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diff --git a/42098-0.txt b/42098-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b9439c --- /dev/null +++ b/42098-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12227 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42098 *** + + WINDOWS + a book about + STAINED + & PAINTED GLASS + + by + + LEWIS F. DAY + author of Nature + in Ornament & + other Text-books + of Design. + + 1897 LONDON + B·T·BATSFORD 94 High Holborn, W.C. + + + + + BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO. LD., PRINTERS, + LONDON AND TONBRIDGE. + + + + + TO THOSE WHO KNOW NOTHING OF STAINED GLASS; TO THOSE WHO KNOW + SOMETHING, AND WANT TO KNOW MORE; TO THOSE WHO KNOW ALL ABOUT IT, + AND YET CARE TO KNOW WHAT ANOTHER MAY HAVE TO SAY UPON THE + SUBJECT;--I DEDICATE THIS BOOK. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +A stained glass window is itself the best possible illustration of the +difference it makes whether we look at a thing from this side or from +that. Goethe used this particular image in one of his little parables, +comparing poems to painted windows, dark and dull from the market-place, +bright with colour and alive with meaning only when we have crossed the +threshold of the church. + +I may claim to have entered the sanctuary, and not irreverently. My +earliest training in design was in the workshops of artists in stained +glass. For many years I worked exclusively at glass design, and for over +a quarter of a century I have spent great part of my leisure in hunting +glass all Europe over. + +This book has grown out of my experience. It makes no claim to +learnedness. It tells only what the windows have told me, or what I +understood them to say. I have gone to glass to get pleasure out of it, +to learn something from it, to find out the way it was done, and why it +was done so, and what might yet perhaps be done. Anything apart from +that did not so much interest me. Those, therefore, who desire minuter +and more precise historic information must consult the works of Winston, +Mr. Westlake, and the many continental authorities, with whose learned +writings this more practical, and, in a sense, popular, volume does not +enter into any sort of competition. + +My point of view is that of art and workmanship, or, more precisely +speaking, workmanship and art, workmanship being naturally the beginning +and root of art. We are workmen first and artists afterwards--perhaps. + +What I have tried to do is this: In the first place (Book I.), I set +out to trace the course of _workmanship_, to follow the technique of the +workman from the twelfth century to the seventeenth, from mosaic to +painting, from archaism to pictorial accomplishment; and to indicate at +what cost of perhaps more decorative qualities the later masterpieces of +glass painting were bought. + +In the second place (Book II.), I have endeavoured to show the course of +_design_ in glass, from the earliest Mediæval window to the latest glass +picture of the Renaissance. + +Finally (Book III.), I have set apart for separate discussion questions +not in the direct line either of design or workmanship, or which, if +taken by the way, would have hindered the narrative and confused the +issue. + +The rather lengthy chapter on "_Style_" is addressed to that large +number of persons who, knowing as yet nothing about the subject, may +want _data_ by which to form some idea as to the period of a window when +they see it: the postscript more nearly concerns the designer and the +worker in glass. + +In all this I have tried to put personality as much as possible aside, +and to tell my story faithfully and without conscious bias. But I make +no claim to impartiality, as the judge upon the bench understands it. We +take up art or law according to our temperament. I can pretend to judge +only as one interested, to be impartial only as an artist may. + + LEWIS F. DAY. + + 13, MECKLENBURGH SQUARE, LONDON. + _January 29th, 1897._ + + + + +_NOTE IN REFERENCE TO ILLUSTRATIONS._ + + +_Theoretically the illustrations to a book about windows should be in +colour. Practically coloured illustrations of stained glass are out of +the question, as all who appreciate its quality well know. It may be +possible, although it has hardly proved so as yet, to print adequate +representations of coloured windows, but only at a cost which would +defeat the end here in view._ + +_The_ EFFECT _of glass is best suggested by process renderings of +photographs from actual windows or from very careful water-colour +drawings, such as those very kindly placed at my disposal by Mr. T. M. +Rooke (pages 128, 159, 337) and Mr. John R. Clayton (pages 51, 74, 98, +186, 207, 252, 286, 304, 342), an artist whose studio has been the +nursery of a whole generation of glass designers._ + +_Details of_ DESIGN _are often better seen in the reproductions of +tracings or slight pen-drawings, little more than diagrams it may be, +but done to illustrate a point. That is the intention throughout, to +illustrate what is said, not simply to beautify the book._ + +_The direction of the pen-lines gives, wherever it was possible, a key +to the colour scheme. Red, that is to say, is represented by vertical +lines, blue by horizontal, yellow by dots, and so on, according to +heraldic custom._ + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + + BOOK I. + THE COURSE OF CRAFTSMANSHIP. + + CHAP. PAGE + I. THE BEGINNINGS OF GLASS 1 + II. THE MAKING OF A WINDOW 5 + III. GLAZING 15 + IV. EARLY MOSAIC WINDOWS 32 + V. PAINTED MOSAIC 43 + VI. GLASS PAINTING (MEDIÆVAL) 59 + VII. GLASS PAINTING (RENAISSANCE) 67 + VIII. ENAMEL PAINTING 77 + IX. THE NEEDLE-POINT IN GLASS PAINTING 87 + X. THE RESOURCES OF THE GLASS WORKER (A RECAPITULATION) 95 + + BOOK II. + THE COURSE OF DESIGN. + + XI. THE DESIGN OF EARLY GLASS 111 + XII. MEDALLION WINDOWS 123 + XIII. EARLY GRISAILLE 137 + XIV. WINDOWS OF MANY LIGHTS 151 + XV. MIDDLE GOTHIC DETAIL 162 + XVI. LATE GOTHIC WINDOWS 178 + XVII. SIXTEENTH CENTURY WINDOWS 201 + XVIII. LATER RENAISSANCE WINDOWS 220 + XIX. PICTURE WINDOWS 236 + XX. LANDSCAPE IN GLASS 251 + XXI. ITALIAN GLASS 260 + XXII. TRACERY LIGHTS AND ROSE WINDOWS 272 + XXIII. QUARRY WINDOWS 283 + XXIV. DOMESTIC GLASS 296 + XXV. THE USE OF THE CANOPY 311 + XXVI. A PLEA FOR ORNAMENT 317 + + BOOK III. + BY THE WAY. + + XXVII. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF STYLE 322 + XXVIII. STYLE IN MODERN GLASS (A POSTSCRIPT) 354 + XXIX. JESSE WINDOWS, AND OTHER EXCEPTIONS IN DESIGN 360 + XXX. STORY WINDOWS 371 + XXXI. HOW TO SEE WINDOWS 380 + XXXII. WINDOWS WORTH SEEING 385 + XXXIII. A WORD ON RESTORATION 404 + + + + +WINDOWS, A BOOK ABOUT STAINED GLASS + + + + +BOOK I. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE BEGINNINGS OF GLASS. + + +The point of view from which the subject of stained glass is approached +in these chapters relieves me, happily, from the very difficult task of +determining the date or the whereabouts of the remote origin of coloured +windows, and the still remoter beginnings of glass itself. The briefest +summary of scarcely disputable facts bearing upon the evolution of the +art of window making, is here enough. We need not vex our minds with +speculation. + +White glass (and that of extreme purity) would seem to have been known +to the Chinese as long ago as 2300 B.C., for they were then already +using astronomical instruments, of which the lenses were presumably of +glass. Of coloured glass there is yet earlier record. Egyptologists tell +us that at least five if not six thousand years ago the Egyptians made +jewels of glass. Indeed, it is more than probable that this was the +earliest use to which stained glass was put, and that the very _raison +d'être_ of glass making was a species of forgery. In some of the most +ancient tombs have been found scarabs of glass in deliberate imitation +of rubies and emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones. The glass +beads found broadcast in three quarters of the globe were quite possibly +passed off by Phoenician traders upon the confiding barbarian as +jewels of great price. At all events, glass beads, according to Sir +John Lubbock, were in use in the bronze age; and, if we may trust the +evidence of etymology, "bedes" are perhaps as ancient as praying. + +Apart from trickery and fraud, to imitate seems to be a foible of +humanity. The Greeks and their Roman successors made glass in imitation +of agate and onyx and all kinds of precious marbles. They devised also +coloured glass coated with white glass, which could be cut +cameo-fashion--a kind of glass much used, though in a different way, in +later Mediæval windows. + +The Venetians carried further the pretty Greek invention of embedding +vitreous threads of milky white or colour in clear glass, the most +beautiful form of which is that known as _latticelli_, or _reticelli_ +(reticulated or lace glass), from the elaborate twisting and interlacing +of the threads; but nothing certain seems to be known about Venetian +glass until the end of the eleventh century, although by the thirteenth +the neighbouring island of Murano was famous for its production. The +Venetians found a new stone to imitate, aventurine, and they imitated it +marvellously. + +So far, however, glass was used in the first instance for jewellery, and +in the second for vessels of various kinds. Its use in architecture was +confined mainly to mosaic, originally, no doubt, to supply the place of +brighter tints not forthcoming in marble. + +Of the use of glass in windows there is not very ancient mention. The +climate of Greece or Egypt, and the way of life there, gave scant +occasion for it. But at Herculaneum and Pompeii, there have been found +fair sized slabs of window glass, not of very perfect manufacture, +apparently cast, and probably at no time very translucent. Remains also +of what was presumably window glass have been found among the ruins of +Roman villas in England. In the basilicas of Christian Rome the arched +window openings were sometimes filled with slabs of marble, in which +were piercings to receive glass (which may or may not have been +coloured), foreshadowing, so to speak, the plate tracery of Early Gothic +builders. According to M. Lévy, the windows of Early Mediæval Flemish +churches were often filled in this Roman way with plaques of stone +pierced with circular openings to receive glass. + +Another Roman practice was to set panes of glass in bronze or copper +framing, and even in lead. Here we have the beginning of the practice +identified with Mediæval glaziers. + +There is no reason to suppose that the ancients practised glass painting +as we understand it. Discs of Greek glass have been found which are +indeed painted, but not (I imagine) with colour fused with the material; +and certainly these were not used for windows. + +The very early Christians were not in a position to indulge in, or even +to desire, luxuries such as stained glass windows, but St. Jerome and +St. Chrysostom make allusion to them. It is pretty certain that these +must have been simple mosaics in stained glass, unpainted: one reads +that between the lines of the records that have come down to us. + +Stained and painted glass, such as we find in the earliest existing +Mediæval windows, may possibly date back to the reign of Charlemagne +(800), but it may safely be said not to occur earlier than the Holy +Roman Empire. A couple of hundred years later mention of it begins to +occur rather frequently in Church records; and there is one particular +account of the furnishing of the chapel of the first Benedictine +Monastery at Monte Cassino with a whole series of windows in 1066--which +fixes the date of the Norman Conquest as a period at which stained glass +windows can no longer have been uncommon. The Cistercian interdict, +restricting the order to the use of white glass (1134), argues something +like ecclesiastical over-indulgence in rich windows before the middle of +the next century. + +Fragments, more or less plentiful, of the very earliest glass may still +remain embedded in windows of a later period (the material was too +precious not to have been carefully preserved); but archæologists appear +to be agreed that no complete window of the ninth or tenth century has +been preserved, and that even of the eleventh there is nothing that can +quite certainly be identified. After that doctors begin to differ. But +the general consensus of opinion is, that there is comparatively little +that can be incontrovertibly set down even to the twelfth century. The +great mass of Early Gothic Glass belongs indubitably to the thirteenth +century; and when one speaks of Early Glass it is usually thirteenth +century work which is meant. + +The remote origin of glass, then, remains for ever lost in the mist of +legendary days. There is even a fable to the effect that it dates from +the building of the Tower of Babel, when God's fire from heaven +vitrified the bricks employed by its too presumptuous builders. + +Coloured glass comes to us from the East; that much it is safe to +conclude. From ancient Egypt, probably, the art of the glass-worker +found its way to Phoenicia, thence to Greece and Rome, and so to +Byzantium, Venice, and eventually France, where stained glass windows, +as we know them, first occur. + +It is probably to the French that Europe owes the introduction of +coloured windows, a colony of Venetian glass-workers having, they say, +settled at Limoges in the year 979. + +Some of the earliest French glass is to be found at Chartres, Le Mans, +Angers, Reims, and Châlons-sûr-Marne; and at the _Musée des Arts +Décoratifs_, at Paris, there are some fragments of twelfth century work +which may be more conveniently examined than the work _in sitû_. The +oldest to which one can assign a definite date is that at St. Denis +(1108) but its value is almost nullified by expert restoration. + +In Germany the oldest date is ascribed to some small windows at +Augsburg, executed, it is said, by the monks of Tegernsee about the year +1000. There is also a certain amount of twelfth century work +incorporated in the later windows at Strasbourg. The oldest remains of +glass in England are, in all probability, certain fragments in the nave +of York Minster. The more important windows at Canterbury, Salisbury, +and Lincoln are of the thirteenth century. