Stained glass is a method of craft or art in which the main material is colored glass. The most well known form of the use of stain glass is the stained glass windows of churches and other religious monuments or buildings. The traditional method of building the church stained glass windows was with the use of stained glass window panels. Historically there have also been artists who have created three dimensional stained glass sculptures and structures. The final artistic pieces are delicate but have been know to last for centuries.
Stained glass window art is the product of the artists skills and their ability to develop a the proper design as well as the engineering skills required to be able to put the pieces of stained glass together. The designs of the stain glass windows are usually based upon the history or something the building is best known for. Some of the more popular stained glass window patterns worked with for churches can be figurative or non-figurative and based on stories from the bible, saints or patrons history or literature. For churches an example of design may be the some of the moments from the life of Christ. Each stained glass window panel will tell a story significant to the history of the buildint or church.
This craft and art of a stained glass window isn’t just used in religious or historical buildings. Antique stained glass windows have been used in homes, especially vintage or historical homes. Small pieces of a stain glass window are matched and held together with the use of lead strips and supported by a frame. The glass pieces are arranged very carefully to form intricate and unique patterns, so there are no two windows alike.
An antique stained glass window is also cut down and used as a panel around the doors of the home. There are also some artists who enjoy working with shapes and will create patterns in geometric shapes, floral motifs, and diamond shapes just to name a few. The colors of glass used vary greatly and range in a variety of reds, blues, greens, golds and blacks. Regardless of how the stained glass windows are used, in historical buildings or homes, churches or other spiritual settings, each piece is as unique as the artist who designed and created the piece. Each piece is as beautiful as the piece made before it.