Some Personal Reflections On American Modern And Postmodern Historiographies Of Gothic Stained Glass (original) (raw)
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2021
As a response to growing industrialisation and commercialisation in Britain, there was a revival of interest in mediaeval culture. The Gothic Revival style took on an appearance influenced by the styles of the mediaeval era, promising the rebirth of the virtues associated with the past. The art of stained glass diminished until the nineteenth century, when the Victorians rediscovered an interest in a return to the mediaeval, simpler, and more 'honest' past during the Gothic Revival Movement. The mediaeval ecclesiastical art became a subject of rigorous study and restoration, as well as a source of inspiration for new designs and techniques. The high demand and new, modern industrial environment resulted in over-manufacturing and low quality of stained-glass design and production. The tensions between stained glass restoration and replication practices were quick to surface in Victorian scholarly debates. This dissertation examines the influences that shaped the reception, replication, and restoration of medieval ecclesiastical stained glass in nineteenth-century England. It will begin with an introductory chapter that introduces the reader to medieval stained glass, Gothic revival in England and Victorian reception of medieval stained glass, and political background that influenced ecclesiastical stained-glass production in the nineteenth century. Then, it traced the development of the Gothic Revival and the main theories on the “true principles” of stained glass that were proposed by contemporary Victorian scholars such as John Ruskin, Charles Winston, Thomas Willement or A. W. N. Pugin. The third chapter discusses one of the principal forces of the restoration of churches, and therefore, medieval ecclesiastical stained glass — Cambridge Camden Society. The fourth chapter focuses on case studies of replication and restoration of medieval stained glass that demonstrates the theories of scholars previously discussed. This dissertation concludes that the recovery of the ‘true principles’ of stained glass was an integral part of the Gothic Revival and played a key role in preserving medieval stained glass for future generations.
The Development of Stained Glass in Gothic Cathedrals
Stained glass is arguably one of the most important aspects of Gothic cathedrals. As its popularity rose, mainly during the mid-12 th century, the increased presence of stained glass presented major changes to the way the general populace was learning about religion. The windows became illuminated visual sermons of biblical stories, which may have had an even greater impact than the spoken word of the priest. This paper focused primarily on the stained glass windows and architectural styles employed in five gothic buildings in France, each having their own unique and notable attributes pertaining to the development of stained glass windows. By looking at the architectural advancements shown in these structures built during the gothic time frame, we are able to see the impact of the widespread desire for increased height and light within these types of buildings on the gothic cathedral.
Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century, 2020
In the afterword to this issue, Isobel Armstrong reflects on a phenomenology of nineteenth-century stained glass.
Normandy is today one of the areas of France that retains the largest group of ancient stained glass. At the beginning of the XIXth century, an important number of windows moved to the art market and Rouen was particularly affected by this phenomenon. The example of Rouen cathedral is well documented and allow to follow the journey of a medieval stained glass, from the windows of the church to the collector. The painted glass was removed from its original location after a restoration, then stolen by the glass painter in charge. He transformed an hagiographic stained glass into a small royal portrait, much more adapted to the market requirements. Then ready to be selled, this work went to the parisian market, in the hands of art dealers who had connections with americans collectors. This communication will retrace the journey of this stained glass, which became the property of the famous William Hearst.
Meredith Parsons Lillich, The Armor of Light: stained glass in western France 1250-1325
cultural influence implied by the word 'civilization' in the tide cannot be properly assessed or comprehended. The diversity of Dumbarton Oaks publications attests to the intermingling of political, economic, and social history. Coins, seals, ceramics, and jewellery, as well as literary texts, have all been published as a result of the Bliss family's benefaction.
Abstract from my research work about “The Gotlandic Merchant Republic and its Medieval Churches”
Journal of Stained Glass, 2019
Medieval stained glass. In embarking on this guest editorial, it was salutary to realise that I have been researching post-medieval stained glass for fifty years. Originally my interest centred on stained glass of the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, that is to say the 'long' Gothic Revival. The Gothic Revival is, ineluctably, at the core of this Special Issue. The term 'Gothic' was not used in the Middle Ages (it was a construct of the Italian Renaissance, signifying 'barbaric' as opposed to classical architecture), and the concept of its 'revival' is open to multiple interpretations. In the eighteenth century it was applied to literature and architecture before it was extended to stained glass, but in the present context its principal significance is the connotation that something important was being revived-the art and craft of stained glass as practised in the Middle Ages. The slight shift between the English 'Gothic Revival' and its European variants-néogothique, neo-gotico, neugotisch, nieuwe gothic-partly explains the tendency of English stained glass after 1840 to be gauged on its archaeological accuracy. Self-evidently, in order to comprehend its revival, it was imperative to become acquainted with the corpus of medieval stained glass that had inspired the revival.
The rose of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris: sophisticated stained glasses for late medieval painters
Comptes Rendus. Géoscience, 2022
The restoration of the rose (15th century) of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, France, offered a unique opportunity to investigate the color and chemical composition of these emblematic medieval French stained glasses with non-destructive analyses. The obtained results are aimed at complementing the knowledge from art historians and thus together trying to compensate for the total absence of archives on the construction of the rose. Comparison with the glasses of the nave (13th century) reveals an important evolution of the aesthetics based on new types of glasses: new colors and extensive use of flashed glass. The systematic study of the chemical composition of both sides of each glass piece revealed that about half of the studied glasses were flashed. For non-flashed glasses, this comparison allowed evaluating the influence of glass surface weathering, although very moderate, on the composition variability. In light of the variability criteria, the multivariate analysis of the chemical composition allowed inferring that most glasses originate from the same production glasshouse.