The art of making pictures from e-books
Painted Stained Glass ebook
Since the early middle ages, people have looked up to the diffused
colored light filtering in from windows high on the church walls and
felt inspired as much by the quality of the light as by the stories
and moral lessons depicted in the images. The ever-changing sky
brought new emphasis to different parts of a collection of images
that never remained static. Glass was regarded as special in these
times not only for its ability to transmit light, but also for the mysterious alchemy that transformed base elements into this new form.
Looking beyond the colored glass, one can see that stained glass
is actually a hybrid art. Both the design of the glass panes and the
painting imposed on the glass play a role in the art form. Painting
on glass was done using a using a range of dark tones which, depending on the era, could be used mainly to outline shapes or to
achieve the complete modelling of figures in a full tonal range. For
this reason, stained glass could also be seen as a branch of painting. In fact, the name of the art form is derived from the silver stain
that was painted onto the glass, which transformed into a yellow
or gold color when fired.
To make a stained glass window, craftsmen would select chosen colors and cuts of glass to match a section of a widow design
pattern. Details that were too fine to be shown by individual cuts
of glass, such as features, drapery and ornamental motifs, were
opaquely painted onto the glass; glassmakers used a relatively col
