La Sainte Chapelle: The Eternal Beauty Of Stained Glass

La Sainte Chapelle: The Eternal Beauty of Stained Glass Stained glass windows have been admired for their utility and beauty since ancient Rome, when pieces of colored glass were assembled into patterned window frames. Later in Europe, the technique of stained glass was used when building cathedrals. Stained glass art reflects religion because they typically present stories from the bible. Stained glass was first used by wealthy Romans in their villas and palaces in the first century A.D. At this time, stained glass was considered domestic luxury rather than an artistic medium. It was first considered art when Constantine, “First permitted Christians to openly worship religion in 313 A.D” (Fitzgerald). Stained glass is argued to be one of
the most distinct aspects of Gothic cathedrals in medieval Europe. A very powerful example of stained glass is located inside La Sainte Chapelle in Paris, France.
The pictorial stories within the stained glass in La Sainte Chapelle highlights peoples religious beliefs is through the use of incorporating
narratives drawn from the Bible, local history and also politics. The study of stained glass was used to educate and provide information about peoples religion, demonstrate the use of technique, as well as the culture of society. As its awareness and popularity rose during the mid-12th century, the more stained glass was commonly found in churches. Many people of this time period were unable to read and write, but the presence of stained glass created a new way for the illiterate population to learn about religion. Stained glass windows were then the first public ‘picture books’ of the Bible. Churches used the windows to visually tell Biblical stories about God, spiritually, mortality, and humanity (Fiedler 25). The stained glass windows illuminate biblical sermons for all of the church to admire and learn from. This was an important aspect in religion during this time period because parishioners were finally able to understand bible sermons without having to read them from a bible. The medieval Gothic chapel, La Sainte Chapelle, was built during 1240-1248 by Louis IX. The reason for building this chapel was to, “host the relics of Christ's Passion that the French king obtained from Byzantium and Jerusalem during the Crusades” (Colomban 242). The stained glass windows were also installed during this time period, except for the rose window which was completed about two hundred and fifty years later in 1495. Stained glass was common in places of worship because the abundance of light was the, “Main reason architectures used stained glass windows because the, “Light itself demonstrated theological ideas for just as the spirit of God passed through the womb of the virgin, losing nothing of his divinity in the process, so the light passes through the material of the glass and yet maintains its illuminating properties” (Gothic Cathedral). When the light was shining on the glass, the different depictions would glow for the audience to view. This allowed the stained glass to display biblical stories, but also create different color and light sensations. Medieval stained glass making was introduced by a twelfth-century German monk, artist and metalworker named Theophilus Presbyter. Theophilus believed that making beautiful objects “Ennobled the human spirit”. He is well known for his work, On Divers Arts, in which he offered detailed instructions of making and creating stained glass. He writes in his prologue that he, “saw the sanctuary filled with a variety of all kinds of differing colors ... [and] worked hard like a careful investigator ... to learn by what skilled arts the variety of pigments could decorate the work without repelling the daylight” (Lewis). In his step by step manual, he also explains how he carefully studied glaziers and glass painters at work, in order to create such detailed instructions to make these type of windows. Due to the lack of scientific knowledge, during the twelfth century, stained glass artists did not fully understand the chemistry transforming sand into glass. They typically relied on trial and error whereas today, we know that sand consists of silica, which when melted, forms the molecular network of glass. In order to melt silica, it requires temperatures of about 3,000 Fahrenheit. Today, we have new technology that easily allows us to heat these materials at such high temperatures, unlike Theophilus, who had to add plant ashes to lower the melting point of silica. When plant ash is burned, it splits silica bonds, making it melt at lower burning points (Lewis). By the late Middle Ages, glassmakers were producing different spectrums of colors and hues for their art compositions.
By incorporating a range of powdered metal oxides directly into the molten glass, in which new pigments were introduced. Cobalt created blues, while different copper oxides resulted in greens and reds (Lewis). Different colors later represented different symbolic meanings, which can be seen in the Sainte Chapelle stained glass. Blue, the color of the sky, symbolizes heaven and a type of heavenly love for godly figures. This is prevalent in medieval stained glass artwork, where Christ and Mary. Red is symbolic of the different spectrums of both love and anger and is typically associated with the martyrdom of the saints. Yellow is an emblem of the sun and divinity which is associated with sacredness, while purple is the color of royalty and is the symbol of God the Father. Finally, white is associated with purity, innocence, and the holy life, while black is the symbol of death, mourning, and the day of Christ’s crucifixion (Rydell). The Sainte Chapelle stained glass is known for having many different bright colors ranging from blues, reds, yellows and greens. The Sainte Chapelle could be described as a, “Palace of gems and a fairy church of glowing and translucent colors” (Middleton 207). These colors were symbolic in stained glass in the medieval era and
today. During the French Revolution, there were many different hardships for the people of France, and also the Sainte Chapelle. The chapel was converted into an administrative office. Due to the finding cabinets inside the office, some of the windows were protected by vandalism during this time. But, unfortunately, most of the windows and choir stalls experienced extreme damage from the French Revolution. During the nineteenth century, some repairs were completed with the hopes of fixing these lost artistic treasures. Viollet-le-Duc, French architect and theorist, who is commonly known for his restoration of medieval buildings, was the man responsible for making restorations and repairs to the chapel (Middleton 206). Although many important aspects of this time period were destroyed during the French Revolution, it is helpful that some parts were restored for later years to come. Stained glass technologies of manufacturing has been evolving since the beginning of creation, dating back to ancient Rome. The evolution is based on the technology of making glass, and the production machine improvement required to make the art. While the classical stained glass pieces are still produced in small workshops, manufacturers use different types of machines and methods for efficiency, rapidity, and perfection. The methods of stained glass has developed so much that all the processes of stained glass, including drawing of a print to the actual cutting of glass can all be done through computers and machines with maximum precision. I decided to choose stained glass for my work of art is because while I was in high school, I really wanted to get involved with a type of art. Painting and drawing were not my forte, which helped me find stained glass. I had always seen stained glass pieces in my church, and have always found it astounding how they were pieced together to make such a complicated and beautiful composition. The way the sun lights up the pieces of glass always intrigued me, which made it hard not to want to create such a piece. Stained glass galleries were a bit hard to find, especially in the small state of Rhode Island, but I managed to find a mentor who worked with me and taught me so many great things about the art. Starting from the beginning, I created my own design, and after thirty hours of hard work I created a stained glass piece that I was so proud of. While creating this art composition, I never really learned about the background, history, and important information behind it. Through my research for this art piece, I fell in love with the stained glass in La Sainte Chapelle. The Rose Window in this church is what inspired me to make a circular stained glass piece. Although the artist may be unknown, a lot of hard work has clearly been put into this piece. I included an example of the piece that I made a few years ago. I originally decided that I wanted to incorporate a sun into my design because stained glass looks the prettiest when sun is shining onto it. The use of stained glass has been a magnificent addition of art to societies dated back to Ancient Rome. In the last hundreds of years, stained glass has been used to educate, demonstrate, and entertain people religiously and artistically. They were originally made to illustrate biblical passages which glorified the church and local history. Today, stained glass has transformed from just religious matter to also subjects such as nature and decorative designs. Stained glass has influenced the early century and modern way of art and has its own eternal beauty. What different from stained glass and other mediums of art, is that stained glass requires many materials, steps, and procedures in order to have it come out correct.The precision needed in this skill is a lot more difficult than drawing or painting, because once you cut a piece of glass, you cannot undo a mistake. This is why I believe that stained glass art is often overlooked ,and people do not appreciate the hard work it takes to create such beautiful pieces.