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History of Stained Glass Timeline

(c. 1500 BCE–Present)

The history of stained glass traces the development of colored and decorated glass from ancient civilizations through medieval cathedrals, Gothic masterpieces, and modern art and architecture. Less

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Ancient and medieval origins

Alabaster windows in early Christian churches

300 - 499

Early Christian churches used ornate patterns of thinly sliced alabaster set into wooden frames, creating a stained-glass-like effect in the 4th and 5th centuries.

Image source: Stained glass

Alabaster windows in early Christian churches

Early British church windows

600 - 699

Evidence of stained-glass windows in British churches and monasteries dates as early as the 7th century.

Jābir ibn Hayyān discusses colored glass

700 - 799

The Kitab al-Durra al-Maknuna, attributed to the 8th-century alchemist Jābir ibn Hayyān, discusses the production of colored glass in ancient Babylon and Egypt.

Islamic influence on stained glass

700 - 799

Islamic civilization played a major role in inspiring the art of stained glass from the 8th century onward.

Mass production of Islamic glass vessels

700 - 799

Across Islamic civilization, glass vessels were mass-produced from the 8th century onward by blowing liquid glass in chambers or cutting it from crystal.

Romanesque and Early Gothic iron-supported windows

950 - 1240

From about 950 to 1240, large untraceried windows required robust iron frames to support their expansive areas of glass, as seen at Chartres Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral.

Techniques and regional traditions

Silver stain introduced

1300

From 1300 onward, artists used silver stain made with silver nitrate. It produced yellow to orange colors and gave stained glass its modern name.

Silver stain replaces much pot-metal glass

1400 - 1499

By the 15th century, silver stain had become cheaper than pot-metal glass and was often combined with glass paint as the only color applied to transparent glass.

Cousin's rose used for flesh tones

1450

By about 1450, a stain known as Cousin's rose was used to enhance flesh tones in stained-glass imagery.

New glass stains introduced

1500 - 1599

During the 16th century, a range of glass stains was introduced, most colored by ground-glass particles.

Flashed glass used in heraldic windows

1500 - 1599

Sixteenth-century heraldic windows relied heavily on a variety of flashed colors for intricate crests and creatures.

Stained glass in Safavid and Zand Iran

1501 - 1794

Stained-glass creation flourished in Iran during the Safavid dynasty from 1501 to 1736 and the Zand dynasty from 1751 to 1794.

Janskerk windows created

1555 - 1625

The windows of Janskerk in Gouda date from 1555 to the early 1600s; the earliest are the work of Dirck Crabeth and his brother Wouter.

Seventeenth-century painted-glass style

1600 - 1699

By the 17th century, stained glass had evolved beyond dependence on the skillful cutting of colored glass into sections.

Glass imported to Latin America

1600 - 1799

Portuguese and Spanish settlers first imported stained glass to Latin America during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Copper stain introduced

1700 - 1899

Copper stain, made with copper compounds and capable of producing reds, was used mainly during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Nineteenth-century revival

Viollet-le-Duc restores churches

1800 - 1899

During the 19th century, Viollet-le-Duc restored a great number of churches, contributing to the era's renewed engagement with medieval architecture and glazing.

Image source: Eugène Viollet-le-Duc

Viollet-le-Duc restores churches

Sèvres begins stained-glass production

1824

In 1824, the Sèvres porcelain factory began producing stained glass to meet increasing demand.

Image source: Manufacture nationale de Sèvres

Sèvres begins stained-glass production

Royal Bavarian Glass Painting Studio founded

1827

Ludwig I founded the Royal Bavarian Glass Painting Studio in 1827.

Medieval-style glass revival begins

1839

From 1839 onward, much stained glass closely imitated medieval glass in both artistic design and the nature of the glass itself.

Carl Geyling establishes Vienna studio

1841

Carl Geyling, one of the leading stained-glass artists in the Austrian Empire and later Austria-Hungary, founded his studio in 1841.

J&R Lamb Studios established

1857

Established in New York City in 1857, J&R Lamb Studios became the first major decorative-arts studio in the United States and a major producer of ecclesiastical stained glass.

Mayer of Munich begins production

1860

Mayer of Munich commenced glass production in 1860 and continues to operate as Franz Mayer of Munich, Inc.

John Hardman Powell exhibits at Philadelphia

1876

John Hardman Powell exhibited stained glass at the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876. His work influenced stained glass in the United States.

John La Farge patents opalescent glass

Feb 24, 1880

John La Farge invented opalescent glass and received a United States patent for the process on February 24, 1880.

Tiffany patents opalescent processes

Nov 1880

Louis Comfort Tiffany received several patents for variations of the opalescent process in November 1880 and used copper foil as an alternative to lead in some windows, lamps, and decorations.

Image source: Louis Comfort Tiffany

Tiffany patents opalescent processes

Copper foil patented by Sanford Bray

1886

Sanford Bray of Boston patented the use of copper foil in stained glass in 1886.

Christopher Whall publishes craft manual

1905

Christopher Whall's classic manual Stained Glass Work was published in London and New York in 1905. He advocated direct involvement by designers in making windows.

Modern stained glass

Contemporary artists continue the tradition

1900 - Present

Contemporary stained-glass artists draw on centuries of resources and the work of earlier artists, learning from that tradition while developing new approaches.

Dalle de verre developed

1900 - 1999

The use of slab glass set in concrete or epoxy resin, known as dalle de verre, was a 20th-century innovation credited to Jean Gaudin and brought to the United Kingdom by Pierre Fourmaintraux.

Latin American local production expands

1900 - 1999

By the 20th century, many European artists had established studios in Latin America and begun local stained-glass production.

Charles J. Connick establishes Boston studio

1913

Charles J. Connick founded his Boston studio in 1913. Influenced by medieval European glass and Christopher Whall's Arts and Crafts philosophy, he later created hundreds of windows.

British Society of Master Glass Painters founded

1921

The British Society of Master Glass Painters was founded in 1921 as the professional organization for stained-glass artists in the United Kingdom.

The Journal of Stained Glass begins publication

1924

Since 1924, the British Society of Master Glass Painters has published its annual journal, The Journal of Stained Glass.

Gemmail developed

1936 - 1959

Jean Crotti developed gemmail in 1936, and the technique was perfected in the 1950s. Adjacent pieces of glass are overlapped without lead cames, allowing greater diversity and subtlety of color.

British artists adopt German abstraction

1970 - 1979

In the 1970s, young British stained-glass artists such as Brian Clarke were influenced by the large scale and abstraction of German 20th-century glass.

Large-scale architectural stained glass

1975 - 1999

The works of Ludwig Schaffrath demonstrate late-20th-century trends in architectural stained glass, including entire walls filled with colored and textured glass.

Key Facts

  1. Ancient Egyptians and Romans produced early colored glass objects, establishing techniques later used in stained-glass windows.
  2. Medieval European churches helped popularize stained glass, using biblical scenes and symbolic colors to teach largely non-literate audiences.
  3. Gothic cathedrals from the 12th and 13th centuries featured expansive windows made possible by pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses.
  4. The Renaissance introduced greater realism and painterly detail, while the Reformation reduced stained-glass production in many Protestant regions.
  5. The Gothic Revival and the Arts and Crafts movement revived stained glass in the 19th and early 20th centuries, influencing modern artists and architects.

Source

This History of Stained Glass timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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