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE MAKING OF A WINDOW. + + +Since it is proposed to approach the subject of stained glass in the +first place from the workmanlike and artistic, rather than the +historical or antiquarian, point of view, it may be as well to begin by +explaining precisely what a stained glass window is. + +It is usual to confound "stained" with "painted" glass. Literally +speaking, these are two quite distinct things. Stained glass is glass +which is coloured, as the phrase goes, "in the pot;" that is to say, +there is mixed with the molten white glass a metallic oxide which stains +it green, yellow, blue, purple, and so on, as the case may be; for which +reason this self-tinted glass is called "pot-metal." This is a term +which will recur again and again. Once for all, "pot-metal" is glass in +which the colour is _in_ the glass and not painted _upon_ it. + +It goes without explanation that, each separate sheet of pot-metal glass +being all of one colour, a varicoloured window can only be produced in +it by breaking up the sheets and putting them together in the form of a +mosaic: in fact, that is how the earliest windows were executed, and +they go by the name of mosaic glass. The glass is, however, not broken +up into tesseræ, but shaped according to the forms of the design. In +short, those portions of it which are white have to be cut out of a +sheet of white glass, those which are blue out of a sheet of blue glass, +those which are yellow out of a sheet of yellow, and so on; and it is +these pieces of variously tinted glass, bound together by strips of +lead, just as the tesseræ of a pavement or wall picture are held in +place by cement, which constitute a stained glass window. The artist is +as yet not concerned in painting, but in glazing--that is to say, +putting together little bits of glass, just as an inlayer does, or as a +mosaic worker puts together pieces of wood, or marble, or burnt clay, or +even opaque glass. + +There is illustrated opposite a piece of Old Burmese incrusted +decoration, a mosaic of white and coloured glass bound together by +strips of metal, which, were it but clear instead of silvered at the +back, would be precisely the same thing as an early mosaic window, even +to the completion of the face by means of paint--of which more +presently. In painted glass, on the other hand, the colour is not in the +glass but upon it, more or less firmly attached to it by the action of +the fire. A metallic colour which has some affinity with glass, or which +is ground up with finely powdered glass, is used as a pigment, precisely +as ceramic colours are used in pottery painting. The painted glass is +then put into a kiln and heated to the temperature at which it is on the +point of melting, whilst the colour actually does melt into it. By this +means it is possible to paint a coloured picture upon a single sheet of +white glass, as has been proved at Sèvres. + +Strictly speaking, then, stained and painted glass are the very opposite +one to the other. But in practice the two processes of glazing and +painting were never kept apart. The very earliest glass was no doubt +pure mosaic. It was only in our own day that the achievement (scientific +rather than artistic) of a painted window of any size, independent of +glazier's work, was possible. Painting was at first always subsidiary to +glazier's work; after that, for a time, glazier and painter worked hand +in hand upon equal terms; eventually the painter took precedence, and +the glazier became ever more and more subservient to him. But from the +twelfth to the seventeenth century there is little of what we call, +rather loosely, sometimes "stained" and sometimes "painted" glass, in +which there is not both staining and painting--that is to say, stained +glass is used, and there is painting upon it. The difference is that in +the earlier work the painting is only used to help out the stained +glass, and in the later the stained glass is introduced to help the +painting. + +[Illustration: 1. INCRUSTED GLASS MOSAIC, BURMESE (B. M.).] + +That amounts, it may be thought, to much the same thing; and there does +come a point where staining and painting fulfil each such an important +part in the window that it is difficult to say which is the +predominating partner in the concern. For the most part, however, there +is no manner of doubt as to which practice was uppermost in the +designer's mind, as to the idea with which he set out, painting or +glazing; and it makes all the difference in the work--the difference, +for example, between a window of the thirteenth century and one of the +sixteenth, a difference about which a child could scarcely make a +mistake, once it had been pointed out to him. + +Here perhaps it will be as well to describe, once for all, the making of +a mosaic window, and the part taken in it by the glazier and the painter +respectively. It will be easier then to discriminate between the two +processes employed, and to discuss them each in relation to the other. + +The actual construction of an early window is very much like the putting +together of a puzzle. The puzzle of our childhood usually took the form +of a map. It has occurred to me, therefore, to show how an artist +working strictly after the manner of the thirteenth century--the period, +that is to say, when painting was subsidiary to glazing--would set about +putting into glass a map of modern Italy. In the first place, he would +draw his map to the size required. This he would do with the utmost +precision, firmly marking upon the paper (the mediæval artist would have +drawn directly on his wooden bench) the boundary line of each separate +patch of colour in his design. Then, according to the colour each +separate province or division was to be, he would take a separate sheet +of "pot-metal" and lay it over the drawing, so as to be able to trace +upon the glass itself the outline of such province or division. That +done, he would proceed to cut out or shape the various pieces of glass +to the given forms. In the case of a simple and compact province, such +as Rome, Tuscany, Umbria (overleaf), that would be easy enough. On the +other hand, a more irregular shape, say the province of Naples, with its +promontories, would present considerable difficulties--difficulties +practically insuperable by the early glazier, to whom the diamond as a +cutting instrument was unknown, and whose appliances for shaping were of +the rudest and most rudimentary. + +If with the point of a red-hot iron you describe upon a sheet of glass a +line, and then, taking the material between your two hands, proceed to +snap it across, the fracture will take approximately the direction of +the line thus drawn. That is how the thirteenth century glazier went to +work, subsequently with a notched iron instrument, or "grozing iron" as +it was called, laboriously chipping away the edges until he had reduced +each piece of glass to the precise shape he wanted. + +It will be seen at once that the simpler the line and the easier its +sweep the more likely the glass would be to break clean to the line, +whereas in the case of a jagged or irregular line there would always be +great danger that at any one sharp turn in it the fracture would take +that convenient opportunity of going in the way it should not. For +example, the south coast of Italy would be dangerous. You might draw the +line of the sole of the foot, but when it came to breaking the glass the +high heel would be sure to snap off (there is a little nick there +designed as if for the purpose of bringing about that catastrophe), and +similarly that over-delicate instep would certainly not bear the strain +put upon it, and would be bound to give way. It should be mentioned that +even were such pieces once safely cut (which would nowadays be possible) +the glass would surely crack at those points the first time there was +any pressure of wind upon the window, and so the prudent man would still +forestall that event by designing his glass as it could conveniently be +cut, without attempting any _tour de force_, and strengthening it at the +weak points with a line of lead, as has been done in the glass map +opposite. There is a jutting promontory on the coast of Africa, which, +even if safely cut, would be sure to break sooner or later at the point +indicated by the dotted line. + +The scale of execution would determine whether each or any province +could be cut out of a single sheet of glass, but the lines of latitude +and longitude would give an opportunity of using often three or four +pieces of glass to a province without introducing lines which formed no +part of the design. That, however, would be contrary to early usage, +which was never to make use of the leads as independent lines, but only +as boundaries between two colours. There is a reason for this reticence. +You will see that in the surface of the sea, where the latitudinal and +longitudinal lines come in most usefully, it is necessary to use also +other leads, which mean nothing but that a joint is there desirable. +These constructional leads, when they merely break up a background, are +quite unobjectionable--they even give an opportunity of getting variety +in the colour of the ground--but when some of the leads are meant to +assert themselves as drawing lines and some are not, the result is +inevitably confused. + +[Illustration: 2. THE WAY A WINDOW IS GLAZED.] + +All that the glass gives us in our mosaic map is the local colour of +sea and land--the sea, let us say, dark blue, the countries, provinces, +and islands each of its own distinctive tint. When it comes to giving +their names, it would be possible indeed on a very large scale to cut +the letters out of glass of darker colour, and glaze them in as shown in +the title word "Italy." That would involve, as will be seen, a network +of connecting lead lines. On a much smaller scale there would be nothing +for it but to have recourse to the supplementary process, and paint +them. The words Germany, Austria, Turkey, Naples, Sicily, and the rest +would have to be simply painted in opaque colour upon the translucent +glass. + +But, once we have begun to use paint, there are intermediate ways +between these two methods of inscription, either of which would be +adopted according to the scale of the lettering. These are shown in the +names of the seas. In the word "Mediterranean" each separate letter +would be cut out of a piece of glass, corresponding as nearly as +possible to its general outline or circumference, and its shape would be +made perfect by "painting out"--that is to say, by obscuring with solid +pigment that part of the glass (indicated by dots in the drawing) which +was meant to retire into the background. Presuming this wording to be in +a light colour and the background darkish, this amount of painting +would, as a matter of fact, be quite lost in the dark colour. In the +lesser descriptions "Tyrrhenian" and "Adriatic Sea," each separate word, +instead of each letter, would be cut out of one piece of glass (or +perhaps two in the longer words), and the background would be painted +out as already described. + +Paint would further be used to indicate the rivers, the mountains, the +towns, or any other detail it was necessary to give, as well as to mark +such indentations in the coastline as were too minute to be followed by +the thick lead. As a matter of practice, it is usual to paint a marginal +line of opaque colour round the glass representing just a little more +than that portion eventually to be covered by the flange of the lead, so +as to make sure that that will not by any chance cut off from view what +may be an important feature in the design. + +For example, the mere projection of a lead which too nearly approached +the delicate profile of a small face might easily destroy its outline. +The glazier's lead, it should be explained, is a wire of about a quarter +of an inch diameter, deeply grooved on two sides for the insertion of +the glass. Imagine the surfaces exposed to view on each face of the +window to be flattened, and you have a section very much like the letter +=H=, the uprights representing the flanges, and the cross-bar the "core," +which holds them together and supports the glass mosaic. + +The process of painting employed so far is of the simplest; it consists +merely in obscuring the glass with solid paint. This is laid on with a +long-haired pencil or "tracing brush." The paint itself may be mixed +with oil or gum and water, or any medium which will temporarily attach +it to the glass and disappear in the kiln; for the real fixing of the +paint is done solely by the action of the fire. The pigment employed +consists, that is to say, of per-oxides of iron and manganese ground up +with a sufficient amount of powdered flint-glass or some equivalent +silicate, which by the action of the fire is fused with the glass +(reduced to very nearly red heat), and becomes practically part and +parcel of it. + +Whenever a glass painter speaks of painted glass that is what he +means--viz., that the colour is thus indelibly burnt in. After the +middle of the sixteenth century various metallic oxides were used to +produce various more or less transparent pigments (enamel colours as +they are called to distinguish them from the pot-metal colours), but in +the thirteenth century transparent enamel colours were as yet unknown to +the glass painter, and he confined himself to the solid deep brown +pigment already spoken of--an enamel also, strictly speaking, but by no +means to be confounded with the enamel colours of later centuries. Those +were colours used for colour's sake; this is simply an opaque substance +used solely on account of its capacity to stop out so much of the colour +of pot-metal glass as may be necessary in order to define form and give +the drawing of detail; and in effect the brown, when seen against the +light, does not tell as colour at all but merely as so much blackness. +The only colour in the window is the colour of the various component +pieces of glass. Thus in the case of an early figure (page 33) the face +would be cut out of a sheet of pinkish glass and the features painted +upon it in brown lines; each garment would be cut out of the tint it was +meant to be, and the folds of the drapery outlined upon the pot-metal. +In like manner a tree would be cut out of green glass, its stem perhaps +out of brown, and only the forms of the leaves, and their veining, if +any, would be traced in paint. In the execution of the map there is no +occasion for further painting than this simplest and fittest kind of +work, little more than the glazier would himself have done had his means +allowed him. And in the very earliest glass the painter was almost as +sparing of paint as this: he did, however--it was inevitable that he +should--use lines, whether in drawing the features of a face or the +folds of drapery, which were not quite solid, and which consequently +only deepened the colour of the pot-metal, and did not quite obscure it: +he went so far even as to pass a smear of still thinner colour, a half +tint or less, over portions of the glass which he wished to lower in +tone. He began, in fact, however tentatively, to introduce shading. +Happily he was careful always to use it only as a softening influence in +his design, and never to sacrifice to it anything of the intrinsic +beauty and brilliancy of his glass. + +The glass duly painted and burnt, the puzzle would be put together again +on the bench, and bands of lead, grooved at each side to admit and hold +the glass, would be inserted between the two pieces. These would be +soldered together at the joints where two leads met; a putty-like +composition or "cement" would be rubbed into the interstices between +lead and glass to stiffen it, and make it air-and water-tight; and, that +done, the window was finished. + +It would only remain (what would in practice have been done before +cementing) to solder to the leads at intervals sundry loose ends of +copper-wire, eventually to be twisted round the iron saddle bars let +into the stone framework of the window to support it; it would then be +ready to be fixed in its place. + +In contradistinction to the mosaic method of execution adopted by the +thirteenth century glazier, a glass painter of the eighteenth century, +and perhaps of the seventeenth, would, even though there were no +necessity for longitudinal and latitudinal lines, cut up his window into +oblong pieces of convenient size, only, of course, parallel and at right +angles to one another. + +The sea he might or might not glaze in blue glass; here and there +perhaps, but not necessarily at all, an occasional province might be +leaded in with a piece of pot-metal; but for the most part he would use +panes of white glass, and rely for the colour of the provinces upon +enamel. He would have no need to separate his enamel colours by a line +of lead, and where he wanted a dividing line he would just paint it in +opaque brown. This method of glass painting forms an altogether separate +division of the subject, not yet under discussion. It is referred to +here only by way of contrast, and to emphasise the fact that, though we +are in the habit of using the term stained glass rather loosely--though +a stained glass window is almost invariably helped out to some extent by +painting (unless it be what is technically known as "leaded glass" or +"plain glazing"), and though a painted window is seldom altogether +innocent of glass that is stained--there are, as a matter of fact, two +methods of producing coloured windows, the mosaic and the enamelled; and +that however customary it may be to eke out either method by the other +more or less, windows divide themselves into two broad divisions, +according as it is pot-metal or enamel upon which the artist relies for +his effect. + +Between these two widely different ideals there are all manners and all +degrees of compromise, and methods were employed which, to describe at +this point, would only complicate matters. It will be my purpose +presently to describe in detail the steps by which mere glazing +developed into painted glass, and how painting came to supersede +glazing; to show in how far painting was a help to the glazier, and in +how far it was to his hurt; to describe, in short, the progress of the +glass painter's art, to better and to worse; and to distinguish, as far +as may be, the principles which govern or should govern it. + +[Illustration: 3. ANCIENT ARAB WINDOW.