stained glass

Introduction
Elements and principles of design
Materials and techniques
- Traditional techniques
- Developments in the 14th century
- Later developments
Subject matter
Periods and centres of activity
- 12th century
  - France
  - Germany
  - England
- 13th century
  - France
  - England
  - Germanic countries
- Early 14th century
- Late 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries
- 17th and 18th centuries
- 19th century
- 20th century

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

The north rose window at Chartres Cathedral in France, featuring intricate stained glass with vibrant geometric and biblical designs in a large circular and five tall vertical panels.

Explaining the High Gothic art style of Sainte-Chapelle

At a Glance

stained glass summary

Related Questions

How are metallic oxides used to create colours in stained glass?
How did Art Nouveau artists use stained glass in lampshades and light fixtures?
How did Flemish painting influence stained glass in the 15th and 16th centuries?
How did Gothic architects turn window supports into part of stained-glass designs?
How did Gothic architecture make stained-glass windows a major form of church decoration?
How did Henri Matisse use stained glass in the Chapel of the Rosary at Vence?
How did Louis Comfort Tiffany develop Favrile glass?
How did William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones use lead lines in their stained-glass designs?
How did artists create detailed designs by abrading flashed glass?
How did artists cut stained-glass pieces before diamond cutters were invented?
How did early medieval mosaic windows differ from leaded stained-glass windows?
How did enamel painting change stained-glass designs during the 16th century?
How did glaziers use a full-sized cartoon to make a stained-glass window?
How did grisaille decoration soften light passing through clear glass?
How did medieval glassmakers turn a blown cylinder of glass into a flat sheet?
How did patrons and clergy influence the subjects of medieval stained-glass windows?
How did post-World War II German artists renew stained-glass art?
How did silver stain allow stained-glass artists to create yellow colours?
How did slab glass and concrete provide an alternative to leaded stained-glass windows?
How did stained glass develop from mosaic art and cloisonné enamelling?
How did stained-glass traditions in Istanbul differ from those in western Europe?
How did stained-glass windows help teach Bible stories during the Middle Ages?
How did the Gothic Revival restore interest in medieval stained-glass techniques?
How did the use of vitreous enamels contribute to the decline of traditional stained glass in the 17th and 18th centuries?
How do H-shaped lead strips hold stained-glass pieces together?
How does natural daylight change the appearance of stained glass during the day?
How large were the stained-glass windows at Chartres Cathedral?
What contributions did Charles Winston make to the study of stained glass?
What makes the stained glass of 13th-century Germanic countries different from French stained glass?
What visual qualities made Louis Comfort Tiffany’s Favrile glass distinctive?
What was a grozing iron used for in medieval stained-glass work?
What was a vidimus in the planning of a medieval stained-glass window?
What were heraldic stained-glass panels, and where were they displayed?
When did narrative stained-glass windows made of medallions first become widespread?
Where were the earliest complete pictorial stained-glass windows found?
Which artists created stained-glass windows for Florence Cathedral’s dome?
Which metallic oxides produce ruby red, blue, purple, yellow, and green glass?
Which subjects were commonly shown in medieval church stained-glass windows?
Why did 12th- and 13th-century church windows often use deep blues and rubies?
Why did linear perspective create problems for stained-glass artists?
Why did medieval glaziers keep and reuse finished cartoons?
Why did medieval stained-glass sheets have variations in thickness and colour depth?
Why did stained-glass colour palettes become lighter and more muted in the 14th and 15th centuries?
Why was flashed ruby glass useful for making detailed stained-glass designs?
Why were iron armatures needed in large stained-glass windows?
Why were medieval rose windows often devoted to cosmological subjects such as the Last Judgment?

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External Websites

Victoria and Albert Museum - Stained glass: an introduction
The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Stained Glass in Medieval Europe
CiteSeerX - Stained Glass: The Medieval Multimedia Experience (PDF)

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

stained glass - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

stained glass

visual arts

Written by

Robert W. Sowers

Stained-glass artist. Author of The Language of Stained Glass and others.

Robert W. Sowers

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 8, 2026 •History

stained glass, in the arts, the coloured glass used for making decorative windows and other objects through which light passes. Strictly speaking, all coloured glass is “stained,” or coloured by the addition of various metallic oxides while it is in a molten state. Nevertheless, the term stained glass has come to refer primarily to the glass employed in making ornamental or pictorial windows. The singular colour harmonies of the stained-glass window are less due to...

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