 

 by subjecting sulphate of iron to a red heat. The glass is then exposed 

 in a furnace or muffle to a red heat, or, as it is termed, fired, in which 

 process the tracing colour is fused, and adheres permanently to the 

 glass. The mixture of silver and antimony stains the glass, but does 

 not melt, so that the oxide of iron, which is in the state of dry powder, 

 may be brushed off, leaving the glass coloured, but as transparent as 

 before. The other colours, composed of a very fusible glass coloured 

 with metallic oxides, are then added, and the glass is again fired. In 

 most cases the glass is fired between the application of each colour, as 

 some colours require more heat than others. In the Munich works 

 the glass is often fired seven times. 



For convenience we have described the process as followed on a 

 single sheet of glass ; but in fact painted windows are usually com- 

 posed of many pieces of glass fixed together in a leaden frame-work. 

 For a painted window of this kind, the first step is to arrange carefully 

 from the cartoon the several compartments into which the work shall 

 be divided ; and to determine the sizes and shapes of the pieces of 

 glass, and the direction of the lead-work, so as not to interfere with, 

 but if possible to support, the outlines of the figures and the lines of 

 the composition, whilst sufficient firmness is preserved to the window 

 itself. In a window of this kind, it will be remembered, the artist 

 does not paint upon white glass merely, but as far as possible avails 

 himself of glass already coloured (pot-metal as it is technically termed), 



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