43 Examples of Gorgeous Stained Glass ...

If you've read any of my posts lately you'll now know I have a love of glass and this includes stained glass, so that's what we'll be looking at in this article - gorgeous examples of stained glass. Stained glass has been an art form known since the very beginning of the14th century and has barely changed since that time. Ancient and modern, stained glass is gorgeous.

1 Stained Glass Window

Via crescentmoon

This is a little bit of a cheat because this isn't real stained glass but I wanted to share it with you. If you have a passion for stained glass, you can buy faux glass decals from home and DIY stores.

2 California Poppies Blooming

Via California Poppies With Geometric--19" x ...

This reminds me of the work of Scottish designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, except he preferred tulips to poppies.

3 Art Nouveau Stained Glass Windows

Via art nouveau

How glorious to have a room like this. A wonderful reading area.

4 Barcelona Opera House

Via Natures Doorways : Photo

Imagine the hours of painstaking work that went into creating all the lead strips for those tiny spaces.

5 Blue Morpho Butterfly

Via Blue Morpho Butterfly Framed 13.5" ...

Stained glass panels can be in doors or part of a larger
plain window.

6 Peacock

Via MAGNIFICENT * PEACOCK 17x37 STAINED ...

Imagine the light shining through that blue.

7 Agate Stained Glass Panels

Via Unavailable Listing on Etsy

If you see stained glass that has curves and circles, it is more likely to be modern, not antique.

8 Stained Glass Guitar

Via Stunning Stained Glass Mosaic Guitar ...

A stunning work of art.

9 Sunburst Stained Glass Panel

Via Sunburst Stained Glass Panel

It's fitting that a sunburst is a subject for stained glass.

10 Tree of Life

Via Art Gallery of Lynette Chubb

The term stained glass is applied even when there is no "stain" - the term has come to represent art glass made with lead sections.

11 Art Deco Window

Via FREE STAINED GLASS SUNCATCHER PATTERNS ...

The unmistakable style of art deco.

12 Stained Glass Window in a Turkish Rest Stop

Via Stained glass window in a ...

Stained glass is found all around the world.

13 Stained Glass Birds

Via Stained Glass Birds

Stained glass can feature all sorts of pictures and patterns.

14 Dragonfly

Via Stained Glass Pattern Dragonfly

Look at the detail on the wings. Impressive, huh?

15 LARGE Flowing Tree in Moonlight Stained Glass Window Panel

Via Stained Glass Window Panel Moonlit ...

You can buy panels to hang on your existing windows. Check Etsy, eBay and glass artists' websites.

16 Stained Glass Wave

Via Stained Glass Hanging Panels & ...

The ocean is a popular theme in modern stained glass.

17 Octopus

Via Octopus's Garden Stained Glass Panel

Newer techniques have made making curves and circles
easier.

18 Owl Suncatcher

Suncatchers are affordable little works of art.

19 Raindrops

Via Items similar to rain drops, ...

Bring the outdoors in, without getting wet.

20 Ocean Wave Panel

Via Items similar to Ocean Wave ...

This really appeals to the water baby in me.

21 Purples Ripple and Granite

Via Romany Soup: Stained Glass

This gorgeous art nouveau piece would look fabulous in a Victorian house.

22 Carolina Hemlock

Via Carolina Hemlock - Glass

Some glass artists paint directly on the glass as well as using stained pieces.

23 Nature

Via Stained Glass Nature

I love the organic form of some modern glass pieces.

24 Saint Gatien's Cathedral, Tours, France

Via Portals

Stained glass began as a religious art form and was first used in churches. Most of what follows are examples of church stained glass. Some depict scenes, while others are abstract.

25 Stained Glass Window in an Abandoned Church

Via 9 Photos of Abandoned Cities ...

I love the way the beautiful glass stands out in the dilapidation around it.

26 Stained Glass Window Graffiti

Via Stained Glass Window Graffiti by ...

Banksy brings stained glass bang up to date.

27 Basílica De La Sagrada Família - Barcelona, Spain

Via Light against light / Luz ...

The way stained glass throws light into the church is awesome.

28 Colorful Window

Via The French Tangerine

Love this Victorian example.

29 Suffused with Light

Via Cathedral’s stained glass windows offer ...

Those colors are simply amazing.

30 National Cathedral, Washington DC, USA

Via Stained glass window, National Cathedral

Many of the world's major churches and cathedrals have a "rose" window.

31 Washington National Cathedral, Washington DC, USA

Via Space Window by Rodney Winfield

But I don't imagine that any other has a "space" window and certainly not one that contains an actual piece of moon rock embedded in it.

32 Sens Cathedral, France

Via Sens Cathedral Rose Window

Sens Cathedral is one of the oldest and largest Gothic churches in France. Interestingly, some of the stained glass windows depict the story of the English Saint Thomas-a-Becket, representing the ties between England and France in the early Middle Ages.

33 Boston Avenue Methodist Church, Tulsa, USA

Via Art deco stained glass - ...

Stained glass features in new churches too.

34 College Hill Presbyterian Church in Easton, USA

Via Tiffany Stained Glass Window

This is an original window created and signed by Louis Comfort Tiffany - America's greatest glass artist.

35 Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim, Norway

Via Images Nidaros Cathedral Stained glass ...

The colors are amazing. Such a wonderful palette of reds and pinks.

36 Canterbury Cathedral

Via Canterbury Cathedral

One of the two archbishoprics of England.

37 St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, Czech Republic

Via art-nouveau.livejournal.com

Alphonse Mucha was one of the pre-eminent Bohemian glass artists

38 Siena Cathedral, Siena, Italy

Via LOOK: The Most Stunning Stained ...

It looks more like a mosaic.

39 Frauminster Cathedral, Zurich, Switzerland

Via couvreur.home.xs4all.nl

I'm going to finish with a few examples by Marc Chagall. Russian/French Chagall worked in many mediums but I adore his stained glass. His works appear in churches all over the world.

40 Art Institute, Chicago, USA

Via Chagall

Mesmerizingly beautiful.

41 Reims Cathedral, Reims, France

Via Notre-Dame Cathedral of Reims

Chagall was really fond of blue for his stained glass church windows.

42 Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel

Via Stained glass windows by Marc ...

The Hadassah windows in the Abbell Synagogue were a labor of love for Chagall. They picture and represent Jewish history, Judaism and Jewish culture.

43 Chichester Cathedral, Chichester, England

Via Artemis Dreaming, Marc Chagall, stained ...

The window tells the story of the sons of Jacob from whence came the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

Like every art form, the variety of stained glass is immense. I'm usually drawn to color rather than pattern. Is it something you appreciate?