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +GLAZING. + + +The art of the glass painter was at first only the art of the glazier. +To say that may seem like self-contradiction. But it is not so. On the +contrary, it is almost literally the truth; and it is difficult to find +words which would more vividly express the actual fact. + +We are accustomed to think of a painter as using pigment always in some +liquid form, and applying it to wood or plaster, canvas or paper, with a +brush. Should he lay it on with a palette knife, as he sometimes does, +it is painting still. If he could by any possibility put together his +colours in mid-air without the aid of paper, canvas, or other solid +substance, it would still be painting. This is very much what the worker +in stained glass, by the help of strips of intervening lead, practically +succeeded in doing. + +As a painter places side by side dabs of paint, so the glazier put side +by side little pieces of coloured glass. (Glass, you see, was the medium +in which his colour was fixed, just as oil, varnish, wax, or gum is the +vehicle in which the painter's pigment is ordinarily held in +suspension.) He could execute in this way upon the bench or the sloped +easel quite an elaborate pattern in coloured glass; and although, in +order to hold the parts together in a window frame, he had perforce to +resort to some sort of binding, in lead or what not, he may still +reasonably be said, if not actually to have painted in glass, at all +events to have worked in it. In fact, until about the twelfth century, +there were no glass painters, but only glaziers. Nay, more, it is to +glaziers that we owe the glory of the thirteenth century windows, in +which, be it remembered, each separate touch of colour is represented by +a separate piece of glass, and each separate piece of glass is bounded +by a framework of lead connecting it with the neighbouring pieces, +whilst the detail added by the painter goes for not very much. + +[Illustration: 4. ARAB WINDOW LATTICE, GEOMETRIC.] + +No strictly defined, nor indeed any approximate, date can safely be +given at which the art of the glass-worker sprang into existence. Arts +do not spring into existence; they grow, developing themselves in most +cases very slowly. The art of working in stained glass can only have +been the result of a species of evolution. The germ of it lay in the +circumstance that glass was originally made in comparatively small +pieces (there were no large sheets of glass a thousand years or more +ago), and so it was necessary, in order to glaze any but the smallest +window opening, that these small pieces should be in some way cemented +together. It followed naturally, in days when art was a matter of +every-day concern, the common flower of wayside craftsmanship, that the +idea of putting these pieces together in more or less ornamental +fashion, should occur to the workman, since they must be put together +somehow; and so, almost as a matter of course, would be developed the +mosaic of transparent glass, which was undoubtedly the form stained +glass windows first took. + +It has been suggested that in some of the earliest windows the glazing +is meant to take the form of tesseræ; but the examples instanced in +support of that idea afford very little ground for supposing any such +intention on the part of the first glass-workers. It may more reasonably +be presumed that any resemblance there may be between early glass and +earlier wall mosaic comes of working in the same way; like methods +inevitably lead to like results. + +It is by no means certain, even, that the first glaziers were directly +inspired by mosaic, whether of marble or of opaque glass. They were +probably much more immediately influenced by the work of the enameller. + +That may appear at the first mention strange, considering what has been +said about the absolute divergence between mosaic and enamelled glass. +But it must be remembered that enamelling itself among the Lombard +Franks, the Merovingians, and the Anglo-Saxons, was a very different +thing from what the Limousin made it in the sixteenth century. It was, +in fact, a quite different operation, the only point in common between +the two being that they were executed in vitreous colour upon a metal +ground. The enamel referred to as having probably influenced the early +glazier is of the severer kinds familiar in Byzantine work, and known as +_champlevé_ and _cloisonné_. In the one, you know, the design is scooped +out of the metal ground, in the other its outline is bent in flat wire +and soldered to the ground. In either case the resulting cells are +filled with coloured paste, which, under the action of the fire, +vitrifies and becomes embodied with the metal. In _champlevé_ enamel +naturally the metal ground is usually a distinguishing feature. In +_cloisonné_ the ground as well as the pattern is, of course, in enamel; +but in either case the outlines, and, indeed, all drawing lines, are in +metal. In _cloisonné_ enamel the metal "_cloisons_," as they are called, +fulfil precisely the function of the leads in glass windows; and it +would have been more convenient to have left altogether out of account +the sister process, were it not that, in the painting of quite early +glass, the strokes with which the lines of the drapery and suchlike are +rendered, bear quite unmistakable likeness to the convention of the +Byzantine worker in _champlevé_. For that matter, one sees also in very +early altar-pieces painted on wood, where gold is used for marking the +folds of drapery, the very obvious inspiration of Byzantine enamel--but +that is rather by the way. + +[Illustration: 5. ARAB LATTICE, GEOMETRIC.] + +The popular idea of an early window is that of a picture, or series of +pictures, very imperfectly rendered. It may much more justly be likened +to a magnified plaque of Byzantine enamel with the light shining through +it. The Byzantine craftsman, or his descendants, at all events, did +produce, in addition to the ordinary opaque enamel, a translucent kind, +in imitation presumably of precious stones; and it might very well be +that it was from thence the glazier first derived the idea of coloured +windows. Quite certainly that was nearer to his thoughts than any form +of painting, as we understand painting nowadays; and, what is more, had +he aimed deliberately at the effect of enamel (as practised in his day), +he could not have got much nearer to it. His proceeding was almost +identical with that of the enamel worker. In place of vitreous pastes he +used glass itself; in place of brass, lead; and, for supplementary +detail, in place of engraved lines, lines traced in paint. Side by side +with the early European window glazing, and most likely before it, there +was practised in the East a form of stained glass window building of +which no mention has yet been made. In the East, also, windows were from +an early date built up of little pieces of coloured glass; but the +Mohammedan law forbidding all attempt at pictorial representation of +animate things, there was no temptation to employ painting; the glazier +could do all he wanted without it. His plan was to pierce small openings +in large slabs of stone, and in the piercings to set numerous little +jewels of coloured glass. The Romans, by the way, appear also to have +sometimes filled window spaces with slabs of marble framing discs of +coloured glass, but these were comparatively wide apart, more like +separate window-lets, each glazed with its small sheet of coloured +glass. The Oriental windows, on the contrary, were most elaborately +designed, the piercings taking the form of intricate patterns, geometric +or floral. Sometimes the design would include an inscription ingeniously +turned to ornamental use after the manner of the Moorish decorators of +the Alhambra (page 15). A further development of the Oriental idea was +to imbed the glass in plaster, a process easy enough before the plaster +had set hard. This kind of thing is common enough in Cairo to this day, +and specimens of it are to be found at the South Kensington Museum. + +M. Vogué illustrates in his book, _La Syrie Centrale_, an important +series of windows in the Mosque of Omar (Temple of Jerusalem), erected +in 1528, by Sultan Soliman. The plaster, says M. Vogué, was strengthened +by ribs of iron and rods of cane imbedded in the stouter divisions of +the framework, a precaution not necessary in the smaller Cairene +lattices (measuring as a rule about four superficial feet), in which the +pattern is simply scooped out of the half-dry plaster. + +[Illustration: 6. ARAB LATTICE, FLORAL.] + +The piercings in these Oriental windows and window lattices are not made +at right angles to the slab of stone or plaster, but are cut through at +an angle, varying according to the position and height of the window, +with a view to as little interference as possible with the coloured +light. The glass, however, being fixed nearest the outside of the +window, there is always both shadow and reflection from the deep sides +of the openings, much to the enhancement of the mellowness and mystery +of colour. In the Temple windows referred to, still further subtlety of +effect is arrived at by an outer screen or lattice of _faïence_. Thus +subdued and tempered, even crude glass may be turned to beautiful +account. + +Whence the mediæval Arabs got their glass, and the quality of the +material, are matters of conjecture. If we may judge by the not very +ancient specimens which reach us in this country, the glass used in +Cairene lattices is generally thin and raw; but set, as above described, +in jewels as it were, isolated each in its separate shadow cell, the +poorest material looks rich. The lattices here illustrated are none of +them of very early period; but, where the character of design is so +traditional and changes so slowly, the actual date of the work, always +difficult to determine, matters little. + +[Illustration: 7. ARAB GLAZING IN PLASTER.] + +It is more than probable, it is almost certain, that the Venetian +glass-workers, who in the tenth century brought their art to France, +were familiar with the coloured lattices of the Levant; for, as we know, +in the middle-ages Venice was the great trading port of Italy, in +constant communication with the East. If that was so, the Italians, +always prone to imitate, would be sure to found their practice, as they +did in other crafts, more or less upon Persian and Arabian models. At +all events, there is every reason to suppose that at first they, +practically speaking, only did in lead what the Eastern artificer did in +stone or plaster, and that the windows which, according to various +trustworthy but vague accounts, adorned the early Christian basilicas as +early as the sixth century, bore strong likeness to Mohammedan +glass--Christianised, so to speak. This is not to unsay what was before +said about the affinity of early glass to enamel. A river has not of +necessity one only and unmistakable source; and though we may not be +able to trace back through the distant years the very fountain of this +craft, we may quite certainly affirm that its current was swollen by +more than one side-stream, and that its course was shaped by all manner +of obstinate circumstances and conditions of the time, before it went to +join the broad and brimming stream of early mediæval art. + +[Illustration: 8. ARAB GLAZING IN PLASTER.] + +One more source, at least, there was at which the early glazier drew +inspiration--namely, the art of jewel setting. Coloured glass, as was +said a while ago, was itself probably first made only in imitation of +precious stones, and, being made in small pieces, it had to be set +somewhat in the manner of jewellery. In all probability the enameller +himself wrought at first only in imitation of jewellery, and afterwards +in emulation with it. + +Just as white glass was called crystal, and no doubt passed for it, so +coloured glass actually went by the name of ruby, sapphire, emerald, and +so on. It is recorded even (falsely, of course) how sapphires were +ground to powder and mixed with glass to give it its deep blue colour; +indeed, this wilful confusion of terms goes far to explain the mystery +of the monster jewels of which we read in history or the fable which not +so very long ago passed for it. Stories of diamond thrones and emerald +tables seem to lead straight into fairyland; but the glass-worker +explains such fancies, and brings us back again to reality. + +Bearing in mind, then, the preciousness of glass, and the well-kept +secrecy with regard to its composition, it is not beyond the bounds of +supposition that the glazier of the dark ages not only intended +deliberately to imitate jewellery, but meant that his glass should pass +with the ignorant (we forget how very ignorant the masses were) for +veritably precious stones. + +Even though we exempt glaziers from all charge of trickery, it was +inevitable that they should attempt to rival the work of the jeweller, +and to do in large what he had done only in small. That certainly they +did, and with such success that, even when it comes to glass of the +twelfth, and, indeed, of the thirteenth century, when already pictorial +considerations begin to enter the mind of the artist, the resemblance is +unmistakable. + +[Illustration: 9. ARAB GLAZING IN PLASTER.] + +Try to describe the effect of an early mosaic window, and you are +compelled to liken it to jewellery. Jewelled is the only term which +expresses it. And the earlier it is the more jewel-like it is in effect. + +So long as the workman looked upon his glass as a species of jewellery, +it followed, as a matter of course, from the very estimation in which he +held his material, that he did not think of obscuring it by +paint--defiling it, as he would have held. It is not so much that he +would have been ashamed to depend on the painter to put his colour +right, as that the thought of such a thing never entered his mind; he +was a glazier. It was the painter first thought of that, and his time +had not yet come. + +Possibly it may have occurred to the reader, _apropos_ of the diagram on +page 10, in which it was shown how far the glazier could go towards the +production of a map in glass, that that was not far. Certainly he does +not go very far towards making a chart of any geographical value, but he +does go a long way towards making a window; for the first and foremost +qualities in coloured glass are colour and translucency--and for +translucent colour the glazier, after the glass-maker, is alone +responsible. It is in some respects very much to be deplored that the +Gothic craftsman so early took to the use of supplementary painting, +which in the end diverted his attention from a possible development of +his craft in a direction not only natural to it but big with +possibilities never to this day realised. + +Of richly jewelled Gothic glass all innocent of paint, no single window +remains to us; but there are fairly numerous examples extant of pattern +windows glazed in white glass, whether in obedience to the Cistercian +rule which forbade colour, or with a view to letting light into the +churches--and it is to churches, prevalent as domestic glass may once +have been, we must now go for our Gothic windows. + +[Illustration: 10. GLAZING IN PLASTER, SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.] + +Some of this white pattern work is ascribed to a period almost as early +as that of any glass we know; but it is almost impossible to speak +positively as to the date of anything so extremely simple in its +execution; in which there is no technique of painting to tell tales; and +which, when once "storied" windows came into fashion, was probably left +to the tender mercies of lesser craftsmen, who may not have disdained to +save themselves the trouble of design, and to repeat the old, old +patterns. + +The earlier glazier, it was said, painted, figuratively speaking, in +glass. It is scarcely a figure of speech to say that he drew in +leadwork. + +This mode of draughtsmanship was employed in all strictly mosaic glass; +but it is in the white windows (or the pale green windows, which were +the nearest he could get to white, and which it is convenient to call +white) that this drawing with the leads is most apparent--in patterns, +that is to say, in which the design is formed entirely by the leadwork. + +You have only to look at such patterns as Nos. 11 to 17, to see how this +was so; they are all designed in outline, and the outline is given in +lead. It is perfectly plain there how every separate line the glazier +laid down in charcoal upon his bench stood for a strip of lead. And, +looking at the glass, we see that it is the lead which makes the +pattern. It is no straining of terms to call this designing in the +lead. The ingenuity in designing such patterns as those below and +opposite, which is very considerable, consists in so scheming them that +every lead line shall fulfil alike a constructive and an artistic +function; that is to say, that every line in the design shall be +necessary to its artistic effect, that there shall be no lead line which +is not an outline, no outline which is not a lead. + +[Illustration: 11. PLAIN GLAZING, BONLIEU.] + +It is not always that the glazier was so conscientious as this. M. +Viollet le Duc pointed out, in the most helpful article in his famous +Dictionary of Architecture, under the head of _Vitrail_, how in the +little window from Bonlieu, here illustrated, the mediæval craftsman +resorted to a dodge, more ingenious than ingenuous, by which he managed +to economise labour. Each separate lead line there does not enclose a +separate piece of glass. The lines are all of lead; but some of them are +mere dummies, strips of metal, holding nothing, carried across the face +of the glass only, and soldered on to the more businesslike leads at +each end. The extent of _bonâ fide_ glazing is indicated in the +right-hand corner of the drawing. I confess I was inclined at first to +think that Viollet le Duc might, in ascribing this glass to the twelfth +century, very possibly have dated it too far back; for this is the kind +of trick one would more naturally expect from the later and more +sophisticated workman; but I have since come upon the same device +myself, both at Reims and Châlons, in work certainly as old as the +thirteenth century. You see, cutting the glass was the difficulty in +those days, and sometimes it was shirked. + +It should be noted that the subterfuge employed at Bonlieu and in the +specimens from Châlons, opposite, was not in order to evade any +difficulty in glazing--the designs present none--but merely to save +trouble. There would have been more occasion for evasion in executing +the design from Aix-la-Chapelle (14), where the sharp points of the +fleur-de-lys give background shapes difficult for the glazier to cut. It +will be noticed that to the left of the panel one of the points joins +the necking-piece, which holds the fleur-de-lys together. That is a much +more practical piece of glazing than the free point, which presents a +difficulty in cutting the background, indicative of the late period to +which the glass belongs. The earlier mediæval glazier worked with +primitive tools, which kept him perforce within the bounds of simplicity +and dignified restraint. + +[Illustration: 12. CHÂLONS.] + +In white windows, so called, he did not by any means confine himself +wholly to the use of what it is convenient to call "white glass." From a +very early date, perhaps from the very first, he would enrich it with +some slight amount of colour. Having devised, as it were, a lattice of +white lines, as in the left-hand pattern from Salisbury (overleaf), it +was a very simple thing to fill here and there a division of his design +with a piece of coloured instead of white glass, as in the pattern next +to it in order. The third pattern, to the right, shows how he would even +introduce a separate jewel of colour, perhaps painted, which had to be +connected with the design by leads forming no part of the pattern. + +[Illustration: 13. CHÂLONS.] + +Colour spots are more ingeniously introduced in the example from +Brabourne Church, Kent, (said to be Norman) where the darker tints are +ingeniously thrown into the background. But here again, although this is +perhaps as early a specimen of glazing as we have in this country, the +glazier resorts in his central rosettes to the aid of paint. + +[Illustration: 14. AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.] + +[Illustration: 15. SOUTH TRANSEPT, SALISBURY.] + +It will be observed that in the marginal lines which frame this window, +and again in the white bands in two out of the three patterns from +Salisbury, leads are introduced which have only a constructional use, +and rather confuse the design. That they do not absolutely destroy it is +due to its marked simplicity, and to the proportion of the narrow bands +to the broad spaces. This is yet more clearly marked in the very +satisfactory glazing designs from S. Serge at Angers. The fact is, there +is a limit to the possibilities of design, such as that from Sens (page +96), in which literally only four leads (viz., those from the points of +the central diamond shape) are introduced wholly and solely for +strength; and when it comes to windows of any considerable size, such as +clerestory windows, to which plain glazing is peculiarly suited, leads +which merely strengthen become absolutely necessary. The art of the +designer consists in so scheming them that they shall not seriously +interfere with the pattern. + +[Illustration: 16. BRABOURNE CHURCH KENT.] + +Were the pattern in lines of colour upon white, the crosslines +strengthening them would of course be lost in the darker tint; but, as +it happens, we do not find in the earliest glazing lines of interlacing +colour, though they occur by way of border lines, as at S. Serge +(below), where a marginal line of yellow is enclosed between strips of +white. + +[Illustration: 17. S. SERGE, ANGERS.] + +The interlacing character of several of the white glazing patterns +illustrated betrays of course Romanesque influence; but there would not +have been so many designs consisting of interlacing bands of white upon +a white ground, enclosing, at intervals more or less rare, what had best +be called jewels of colour, had it not been that the forms of +interlacing strapwork lend themselves kindly to glazing. + +Every time a strap disappears, as it were, behind another, you have just +the break in its continuity which the glazier desires, and if only the +interlacings are frequent enough (as on page 96) they give him all he +wants. + +So far the examples illustrated are, for the most part, in outline; that +is to say, on a ground of white the pattern appears as a network of +leads, flowing or geometric as the case may be, emphasised here and +there by a touch of dark colour, focussing them as it were. Without such +points of colour a design looks sometimes too much like a mere outline, +meant to be filled in with colour, and, in short, unfinished; but as yet +the darker and lighter tints of white are not used to emphasise the +pattern, as they would have done if, for example, the interlacing straps +had been glazed in a slightly purer white than the ground. On the +contrary, notwithstanding the very great variety in the tints of +greenish-white, which resulted from the chemically imperfect manufacture +of the glass, they were employed very much at haphazard, and so far from +ever defining the design, go to obviate anything harsh or mechanical +there may be in it. There is else, of course, a tendency in geometric +pattern to look too merely geometric. One wants always to feel it is a +window that is there, and not just so many feet of diaper. + +Another practical form of design is that in which it is not the network +of leads, but the spaces they inclose, which constitutes the pattern; +where lines are not so much thought of as masses; where the main +consideration is colour, and contour is of quite secondary account. The +leads fulfil still their artistic function of marking the division of +the colours, as they fulfil the practical one of binding the bits of +coloured glass together; the glazier still draws in lead lines; but +attention is not called to them especially; indeed, with identically the +same lead lines one could produce two or three quite different effects, +according as one emphasised by stronger colour one series of shapes or +another. In the case of a framework of strictly geometric lines, +straight or curved, one gets patterns such as we see in marble inlay. +The slab of marble mosaic and the stained glass border opposite are more +than alike; the one is simply a carrying further of the other. The glass +design might just as well have been executed in marble, or the marble +design in glass. In the upper church at Assisi are some borders of +geometric inlay, one of which is given on page 96, identical in +character with the minute geometric inlay (which, by the way, was also +in glass, though opaque), with which the Cosmati illuminated, so to +speak, their marble shrines and monuments. This species of pattern work, +appropriate as it is to glass mosaic, transparent as well as opaque, +does not seem to have been much used in glass, even in Italy; where it +does occur it is in association, as at Assisi and Orvieto, with painted +work of the thirteenth or fourteenth century, though from its Byzantine +character it might as well be centuries earlier. It appears that this, +which was, theoretically, the simplest and most obvious form of leaded +pattern work, and might, therefore, well have been the earliest, was +never adopted to anything like the extent to which interlacing ornament +was carried. + +[Illustration: 18. MARBLE MOSAIC, ROMAN.] + +[Illustration: 19. GLASS, ORVIETO.] + +Mediæval glaziers did not attempt anything like foliated ornament in +leaded glass, and for good reason. In such work the difficulty of doing +without lines detrimental to the design is greatly increased, whereas +abstract forms you can bend to your will, as you can bend your strip of +lead. The more natural the forms employed the more nature has to be +considered in rendering them, and nature declines to go always in the +direction of simple glazing. It might seem easy enough (to those who do +not know the difficulty) to glaze together bits of heart-shaped green +glass for leaves, and red for petals, with a dot of yellow for the eye +of the flower, and to make use of the lead not only for outlines but for +the stalks of the leaves and so on, all on a paler ground; but it is not +so easy as that. The designer cannot go far without wanting other +connecting leads (besides those used for the stalk); and when some leads +are meant very emphatically to be seen and some to be ignored, there is +no knowing what the actual effect may be: the drawing lines may be quite +lost in a network of connecting leads. Again, the mediæval glazier did +not, so far as we have any knowledge, build up in lead glazing a boldly +pronounced pattern, light on dark or dark on light. This he might +easily have done. On a small scale plain glazing must perforce be +modest; but, given a scale large enough, almost any design in silhouette +can be expressed in plain glazing. You may want in that case plenty of +purely constructional leads, not meant to be seen, or in any case meant +to be ignored; but if the contrast between design and background be only +strong enough (say colour on white or white on colour), they do not in +the least hurt the general effect. On the contrary, they are of the +utmost use to the workman who knows his materials, enabling him to get +that infinite variety of colour which is the crowning charm of glass. + +What the designer of leaded glass had to consider was, in the first +place, the difficulty of shaping the pieces. That is now no longer very +great, thanks to the diamond, which makes cutting so easy that there is +even a danger lest the workman's skill of hand may outrun his judgment, +and tempt him to indulge in useless _tours de force_. The absurdity of +taking the greatest possible pains to the least possible purpose is +obvious. The more important consideration is now, therefore, the +substantiality of the window once made. Think of the force of a gale of +wind and its pressure upon the window: it is tremendous; and glazing +does not long keep a smooth face before it. Except there is a solid iron +bar to keep it in place, it soon bulges inwards, and presents a surface +as undulous, on a smaller scale, as the pavement of St. Mark's; and, as +it begins to yield, snap go the awkwardly shaped pieces of glass which +the glazier has been at such pains to cut. The mediæval artist, +therefore, exercised no more than common sense, when he shaped the +pieces of glass he employed with a view to security, avoiding sharp +turns or elbows in the glass, or very long and narrow strips, or even +very acutely pointed wedge-shaped pieces. No doubt the difficulty of +cutting helped to keep him in the way he should go; probably, also, he +was under no temptation to indulge in pieces of glass so large that, +incapable of yielding, they were bound to break under pressure of the +wind. That he sometimes used pieces so small as in time to get clogged +with dust and dirt, was owing to the natural desire to use up the +precious fragments which, under his clumsy system of cutting, must have +accumulated in great quantity. Where most he showed his mastery was, in +foreseeing where the strain would come, and introducing always a lead +joint where the crack might occur, anticipating and warding off the +danger to come. He was workman enough frankly to accept the limitations +of his trade. Occasionally (as at Bonlieu) he may have shirked work; but +he accommodated himself to the nature of his materials. Never pretending +to do what he could not, he betrayed neither its weakness nor his own. + +Mere _glazing_ has here been discussed at a length which perhaps neither +existing work of the kind nor the modern practice of the craft (more is +the pity) might seem to demand. It is the most modest, the rudest even, +of stained glass; but it is the beginning and the foundation of glass +window making, and it affects most deeply even the fully developed art +of the sixteenth century. + +The leading of a window is the framework of its design, the skeleton to +be filled out presently and clothed in colour; and, if the anatomy is +wrong, nothing will ever make the picture right. The leads are the +bones, which it is necessary to study, even though they were +intrinsically without interest, for on them depends the form which shall +eventually charm us. Beauty is not skin deep: it is the philosophy of +the poet which is shallow. