Gothic Stained Glass Windows Were Constructed

If you ve ever admired the stained glass windows in an old church you were enjoying colorful expressions of faith that developed during medieval times in europe.

Gothic stained glass windows were constructed.

They were particularly important in the high gothic cathedrals most. These two ingredients were heated to the point where they d liquify and become glass when cooled. Stained glass windows were a. The medieval church funded most of the stained glass windows of the time.

The oldest complete stained glass windows were those of augsburg cathedral in germany constructed in the late 11 th century. The stained glass windows that are familiar today did not come about until the 10 th century with the construction of gothic cathedrals. The two most common styles of stained glass windows made for gothic cathedrals were the tall spear shaped lancet windows and circular rose windows. As soon as the gothic style acquire some popularity and a large number of churches cathedrals and monasteries were built in different european capitals the traditional fresco painting was declining as to be the medium of choice to decorate the walls since these had been in that period largely replaced by huge multicolored stained glass windows.

Making medieval stained glass windows for gothic architecture was dangerous work performed by guild craftsmen who combined alchemy nano science and theology. The two most common styles of stained glass windows made for gothic cathedrals were the tall spear shaped lancet windows and circular rose windows. Stained glass windows were a prominent feature of the gothic church and cathedral from the beginning. During medieval times stained glass windows were made from a combination of sand and potash wood ash.

One purpose of stained glass is to serve as a source of meditation drawing the viewer into a contemplative state. In order to color the glass powdered metals were added into the molten heated mixture before it cooled. Most structural developments were designed to support the addition of more stained glass windows throughout cathedrals. The term rose window was coined around the seventeenth century because of the way the windows were constructed in a circular shape with layered radiating panels giving them an appearance similar to that of an open rose.

Detail of stained glass windows in chartres cathedral chartres france. 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.