No art is as animated as stained glass windows. Each segment comes to life and flaunts its singular character. It smiles and laughs and celebrates each immortal second as the earth rotates. Light rays penetrate and colors transform in almost imperceptible ways.
In the early mornings, windows that face south, such as the Rose Window at Reims, explode with shafts of dancing color. The intensity fluctuates minute by minute as the day progresses. Shadows—passing clouds—alter the nature of the piece and the space around it with variations of harmony and warmth.
Windows facing north remain more restrained and mysterious as light seeps into corners and crevasses. Less dramatic, yes, but in a soft stirring way. North-facing windows are mysterious as the light waves coax the glass to glow inwardly and outwardly, searching for balance and subjective concord that tell the story as well as the expressive figures.
As the light retreats, the west-facing windows welcome the visual calm of the evening. Knowing that darkness isn’t emptiness, they glow with the faith that the glory of the morning will soon follow.
The lifting beauty of stained-glass isn’t limited to medieval cathedrals. Many contemporary glass artists, like Anne Lindenfeld, capture the brilliance of the sun. It requires dedication and exacting tools, but it is the design inspired by nature that transcends the materials and allows the light to truly live.
There is a great lesson here. Do we let the light of life to shine not just on us, but through us? Can the timeless art of glass bring radiance to us so that we can share it with others in times of darkness?
1. Rose Window, South. Cathedral Notre-Dame de Reims- Reims, France
2. Theodosius Arrives at Ephesus - Cathedral of Rouen, France
3. Bishops Eye - South Rose Window – Lincoln Cathedral, UK
4. Panel evoking the ocean. (Detail) - Anne Lindenfeld – Washington DC
jamesjohnmagner - jamesjohnmagner.com
Stained glass windows and mosaics did always stand out to me as particularly beautiful the way they seperate the rays and beams of light calling them the most animated art I think is very fitting