Up: Glassmaking
Stained Glass
14 of 29
|
|
| |
Roman School of Glass
It was reserved for the Roman art of glass
making to separate entirely from its earlier traditions and establish
the final realism in painted glass which completed the downfall of an
ancient art. The earlier work of William of Elat in the Roman church
of Santa Maria del Popolo is distinctively possessed of that spirit of
knowledge of fine drawing and realistic representation which completely
submerged the earlier technic of glass. Two followers of his, in Siena,
Italy-- Pastorino and Tadio Bartelmo, glass workers-- put in glass the
cartoon furnished them by Piero del Vaga, and still further carried out
the ideals of his time in glass, making it more than ever realistic, as
shown in the round window above the entrance door of the cathedral.
Spanish Glass
The windows of churches in Spanish cities--
Avila, Barcelona, Burgos, Granada, Leon, Seville, Toledo-- show both
French and Italian influence. Examples of the Middle Gothic, late
Gothic and Renaissance periods are marked by large but effective
figures in great profusion, and by a thoroughly Spanish strength
of color and design.
Stained Glass--Past and Present
"SIR TRISTRAM WEDS ISOUDE"
One of a set of stained glass windows
executed in 1862 by William Morris'
firm for the house of Mr. Walter Dunlop,
Bradford, England. The series, designed
by Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Morris and
others, depicts the love story of Tristram
and Iseult (Isoude), and is now in the
Municipal Art Museum, Bradford
|
It is important to lay stress on the fact that
in the case of old masterpieces of stained glass, a perfect harmony
always existed between the glass itself and the building in which it
was set. In the course of years there have been marked departures in
this particular, and today we find glass often treated as a vehicle for
pictorial delineation solely, and not harmonized in its architectural
environment with the building containing the glass. The pictorial use
of stained glass is criticized by those students whose creed is based on
the principle of harmonious composition as expressed in the glass of
the great cathedrals and other splendid architectural monuments of the
past, from the earliest period of the Romanesque architecture down to
the very last phase of the Gothic. It is the conviction of such students
of stained-glass art that the principles of the old masters should be
conserved, and that the facilities that have been developed in the course
of stained-glass manufacture should not lead the artist into paths of
radical departure from principles that have found such full vindication
through the verdict of the years.
SUPPLEMENTARY READING
| WINDOWS, A BOOK ABOUT STAINED GLASS |
By Lewis F. Day |
| STAINED GLASS WORK |
By C. Whall |
| STAINED GLASS TOURS IN FRANCE; ...ENGLAND; ...ITALY |
By Charles H. Sherrill |
| STORIED WINDOWS |
By A. J. de H. Bushnell |
|
|