Stained Glass Windows
Originally found mainly in Churches and certain other significant structures, stained glass windows are having a revival and moving into the realm of home decoration.
Stained Glass Windows
Stained glass is a thousand year old art and craft form that involves the coloring of glass. This process is rather complex and is done usually during the production of the glass itself. In the past, the most common usage of stained glass was to provide a decorative and narrative beauty to the interior of a church or cathedral. Since the color tended to block the light, the stained glass window did not serve the purpose of lighting the interior of these early buildings. In fact, the exterior light tended to illuminate the window and add to the decorative beauty of it.
These early stained glass windows usually were constructed of small chips of stained glass held together by a lead framework and depicted Biblical based scenes. They were considered an art form and they were extremely durable. Many of the great stained glass windows of Medieval Europe have survived the ravages of time with no damage or wearing at all, and only the damage done by war or natural disasters has been able to destroy them.
In later times, such as Victorian England, stained glass was used as part of interior decoration of private homes or non-religious buildings. Once again, since light was restricted from entering the room via stained glass windows and you could not see out of them to the outside, their function was purely decorative. These stained glass windows could abandon purely religious motifs and use colored patterns or nature depictions for the design motif.
Stained glass windows mostly disappeared from the home building scene after the Victorian period as more modern decorative ideas stressed light and insulated glass allowed larger and more frequent windows providing open views of the outside. Recently, there has been a return to more classical and traditional design motifs in many areas such as exteriors and furnishings and stained glass is having a bit of a revival.
The use of stained glass windows in modern buildings offers a chance to add a bit of tradition and elegance to the design. Many of the makers and suppliers of stained glass have moved away from religious applications which have always been their main customers and have branched out to the more general public. Stained glass is still considered to be an art form and as such function is not the most important element. This is important to remember when making a decision to use a stained glass window in a home design.