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +EARLY MOSAIC WINDOWS. + + +It has been explained already at how very early a period "stained" glass +begins also to be "painted" glass more or less. + +But for the fond desire to be something more than an artist--to teach, +to preach, to tell a story--the glazier would possibly have been quite +content with the mere jewellery of glass, and might have gone on for +years, and for generations, using his pot-metal as it left the pot. As +it was, working always in the service of the Church, in whose eyes it +was of much more importance that a window should be "storied" than that +it should be "richly dight," he found it necessary from the first to +adopt the use of paint--not, as already explained, for the purpose of +giving colour, but of shutting it out, or at most modifying it. His work +was still essentially, and in the first place, mosaic. He conceived his +window, that is to say, as made up of a multiplicity of little pieces of +coloured glass, the outlines supplied, for the most part, by the strong +lines of connecting leadwork, and the details traced in lines of opaque +pigment. He still designed with the leads, as I have expressed it, and +throughout the thirteenth century (though less emphatically than in the +twelfth) his design is commonly quite legible at a distance at which the +painted detail is altogether lost; but in designing his leads he had +always in view, of course, that they were to be helped out by paint. + +In the late thirteenth century or early fourteenth century figure from +Troyes, on page 336, which depends very little indeed upon any painted +detail to be deciphered, the lighter figure glazed upon a ground of dark +trellis-work is not only readable, but suggestive of considerable +feeling; and in the undoubtedly fourteenth century figure on page 241, +where, with the exception of the hands and face, there is absolutely no +indication of the paint with which the artist eventually completed his +drawing, there is no mistaking the recumbent figure of Jesse, even +without any help of colour. But the earlier the glass, the less was +there of painting, and the more the burden of design fell upon the +glazier. The two figures from Le Mans, here given (generally allowed to +belong to about the year 1100) show very plainly both the amount and the +character of the painting used, and the extent to which the design +depends upon it. There is no mistake about the value of the lead lines +there, or the extreme simplicity of the painted detail. + +[Illustration: 20. FIGURES FROM ASCENSION, LE MANS.] + +It will be seen that paint is there used for three purposes: to paint +out the ground round about the feet, hands, and faces; to mark the folds +of the drapery, and just an indication of shading upon it; and to +blacken the hair. It was only in thus rendering the human hair that the +earliest craftsman ever used paint as local colour. In that case he had +a way of scraping out of it lines of light to indicate detail. If such +lines showed too bright, it was easy to tone them down with a film of +thinner paint. In these particular figures from Le Mans the artist had +not yet arrived at that process; but from the very first it was a quite +common custom, instead of painting very small ornamental detail, to +obscure the glass with solid pigment, and then scrape out the ornament. + +[Illustration: 21. HITCHIN CHURCH.] + +The fact is, that in early windows a much larger proportion of the glass +is obscured, and had need to be obscured, than would be supposed. It +will be seen what a considerable area of paint surrounds the feet of the +two apostles on page 33. This is partly owing to the then difficulty of +exactly shaping the pieces of glass employed; but it is largely due to +the actual necessity of sufficient area of dark to counteract the +tendency of the lighter shades of glass, such as the brownish-pink +employed for flesh tints, to spread their rays and obliterate the +drawing. Not only would the extremely attenuated fingers, shown in the +scraps from Hitchin Church above look quite well fleshed in the glass, +but it was essential that they should be so painted in order to come out +satisfactorily--that is, without the aid of shading, to which painters +did not yet much resort. On the contrary, they were at first very chary +of half tint--employing it, indeed, for the rounding of flesh and so on, +but not to degrade the colour of the glass, small though their palette +was. + +[Illustration: 22. S. REMI, REIMS.] + +Something, however, had to be done to prevent especially the whites, +yellows, and pale blues, and in some degree all but the dark colours, +from taking more than their due part in the general effect. It was not +always possible to reduce the area of the glass of an aggressive tint to +the dimensions required. To have reduced a line of white, for example, +to the narrowness at which it would tell for what was wanted, would have +been to make it so narrow that the accumulation of dust and dirt +between the leads would soon have clogged it and blotted it out +altogether. What they did was to paint it heavily with pattern. For +example, they would paint out great part of a white line and leave only +a row of beads, with so much paint between and around them that +certainly not more than one-third of the area of the glass was left +clear, and the effect at the right distance (as at Angers, page 116) +would be that of a continuous string of pearls. They would in the same +way paint a strip of glass solid, and merely pick out a zig-zag or some +such pattern upon it, with or without a marginal thread of light on each +side (Le Mans). Rather than lower the brightness of the glass by a tint +of pigment they would coat it with solid brown, and pick out upon it a +minute diaper of cross-hatched lines and dots, by that means reducing +the volume of transmitted light without much interfering with its purity +(S. Remi, Reims, below). Diaper of more interesting kind afforded a +ready means of lowering shades of glass which were too light or too +bright for the purpose required, and for supplying in effect the +deficiencies of the pot-metal palette. Overleaf are some fragments of +diaper pattern so picked out, from Canterbury, which would possibly +never have been devised if the designer had had to his hand just the +shade of blue glass he wanted. Something certainly of the elaboration of +pattern which distinguishes the earliest glass comes of the desire to +qualify its colour. Viollet le Duc endeavours to explain with scientific +precision which are the colours which spread most, and how they spread. +His analysis is useful as well as interesting; but absolute definition +of the effect of radiation is possible only with regard to a rigidly +fixed range of colours to which no colourist would ever confine himself. +A man gets by experience to know the value of his colours in their +place, and thinks out his scheme accordingly. He puts, as a matter of +course, more painting into pale draperies than into dark, and so on; but +to a great extent he acts upon that subtle sort of reasoning which we +call feeling. Intuition it may be, but it is the intuition of a man who +knows. + +The simple method of early execution went hand in hand with equal +simplicity of design--the one almost necessitated the other--and the +earlier the window the more plainly is its pattern pronounced, light +against dark, or, less usually, (as in some most interesting remains of +very early glass from Châlons now at the _Musée des Arts Décoratifs_ at +Paris) in full, strong colour upon white. In twelfth century work +especially, figures and ornament alike are always frankly shown _en +silhouette_. Witness the design on pages 33 and 115. Similar relief or +isolation of the figure against the background is shown in the +thirteenth century bishops, occupying two divisions of a rose window at +Salisbury, on page 275; and again in the little subject from Lyons, +where S. Peter is being led off by the gaoler to prison. + +[Illustration: 23. CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL.] + +In proportion as the aim of the artist becomes more pictorial he groups +his figures more in clumps (you see indications of that at Canterbury), +whence comes much of the confusion of effect characteristic of the +thirteenth century as it advances, not in this respect in the direction +of improvement. In his haste to tell a story he tells it less +effectively. Where an early subject is unintelligible (supposing it to +be in good preservation) it is almost invariably owing to the figures +not being clearly enough cut out against the background. Isolation of +the design seems to be a necessary condition of success in glass of the +simple, scarcely painted, kind. In ornament, where the artist had +nothing to think of but artistic effect, he invariably and to a much +later period defined it unmistakably against contrasting colour. That is +illustrated on page 117, part of a thirteenth century window at +Salisbury, and in the border below, as well as various others of the +period, pages 129, 130, and elsewhere. + +[Illustration: 24. POITIERS CATHEDRAL. (Compare with 59.)] + +It is the almost unanimous verdict of the inexpert that the lead lines +very seriously detract from the beauty of early windows. How much more +beautiful they would be, it is said, without those ugly black lines! +Possibly the expert and the lover of old glass have unconsciously +brought themselves not to see what they do not want to see; and the +leads may, soberly and judiciously speaking, seriously interfere with +the form of the design. But, in the first place, the beauty of early +glass is in its colour, not in its form. That is very clearly shown in +the illustrations to this chapter and the next; which give, +unfortunately, nothing of the beauty and real glory of the glass, but +only its design and execution; they appear perhaps in black and white so +merely grotesque, that it may be difficult to any one not familiar with +the glass itself to understand why so much should be said in its praise. +In reality the lack of beauty, especially apparent in the figure drawing +of the early glass painters when reduced to monochrome, taken in +conjunction with the magnificent effect of many of the earliest windows +(which no colourist has ever yet been known to deny) is proof in itself +how entirely their art depended upon colour--colour, it should be added, +of a quality quite unapproachable by any other medium than that of +translucent glass or actual jewellery. No one who appreciates at +anything like its full value the magnificence of that colour will think +the interference of occasional lead lines a heavy price to pay for it. + +[Illustration: 25. S. KUNIBERT, COLOGNE.] + +For--and this is the second point to be explained in reference to +leading--the leads, were they never so objectionable, are actually the +price we pay for the glory of early glass. It is by their aid we get +those mosaics of pot-metal, the depth and richness of which to this day, +with all our science of chemistry, we cannot approach by any process of +enamelling. Moreover, though merely constructional leads, taking a +direction contrary to the design, may at times disturb the eye, (they +scarcely ever disturb the effect) they add to the richness of the glass +in a way its unlearned admirers little dream. Not only is the depth and +intensity of the colour very greatly enhanced by the deep black setting +of lead, a veritable network of shade in which jewels of bright colour +are caught, but it is by the use of a multiplicity of small pieces of +glass (instead of a single sheet, out of which the drapery of a figure +could be cut all in one piece--the ideal of the ignorant!), that the +supreme beauty of colour is reached. Examine the bloom of a peach or of +a child's complexion, and see how it is made up of specks of blue and +grey and purple and yellow amongst the pink and white of which it is +supposed to consist. Every artist, of course, knows that a colour is +beautiful according to the variety in it; and a "Ruby" background (as it +is usually called), which is made up of little bits of glass of various +shades of red, not only crimson, scarlet, and orange, but purple and +wine-colour of all shades from deepest claret to tawny port, is as far +beyond what is possible in a sheet of even red glass as the colour of a +lady's hand is beyond the possible competition of pearl powder or a pink +kid glove. Not only, therefore, were the small pieces of glass in early +windows, and the consequent leads, inevitable, but they are actually at +the very root of its beauty; and the artificer of the dark ages was +wiser in his generation than the children of this era of enlightenment. +He did not butt his head against immovable obstacles, but built upon +them as a foundation. Hence his success, and in it a lesson to the +glazier for all time--which was taken to heart (as will be shown +presently) by craftsmen even of a period too readily supposed to have +been given over entirely to painting upon glass. + +Let there be no misunderstanding about what is claimed for the earliest +windows. The method of mosaic, eked out with a minimum of tracing in +opaque pigment, does not lend itself very kindly to picture; and it is +in ornament that the thirteenth century glazier is pre-eminent. There is +even something barbaric about the splendour of his achievement. Might it +not be said that in all absolutely ornamental decoration there is +something of the barbaric?