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
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
This reminds me of the work of Scottish designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, except he preferred tulips to poppies.
3 Art Nouveau Stained Glass Windows
How glorious to have a room like this. A wonderful reading area.
4 Barcelona Opera House
Imagine the hours of painstaking work that went into creating all the lead strips for those tiny spaces.
5 Blue Morpho Butterfly
Stained glass panels can be in doors or part of a larger
plain window.
6 Peacock
Imagine the light shining through that blue.
7 Agate Stained Glass Panels
If you see stained glass that has curves and circles, it is more likely to be modern, not antique.
8 Stained Glass Guitar
A stunning work of art.
9 Sunburst Stained Glass Panel
It's fitting that a sunburst is a subject for stained glass.
10 Tree of Life
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
The unmistakable style of art deco.
12 Stained Glass Window in a Turkish Rest Stop
Stained glass is found all around the world.
13 Stained Glass Birds
Stained glass can feature all sorts of pictures and patterns.
14 Dragonfly
Look at the detail on the wings. Impressive, huh?
15 LARGE Flowing Tree in Moonlight Stained Glass Window Panel
You can buy panels to hang on your existing windows. Check Etsy, eBay and glass artists' websites.
16 Stained Glass Wave
The ocean is a popular theme in modern stained glass.
17 Octopus
Newer techniques have made making curves and circles
easier.
18 Owl Suncatcher
19 Raindrops
Bring the outdoors in, without getting wet.
20 Ocean Wave Panel
This really appeals to the water baby in me.
21 Purples Ripple and Granite
This gorgeous art nouveau piece would look fabulous in a Victorian house.
22 Carolina Hemlock
Some glass artists paint directly on the glass as well as using stained pieces.
23 Nature
I love the organic form of some modern glass pieces.
24 Saint Gatien's Cathedral, Tours, France
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
I love the way the beautiful glass stands out in the dilapidation around it.
26 Stained Glass Window Graffiti
Banksy brings stained glass bang up to date.
27 Basílica De La Sagrada Família - Barcelona, Spain
The way stained glass throws light into the church is awesome.
28 Colorful Window
Love this Victorian example.
29 Suffused with Light
Those colors are simply amazing.
30 National Cathedral, Washington DC, USA
Many of the world's major churches and cathedrals have a "rose" window.
31 Washington National Cathedral, Washington DC, USA
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
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
Stained glass features in new churches too.
34 College Hill Presbyterian Church in Easton, USA
This is an original window created and signed by Louis Comfort Tiffany - America's greatest glass artist.
35 Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim, Norway
The colors are amazing. Such a wonderful palette of reds and pinks.
36 Canterbury Cathedral
One of the two archbishoprics of England.
37 St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, Czech Republic
Alphonse Mucha was one of the pre-eminent Bohemian glass artists
38 Siena Cathedral, Siena, Italy
It looks more like a mosaic.
39 Frauminster Cathedral, Zurich, Switzerland
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
Mesmerizingly beautiful.
41 Reims Cathedral, Reims, France
Chagall was really fond of blue for his stained glass church windows.
42 Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel
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
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?
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