Juliet Bannister, age 13, of Nashua, N.H., for her question:
WHEN WAS STAINED GLASS FIRST USED?
Stained glass is a term used for windows that are composed of small panels of dyed or painted glass, held in strips of cast lead and mounted in a metal framework. The technique of coloring glass was first known in Egypt and Mesopotamia about 3000 B.C.
By about 2000 B. C., clear colored glass objects were being molded, and by A.D. 1000, Roman glassmakers had mastered blown glass, which allowed vessels and thin transparent sheets to be made.
Translucent and pierced screens of alabaster and glass were made in the Early Christian period and colored glass windows in wood frames came into use during the 6th Century and 7th Century. Walls in Islamic homes were at times opened with stucco framed, colored glass windows from the 8th to the 12th Century.
European pictorial stained glass began in the 9th Century, according to the records. The earliest surviving fragments, depicting heads of Christ, were found at Lorsch Abbey in the Rhineland and in Wissembourg, Alasace, which is now France.
The Romanesque period during the 12th Century, with its increase in massive, newly built cathedrals, brought about the first flourishing of the art of stained glass. The earliest extant windows are five larger than life size standing Old Testament figures in the clerestory of Augsburg Cathedral, dated about 1100. The center for stained glass became the region around Paris.
French Romanesque stained glass influenced that of Germany and England. The most popular subjects were single standing figures set in niches or two figures used in clerestory or upper story windows.
The predominant colors used at this time were blue (especially for the background), red, yellow and green. Violet, brown and white with a Green or blue cast were secondary, and pinkish shades served as flesh tones.
Windows of the 12th Century, in their refinement and delicacy, resembled the art of the goldsmith and enamel worker.
The style of the 13th Century, the glorious age of French stained glass, shows affinities with manuscript illumination. With the perfection of vaulting and the flying buttress, heavy, load bearing wails were eliminated to allow more and much larger windows in the church, which inspired a greater variety and perfection in stained glass.
It was at this time that rose windows were introduced. These are huge, circular, multi form medallions that look like radiating wheels. They are often placed high in the west end of the churches. Often they depict the Virgin and Child.
The masterpiece of the 13th Century is Chartres, the interior of which is a jewel of glittering color that changes with the light piercing its 170 windows, nearly all of which have endured intact.