--which may go to account for the rarity of +real ornament, or any true appreciation of it, among modern people. + +We might not have to scratch the civilised man very deep to reach the +savage in him, but he is, at all events, sophisticated enough to have +lost his unaffected delight in strong bright colours and "meaningless" +twistings of ornament. Be that as it may, the figure work of the +thirteenth century window designer is distinctly less perfect than his +scrolls and suchlike, partly, it is true, because of his inadequate +figure drawing, but partly also because his materials were not well +adapted to anything remotely like pictorial representation. The figures +in his subjects have, as before said, to be cut out against the +background in order to be intelligible. Hence a stiff and ultra-formal +scheme of design, and also a certain exaggeration of attitude, which in +the hands of a _naïve_ and sometimes almost childish draughtsman becomes +absolutely grotesque. This is most strikingly the case in the larger +figures, sometimes considerably over lifesize, standing all in a row in +the clerestory lights of some of the great French cathedrals. + +[Illustration: 26. LYONS.] + +The scale of these figures gave opportunity (heads all-of-a-piece show +that it did not actually make it a necessity) for glazing the faces in +several pieces of glass; and it was quite the usual thing, as at Lyons +(opposite) to glaze the flesh in pinkish-brown, the beard in white or +grey or yellow or some dark colour--not seldom blue, which had at a +distance very much the value of black--and the eyes in white. Sometimes +even, as at Reims, the iris of the eye was not represented by a blot of +paint but was itself glazed in blue. The effect of this might have been +happier if the lines of the painting had been more of the same strength +as the leads, and so strong enough to support them. As it is, the great +white eyes start out of the picture and spoil it. They have a way of +glaring at you fixedly; there is no speculation in their stare; they +look more like huge goggles than live eyes. And it is not these only +which are grotesque; the smaller figures in subject windows are, for the +most part, rude and crude, to a degree which precludes one, or any one +but an archæologist _pur sang_, from taking them seriously as figure +design. They are often really not so much like human figures as +"bogies," ugly enough to frighten a child. What is more to be deplored +is that they are so ugly as actually to have frightened away many a +would-be artist in glass from the study of them--a study really +essential to the proper understanding of his _métier_; for repellant as +those bogey figures may be, they show more effectually than later, more +attractive, and much more accomplished painting, the direction in which +the glass painter should go, and must go, if he wants to make figures +tell, say, in the clerestory of a great church. + +Apart from the halo of sentiment about the earliest work--and who shall +say how much of that sentiment we bring to it ourselves?--apart from the +actual picturesqueness--and how much of that is due to age and +accident?--there _is_ in the earliest glass a feeling for the material +and a sense of treatment seldom found in the work of more accomplished +glass painters. If there is not actually more to be learnt from it than +from later and more consummate workmanship, there is at least no danger +of its teaching a false gospel, as that may do. + +From the grossest and most archaic figures, ungainly in form and +fantastic in feature, stiff in pose and extravagant in action, out of +all proportion to their place in the window, there are at least two +invaluable lessons to be learnt--the value of broad patches of +unexpected colour, interrupting that monotony of effect to which the +best-considered schemes of ornament incline, and the value of +simplicity, directness, and downright rigidity of design. Severity of +design is essential to largeness of style; it brings the glass into +keeping with the grandeur of a noble church, into tune with the solemn +chords of the organ. Modern windows may sometimes astound us by their +aggressive cleverness, the old soothe and satisfy at the same time that +they humble the devout admirer. + +The confused effect of Early glass (except when the figures are on a +very large scale) is commonly described as "kaleidoscopic." That is not +a very clever description, and it is rather a misleading one. For, +except in the case of the rose or wheel windows, common in France, Early +glass is not designed on the radiating lines which the kaleidoscope +inevitably gives. It is enough for the casual observer that the effect +is made up of broken bits of bright colour; and if they happen to occupy +a circular space the likeness is complete to him. But to know the lines +on which an Early Gothic window was built, is to see, through all +confusion of effect, the evidence of design, and to resent the +implication of thoughtless mechanism implied in the word kaleidoscopic. +Nevertheless, little as the mediæval glaziers meant it--they were lavish +of the thought they put into their art--their glass does often delight +us, something as the toy amuses children, because the first impression +it produces upon us is a sense of colour, in which there is no too +definite form to break the charm. There comes a point in our +satisfaction in mere beauty (to some it comes sooner than to others--too +soon, perhaps) at which we feel the want of a meaning in it--must find +one, or our pleasure in it is spoilt; we even go so far as to put a +meaning into it if it is not there; but at first it is the mysterious +which most attracts the imagination. + +And even afterwards, when the mystery is solved, we are not sorry to +forget its meaning for a while, to be free to put our own interpretation +upon beauty, or to let it sway us without asking why, just as we are +moved by music which carries us we know not where, we care not. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +PAINTED MOSAIC GLASS. + + +The glass so far vaguely spoken of as "Early" belongs to the period when +the glazier designed his leads without thinking too much about painting. + +[Illustration: 27. CHARTRES.] + +There followed a period when the workman gave about equal thought to the +glazing and the painting of his window. + +Then came a time when he thought first of painting, and glazing was a +secondary consideration with him. + +[Illustration: 28. S. KUNIBERT, COLOGNE.] + +According as we contemplate glass painting from the earlier or the later +standpoint, from the point of view of glass or of painting, we are sure +to prefer one period to the other, to glory perhaps in the advance of +painting, or to regret the lesser part that coloured glass eventually +plays in the making of a window. To claim for one or the other manner +that it is the true and only way, were to betray the prejudice of the +partizan. Each justifies itself by the masterly work done in it, each is +admirable in its way. It is not until the painter began, as he +eventually did, to take no thought of the glass he was using, and the +way it was going to be glazed, that he can be said with certainty to +have taken the downward road in craftsmanship. We shall come to that +soon enough; meanwhile, throughout the Gothic period at least, he kept +true to a craftsmanlike ideal, and never quite forsook the traditions of +earlier workmanship; and until well into the fourteenth century he +began, we may say, with glazing. In the fourteenth century borders +overleaf and in the figure on page 47, no less than in the earlier +examples on pages 43 and 46, the glazing lines fulfil a very important +part in the design, emphasising the outlines of the forms, if they do +not of themselves form an actual pattern. Naturally, once the glazier +resorted to the use of paint, he schemed his leads with a view to +supplementary painting, and had always a shrewd idea as to the details +he meant to add; but it will be clear to any one with the least +experience in design that a man might map out the leadwork of such +borders as those shown below with only the vaguest idea as to how he was +going to fill them in with paint, and yet be sure of fitting them with +effective foliage. So the architectural canopies on pages 134, 135, 154, +were pretty surely first blocked out according to their lead lines; and +not till the design was thus mapped out in colour did the designer begin +to draw the detail of his pinnacles and crockets. The invariable +adherence to a traditional type of design made it the easier for him to +keep in mind the detail to come. For he had not so much to imagine as to +remember. He was free, however, always to follow any spontaneous impulse +of design. + +[Illustration: 29. S. OUEN, ROUEN.] + +It was told in Chapter IV. how, in the beginning, pigment was used only +to paint out the light, to emphasise drawing, and to give detail--such +as the features of the face, the curls of the hair, and so on. That was +the ruling idea of procedure. In practice, however, it is not very easy +to paint perfectly solid lines on glass. At the end of a stroke always, +and whenever the brush is not charged full of colour, the lines +insensibly get thin, not perfectly opaque, that is to say; and so, in +spite of himself, the painter would continually be obtaining something +like translucency--a tint, in fact, and not a solid brown. Not to have +taken advantage of this half tint, would have been to prove himself +something less than a good workman, less than a reasonable one; and he +did from the first help out his drawing by a smear of paint, more or +less in the nature of shading. In flesh painting of the twelfth century +(or attributed to that early date) there are indications of such +shading, used, however, with great moderation, and only to supplement +the strong lines of solid brown in which the face was mainly drawn. The +features were first very determinedly drawn in line ("traced" is the +technical term), and then, by way of shade, a slight scum of paint was +added. + +Still, in thirteenth century work, there is frequently no evidence of +such shading; the painter has been quite content with the traced line. +In the fourteenth century a looser kind of handling is observed. The +painter would trace a head in not quite solid lines of brown, and then +strengthen them here and there with perfectly opaque colour, producing +by that means a much softer quality of line. In any case, the painting +until well into the century was at the best rude, and the half tint, +such as it was, used, one may say, to be smeared on. Here again practice +followed the line of least resistance. It was difficult with the +appliances then in use to paint a gradated tint which would give the +effect of modelling; and accordingly very little of the kind was +attempted. Eventually, however, the painter began to stipple his smear +of shadow, at once softening it and letting light into it. + +Towards the end of the century this stippling process was carried a step +further. It occurred to the workman to coat his glass all over (or all +of it except what was meant to remain quite clear) with thin brown, and +then, with a big dry brush, dab it until it assumed a granular or +stippled surface (darker or lighter, according to the amount of +stippling). This was not only more translucent than the smeared colour +but more easily graduated, and capable of being so manipulated, and so +softened at the edges, as readily to give a very fair amount of +modelling. This shading was often supplemented by dark lines or +hatchings put in with a brush, as well as by lines scraped out of the +tint to lighten it. But in any case there was for a while nothing like +heavy shading. Even in work belonging to the fifteenth century, and +especially in English glass, as at York, Cirencester, Ross, &c., it is +quite a common thing to find that the drawing is mainly in line, very +delicately done, helped out by the merest hint of shading in tint. This +glass is sometimes a little flat in effect, and it is not equal in force +to contemporary foreign work; but it is peculiarly refined in execution, +and it has qualities of glass-like sparkle and translucency which more +than make amends for any lack of solidity in painting. Solidity is just +the one thing we can best dispense with in glass. + +[Illustration: 30. SALISBURY.] + +A comparison of the two borders on pages 38 and 175, both German work, +will show how little difference of principle there was between the +thirteenth century craftsman and his immediate successor. The difference +in style between the two is strikingly marked--the one is quite +Romanesque in character, the detail of the other is comparatively +naturalistic; but when you come to look at the way they are executed, +the way the glazing is mapped out, the way the leads emphasise the +outlines, whilst paint is only used to make out details which lead could +not give--you will see that the new man has altered his mind more with +regard to what he wants to do in glass than as to how he wants to do it. +Very much might be said with regard to the two figures on this page and +the opposite. The French designer has departed from the archaic +composition of the earlier Englishman, and put more life and action into +his figure, but there is very little difference in the technique of the +two men, less than appears in the illustrations; for, as it happens, one +drawing aims at giving the lines of the glass, the other at showing its +effect. The fourteenth century figure on page 51 relies more than these +last upon painting. The folds of the saint's tunic, for example, are not +merely traced in outline, but there is some effect of modelling in them. + +It will be instructive also to compare the fourteenth century hop +pattern on page 173 with the fourteenth century vine on page 364, and +the fifteenth century example on page 345. In the first the method of +proceeding is almost as strictly mosaic as though it had been a scroll +of the preceding century. Leaves, stalks, and fruits are glazed in light +colour upon dark, and bounded by the constructional lines of lead. In +the second, though the main forms are still outlined by the leads, much +greater use is made of paint: the topmost leaf is in one piece of glass +with the stalk of the tree, and all the leaves are relieved by means of +shading. In the third the artist has practically drawn his vine scroll, +and then thought how best he could glaze it; and the leads come very +much as they may. + +This last-mentioned proceeding is typical of a period not yet under +discussion, but the second illustrates very fairly the supplementary use +of paint made in the fourteenth century. + +[Illustration: 31. S. URBAIN, TROYES.] + +A rather unusual but suggestive form of fourteenth century glazing is +shown on page 176. It was the almost invariable practice at this period, +as in the preceding centuries, to distinguish the pattern, whether of +scroll or border, by relieving it against a background of contrasting +colour, usually light against dark; but here the border is varicoloured, +without other ground than the opaque pigment used for painting out the +forms of the leaves, etc., and filling in between them. The method lends +itself only to design in which the forms are so closely packed as to +leave not too much ground to be filled in. A fair amount of solid paint +about the leaves and stalks does no harm. A good deal was used in Early +work, and it results in happier effects than when minute bits of +background are laboriously leaded in. The main point is--and it is one +the early glaziers very carefully observed--that the glass through which +the light is allowed to come should not be made dirty with paint. It was +mentioned before (page 35) how, from the first, a background would be +painted solid and a diaper picked out of it. Further examples of that +are shown overleaf and on pages 88 and 103, though, as will be seen, a +considerable portion of the glass is by this means obscured, the effect +is still brilliant; and in proportion as lighter and brighter tints of +glass came into use, it became more and more necessary; in fact, it +never died out. The diaper opposite belongs to the fifteenth century, +and the minuter of the three diapers above, as well as those on pages 88 +and 103, belong to the sixteenth century. + +[Illustration: 32. DIAPERS SCRATCHED OUT.] + +Now that the reader may be presumed to have a perfectly clear idea of +the process of the early glazier, and to realise the distinctly mosaic +character of old glass, it is time mention should be made of two +important intermediate methods of glass staining which presently began +to affect the character of stained glass windows. + +Allusion has been made (page 2) to the Roman practice of making glass in +strata of two colours, which they carved cameo-fashion in imitation of +onyx and the like; at least, one _tour de force_ of this kind is +familiar to every one in the famous Portland vase, in which the outer +layer of white glass is in great part ground away, leaving the design in +cameo upon dark blue. The mediæval glass-blower seems from the first to +have been acquainted with this method of coating a sheet of glass with +glass of a different colour. As the Roman coated his dull blue with +opaque white glass, so he coated translucent white with rich pot-metal +colour. It was not a very difficult operation. He had only to dip his +lump of molten white into a pot of coloured glass, and, according to +the quantity of coloured material adhering to it, so his bubble of glass +(and consequently the sheet into which it was opened out) was spread +with a thinner or thicker skin of colour. The Gothic craftsman took +advantage of this facility, in so far as he had any occasion for its +use. The occasion arose owing to the density of the red glass he +employed, which was such that, if he had made it of the thickness of the +rest of his glass, it would have been practically opaque. To have made +it very much thinner would have been to make it more fragile; and in any +case, it was easier to make a good job of the glazing when the glass was +all pretty much of a thickness. A layer of red upon white offered a +simple and practical way out of the difficulty. + +What is called "ruby" glass, therefore, is not red all through, but only +throughout one half or a third of its thickness. The colour is only, so +to speak, the jam upon the bread; but the red and the white glass are +amalgamated at such a temperature as to be all but indivisible, to all +intents and purposes as thoroughly one as ordinary pot-metal glass. + +[Illustration: 33. DIAPER SCRATCHED OUT.] + +For a long while glass painters used this ruby glass and a blue glass +made in the same way precisely as though it had been self-coloured. But +in shaping a piece of ruby glass, especially with their inadequate +appliances, they would be bound sometimes to chip off at the edges +little flakes of red, revealing as many little flaws of white. This +would be sure to suggest, sooner or later, the deliberate grinding away +of the ruby stratum in places where a spot of white was needed smaller +than could conveniently be leaded in. As to the precise date at which +some ingenious artist may first have used this device, it may be left to +archæology to speculate. It must have been a very laborious process; and +the early mediæval ideal of design was not one that offered any great +temptation to resort to it during the thirteenth or even the fourteenth +century. It was not, in fact, until the painting of windows was carried +to a point at which there was some difficulty in so scheming the lines +of the lead that they should not in any way mar its delicacy, that the +practice of "flashing" glass, as it is termed, became common. That is +why no mention of it has been made till now. It will be seen that it is +a perfectly practical and workmanlike process, rendering possible +effects not otherwise to be got in glass, but lending itself rather to +minuteness of execution and elaboration of detail than to splendour of +colour or breadth of effect. + +[Illustration: 34. QUEEN OF SHEBA, FAIRFORD.] + +The second intermediate method of staining glass began earlier to affect +the design and execution of windows; and the character of fourteenth +century glass is distinctly modified by it; and, curiously enough, +whilst flashing applied to red and blue glass, this applies to yellow. + +It was discovered about the beginning of the fourteenth century that +white glass painted with a solution of silver would take in the kiln a +pure transparent stain of yellow, varying, according to its strength and +the heat of the furnace, from palest lemon to deepest orange. Observe +that this yellow stain is neither an enamel nor a pot-metal colour, but +literally a stain, the only stain used upon glass. In pot-metal the +stain (if it may be so called) is _in_ the glass, this is _upon_ it. But +it is absolutely indelible; it can only be removed with the surface of +the glass itself; time has no more effect upon it than if the glass were +coated with yellow pot-metal. This silver stain was not only of a +singularly pure and delicate colour, compared to which pot-metal yellows +were hot and harsh, but it had all the variety of a wash of +water-colour, shading off by imperceptible degrees from dark to light, +and that so easily that the difficulty would have been in getting a +perfectly flat tint. + +[Illustration: 35. S. GREGORY, ALL SOULS' COLLEGE, OXFORD.] + +Moreover, it could be as readily traced in lines or little touches of +colour as it could be floated on in broad surfaces. By its aid it was as +easy to render the white pearls on a bishop's golden mitre as to give +the golden hair of a white-faced angel, or to relieve a white figure +against a yellow ground--and all without the use of intervening lead. + +[Illustration: 36. DIAPER IN WHITE AND STAIN, ALL SAINTS' CHURCH, YORK.] + +It is not surprising that such a discovery had a very important effect +upon the development of the glass painter's practice. By means of it +were produced extraordinarily beautiful effects, as of gold and silver, +peculiarly characteristic of later Gothic work. The crockets and finials +of white canopies would be touched with it as with gold, the hair of +angels and the crowns of kings; or the nimbus itself would be stained, +the head now being habitually painted on one piece of white glass with +the nimbus. The crown and the pearl-edged head-band of the Queen of +Sheba, from Fairford, (page 50), are stained upon the white glass out of +which the head is cut. In the figure of S. Gregory on page 51 the triple +crown is stained yellow, and so is the nimbus of the bull, whose wings +also are shaded in stain varying from light to dark. + +Of the elaborate diapering of white drapery, with patterns in rich +stain, more and more resorted to as the fifteenth century advanced, a +specimen is here given, in which the design is figured in white upon a +yellow ground, outlined with a delicately traced line of brown. Stain +was seldom used on white without such outline. + +In the end white and stain predominated. Early glass was likened to +jewellery; now the jewels seem to be set in gold and silver. There was a +loss in dignity and grandeur, but there was a gain in gaiety and +brightness. How far stain encouraged the more abundant use of white +glass which prevailed in the fifteenth century it might be rash to say; +at any rate, it fitted in to perfection with the tendency of the times, +which was ever more and more in the direction of light, until the later +Gothic windows became, in many instances, not so much coloured windows +as windows of white and stain enclosing panels or pictures in colour. +Even in these pictures very often not more than about one-third of the +glass was in rich colour. And not only was more white glass used, but +the white itself was purer and more silvery, lighter, and at the same +time thinner, giving occasion and excuse for that more delicate painting +which perhaps was one great reason for the change in its quality. At all +events, the more transparent character of the material necessitated more +painting than was desirable in the case of the hornier texture of the +older make. Hence the prevalence of diaper already referred to. + +By the latter half of the fifteenth century painting plays a very +important part in stained glass windows. We have arrived at a period +when it is no longer subsidiary to mosaic; still it has not yet begun to +take precedence of it. The artist is now a painter, and he relies for +much of his effect upon painting; but he is a glazier, too, and careful +to make the most of what glass can do. He designs invariably with a view +to the glazing of his design, and with full knowledge of what that +means. He knows perfectly well what can be done in glass, and what +cannot. He has not yet carried painting to the perfection to which it +came eventually to be carried, but neither has he begun to rely upon it +for what can best be done in mosaic. He can scarcely be said to prefer +one medium to another; he uses both to equally workmanlike purpose. He +does not, like the early glazier, design in lead any longer, but neither +does he leave the consideration of leading till after he has designed +his picture, as painters came subsequently to do. + +It amounts, it might be thought, to much the same thing whether the +artist begins with his lead lines and works up to his painting, as at +first he did, or begins with his painting and works up to the leads, as +became the practice,--so long as in either case he has always in mind +the after-process, and works with a view to it. But the truth seems to +be that few men have ever a thing quite so clearly in their minds as +when they have it in concrete form before their eyes. The glazier may +reckon upon the paint to come, but he does not rely upon it quite so +much as the painter who starts with the idea of painting. + +[Illustration: 37. NATIVITY, GREAT MALVERN.] + +The later Gothic artists gradually got into the way of thinking more and +more of the painting upon their glass. In the end, they thought of it +first, and there resulted from their doing so quite a different kind of +design, apart from change due to modifications of architectural style; +but so long as the Gothic tradition lasted--and it survived until well +into the sixteenth century, in work even which bears the brand of +typical Renaissance ornament--so long the glazing of a window was in no +degree an after-thought, something not arranged for, which had to be +done as best it might. It is apparent always to the eye at all trained +in glass design that the composition even of the most pictorial subjects +was very much modified, where it was not actually suggested, by +considerations of glazing. As more and more white glass came to be used, +it was more and more a tax upon the ingenuity of the designer so to +compose his figures that his white should be conveniently broken up, and +the patches of colour he wanted should be held in place by leads which +in no way interfered with his white glass; for it is clear that, in +proportion as the white was delicately painted, there would be brutality +in crossing it haphazard by strong lines of lead not forming part of the +design; and to the last one of the most interesting things in mediæval +design is to observe the foresight with which the glass-worker plans his +colour for the convenience of glazing. + +There is very skilful engineering in the subject from Ross on page 339. +It is not by accident that the hands of the hooded figure rest upon the +shoulders of S. Edward, or that, together with his gold-brocaded surcoat +and its ermine trimming, his hands, and the gilt-edged book he holds in +them, they fall into a shape so easy to cut in one piece. Scarcely less +artful is the arrangement of the head of the bishop with his crosier and +the collar of his robe all in one. The glass painter has only to glance +at such subjects as the Nativity from Great Malvern (page 54), or the +Day of Creation from the same rich abbey church (page 252), or at the +figure of S. Gregory from All Souls', Oxford (page 51), to see how the +colour is planned from the beginning, and planned with a view to the +disposition of the lead lines. In the Nativity, which is reproduced from +a faithful tracing of the glass, and is in the nature of a diagram, the +actual map of the glazing is very clear, in spite of its disfigurement +by leads which merely represent mending, and form no part of the design. +There, too, may clearly be seen how the yellow radiance from the Infant +Saviour is on the same piece of whitish glass on which the figure is +painted. In the Creation and S. Gregory, which are taken from careful +water-drawings, the effect of the glass is given, and it is perceived +how little the leads obtrude themselves upon the observation in the +actual windows.[A] + + Footnote A: These, together with illustrations 35, 44, 54, 142, 156, + 174, 191, 207, 234, are from the admirable collection of studies + from old glass very kindly placed at my disposal by Mr. John R. + Clayton, himself a master of design in glass. + +The Preaching of S. Bernard from S. Mary's, Shrewsbury, opposite, is +again disfigured by accidental leads, where the glass has been +repaired; but it will serve to show how, even when lead lines are as +much as possible avoided, they are always allowed for, and even +skilfully schemed. Many of the heads, it will be noticed, are painted +upon the same pieces of white which does duty also for architectural +background; or white draperies are glazed in one piece with the +white-and-yellow flooring; yet the lead lines, as originally designed, +seem to fall quite naturally into the outlines of the figures. + +[Illustration: 38. S. BERNARD PREACHING, S. MARY'S, SHREWSBURY.] + +A very characteristic piece of glazing occurs in the foreground figure, +forming a note of strong colour in the centre of the composition. The +way the man's face is included in the same piece of glass with the +yellow groining of the arch, while his coloured cap connects it with his +body, bespeaks a designer most expert in glazing, and intent upon it +always. The danger in connection with a device of this kind, very common +in work of about the beginning of the sixteenth century--as, for +example, in the very fine Flemish glass at Lichfield--is that, being +merely painted upon a white background, and insufficiently supported by +leads, the head may seem not to belong to the strongly defined, richly +draped figure. It is, of course, very much a question of making the +outline strong enough to keep the leads in countenance. The artist of +the Shrewsbury glass adopts another expedient at once to support the +lead lines, to connect his white and colour, and to get the emphasis of +dark touches just where he feels the want of them. He makes occasional +use of solid black by way of local colour, as may be seen in the hood of +the abbess and the shoes of the men to the right. + +[Illustration: 39. S. MARY'S, SHREWSBURY.] + +In another subject from Shrewsbury (here given), in the bodice of the +harpist, and the head gear of the figures on page 104, effective use is +made of these points of black. So long as they remain mere points, the +end justifies the means, and there is nothing to be said against their +introduction; they are entirely to the good; but such use of solid +pigment is valuable mainly in subjects of quite small size, such as +these are. It would be obviously objectionable if any considerable area +of white glass were thus obscured. + +The glass referred to at Shrewsbury, Malvern, and Oxford is of later +date than much work in which painting was carried further; but there is +here no question of style or period; that is reserved for future +consideration (Book II.). The fact it is here desired to emphasise is, +that there was a time when glazier and painter took something like equal +part in a window, or, to speak more precisely, there were for a while +windows in which the two took such equal part that each seemed to rely +upon the other; when, if the artist was a painter he was a glazier too. +Very likely they were two men. If so, they must have worked together on +equal terms, and without rivalry, neither attempting to push his +cleverness to the front, each regardful of the other, both working to +one end--which was not a mosaic, nor a painting, nor a picture, but a +window. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +GLASS PAINTING (MEDIÆVAL). + + +The end of the fifteenth century brings us to the point at which +painting and glazing are most evenly matched, and, in so far, to the +perfection of stained-and-painted glass, but not yet to the perfection +of glass painting. That was reserved for the sixteenth century, when art +was under the influence of the Renaissance. Glass painting followed +always the current of more modern thought, and drifted picturewards. +Even in the fourteenth century it was seen that there was a fashion of +naturalism in design, in the fifteenth there was an ever-increasing +endeavour to realise natural form, and not natural form alone; for, in +order to make the figure stand out in its niche, it became necessary to +show the vault in perspective. It was obviously easier to get something +like pictorial relief by means of painting than in mosaic, which +accordingly fell by degrees into subordination, and the reign of the +glass painter began. It must be admitted that at the beginning of the +sixteenth century there was still room for improvement in painting, and +that to the realisation of the then pictorial ideal stronger painting +was actually necessary. + +Perhaps the ideal was to blame; but even in Gothic glass, still severely +architecturesque in design, more painting became, as before said, +necessary, as greater use was made of white, and that painting stronger, +in proportion as the material used became thinner and clearer. But +though the aim of the glass painter was pictorial, the pictorial ideal +was not so easily to be attained in glass; and so, though the painter +reigned supreme, his dominion was not absolute. The glazier was in the +background, it is true, but he was always there, and his influence is +very strongly felt. The pictures of the glass painter are, consequently, +still pictures in glass, for the painter was still dependent upon +pot-metal for the greater part of his colour; and he knew it, and was +wise enough to accept the situation, and, if he did not actually paint +his own glass, to design only what could, at all events, be translated +into glass. He not only continued to use pot-metal for his colour, but +he made every possible use of it to his end, finding in it resources +which his predecessors had not developed. His range of colours was +extended almost indefinitely, and he used his glass with more +discretion. He took every advantage of the accidental variety in the +glass itself. No sheet of pot-metal was equal in tint from end to end; +it deepened towards the selvedge, and was often much darker at one end +than the other. It ranged perhaps from ruby to pale pink, from sea-green +to smoky-black. + +This gradation of tint wisely used was of great service in giving +something like shadow without the aid of paint, and it was used with +great effect--in the dragons, for example, which the mediæval artist +delighted to depict--as a means of rendering the lighter tones of the +creature's belly. Supposing the beast were red, the glass painter would +perhaps assist the natural inequality of the glass by abrading the ruby, +by which means he could almost model the form in red. If it were a blue +dragon he might adopt the same plan; or, if it were green, by staining +his blue glass at the same time yellow, he could get every variety of +shade from yellow to blue-green. + +Every casual variety of colour would be employed to equal purpose. Even +the glass-blower's flukes came in most usefully, not merely, as before, +to break the colour of a background accidentally, but as local colour. +Sheets of glass, for example, which came out, instead of blue or ruby, +of some indescribable tint, streaked and flecked with brighter and +darker colour, until they were like nothing so much as marble, were +introduced with magnificent effect into the pillars of the architecture +which now formed so prominent a feature in window design. The beauty and +fitness of this marble colour is eventually such as to suggest that the +glass-blower must in the end deliberately have fired at this kind of +fluke. + +Beautiful as were the effects of white and stain produced in the middle +of the fourteenth century, it was put now to fuller and more gorgeous +use. Draperies were diapered in the most elaborate fashion; a bishop's +cope would be as rich as the gold brocade it imitated; patterns were +designed in two or even three shades of stain, which, in combination +with white and judicious touches of opaque-brown, were really +magnificent. Occasionally, as at Montmorency--but this is rarer--the +painter did not merely introduce his varied stain in two or three +separate shades, nor yet float it on so as to get accidental variety, +but he actually painted in it, modelling his armour in it, until it had +very much the effect of embossed gold. + +In some ornamental arabesque, which does duty for canopy work at +Conches, in Normandy, this painting in stain is carried still further, +the high lights being scraped out so as to give glittering points of +white among the yellow. The result of this is not always very +successful; but where it is skilfully and delicately done nothing could +be more brilliantly golden in effect. It is curious that this silver +came to be used in glass just as goldleaf was used in other decorative +painting; in fact, its appearance is more accurately described as golden +than as yellow, just as the white glass of the sixteenth century has a +quality which inevitably suggests silver. + +It was stated just now that blue glass could be stained green. It is not +every kind of glass which takes kindly to the yellow stain. A glass with +much soda in its composition, for example, seems to resist the action of +the silver; but such resistance is entirely a question of its chemical +ingredients, and has only to do with its colour in so far as that may +depend upon them. + +Apart from glass of such antipathetic constitution, it is quite as easy +to stain upon coloured glass as upon white; and, if the coloured glass +be not too dark in colour to be affected by it, precisely the same +effect is produced as by a glaze or wash of yellow in oil or +water-colour. + +Thus we get blue draperies diapered with green, blue-green diapered with +yellow-green, and purple with olive, in addition to quite a new +development of landscape treatment. A subject was no longer represented +on a background of ruby or dense blue, but against a pale grey-blue +glass, which stood for sky, and upon it was often a delicately painted +landscape, the trees and distant hills stained to green. Stain was no +less useful in the foreground. By the use of blue glass stained, instead +of pot-metal green, it was easy to sprinkle the green grass with blue +flowers, all without lead. + +It was by the combination of stain with abrasion that the most +elaborately varied effects were produced. The painter could now not only +stain his blue glass green (and just so much of it as he wanted green), +but he could abrade the blue, so as to get both yellow, where the glass +was stained, and white where it was not. Thus on the same piece of glass +he could depict among the grass white daisies and yellow buttercups and +bluebells blue as nature, he could give even the yellow eye of the daisy +and its green calyx; and, by judicious modification of his stain, he +could make the leaves of the flowers a different shade of green from the +grass about them. The drawing of the flowers and leaves and blades of +grass, it need hardly be said, he would get in the usual way, tracing +the outline with brown, slightly shading with half tint, and painting +out only just enough of the ground to give value to his detail. + +In spite of the tediousness of the process, abrasion was now largely +used--not only for the purpose of getting here and there a spot of +white, as in the eyes of some fiery devil in the representation of the +Last Judgment, but extensively in the form of diaper work, oftenest in +the forms of dots and spots (the spotted petticoat of the woman taken in +adultery in one of the windows at Arezzo seems happily chosen to show +that she is a woman of the people), but also very frequently in the form +of scroll or arabesque, stained to look like a gold tissue, or even to +represent a garment stiff with embroidery and pearls. Often the pattern +is in gold-and-white upon ruby or deep golden-brown, or in +white-and-gold and green upon blue, and so on. In heraldry it is no +uncommon thing to see the ground abraded and the charge left in ruby +upon white. Sometimes a small head would be painted upon ruby glass, all +of the colour being abraded except just one jewel in a man's cap. + +Stain and abrasion, by means of which either of the three primaries can +be got upon white, afford, it will be seen, a workmanlike way of +avoiding leadwork. But there are other ways. There is a window at +Montmorency in which the stigmata in the hands and foot of S. Francis +are represented by spots of ruby glass inlaid or let into the white +flesh, with only a ring of lead to hold them in place. It would never +have occurred to a fourteenth century glazier to do that. He would have +felt bound to connect that ring of lead with the nearest glazing lines, +at whatever risk of marring his flesh painting; but then, his painting +would not have been so delicate, and would not in any case have suffered +so much. + +Indeed, the more delicate painting implies a certain avoidance of lead +lines crossing it, and hence some very difficult feats of glazing. This +kind of inlaying was never very largely used, but on occasion not only a +spot but even a ring of glass round it would be let in in this way. +There is a window at Bourges in which the glories of the saints are +inlaid with jewels of red, blue, green, and violet, which have more the +effect of jewellery than if they had been glazed in the usual way. +Whether it was worth the pains is another question. + +A more usual, and less excusable, way of getting jewels of colour upon +white glass was actually to anneal them to it. By abrading the ground it +was possible to represent rubies or sapphires, surrounded by pearls, in +a setting of gold, but not both rubies and sapphires. In order to get +this combination they would cut out little jewels of red and blue, fix +them temporarily in their place, and fire the glass until these smaller +(and thinner) pieces melted on to and almost into it; the fusion, +however, was seldom complete. At this date some of the jewels--as, for +example, at S. Michael's, Spurrier Gate, York--are usually missing--but +for which accident one would have been puzzled to know for certain how +this effect was produced. The insecurity of this process of annealing is +inevitable. Glass is in a perpetual state of contraction and expansion, +according to the variation of our changeable climate. The white glass +and the coloured cannot be relied upon to contract and expand in equal +degree; they are seldom, in fact, truly married. The wedding ring of +lead was safer. Sooner or later incompatibility of temper asserts +itself, and in the course of time they fidget themselves asunder. + +All these contrivances to get rid of leads are evidence that the painter +is coming more and more to the front in glass, and that the glazier is +retiring more and more into the background. The avoidance of glazing +follows, as was said, upon ultra-delicacy of painting, and dependence +upon paint follows from the doing away with leads. We have thus not two +new systems of work, but two manifestations of one idea--pictorial +glass. The pictorial ideal inspired some of the finest glass +painting--the windows of William of Marseilles, at Arezzo, to mention +only one instance among many. With the early Renaissance glass we arrive +at masterly drawing, perfection of painting, and pictorial design, which +is yet not incompatible with glass. One may prefer to it, personally, a +more downright kind of work; but to deny such work its place, and a very +high place, in art is to write oneself down a bigot at the least, if not +an ass. + +It is not until the painter took to depending upon paint for strength as +well as delicacy of effect, trusting to it for the relief of his design, +that it is quite safe to say he was on the wrong tack. + +Towards the sixteenth century much more pronounced effects of modelling +are aimed at, and reached, by the painter. Even in distinctly Gothic +work the flesh is strongly painted, but not heavily. In flesh painting, +at all events, the necessity of keeping the tone of the glass +comparatively light was a safeguard, as yet, against overpainting. + +The actual method of workmanship became less and less like ordinary oil +or water-colour painting. It developed into a process of rubbing out +rather than of laying on pigment. It was told how the glass painter in +place of smear shadow began to use a stippled tint. The later glass +painters made most characteristic use of "matt," as it was called. +Having traced the outlines of a face, and fixed it in the fire, they +would cover the glass with a uniform matt tint; and, when it was dry, +with a stiff hoghair brush scrub out the lights. The high lights they +would entirely wipe out, the half tints they would brush partly away, +and so get their modelling, always by a process of eliminating shadow. +The conscientious painter who meant to make sure his delicate tints +would stand would submit this to a rather fierce fire, out of which +would come, perhaps, only the ghost of the face. This he would +strengthen by another matt brushed out in the same way as before, and +fire it again. Possibly it would require a third painting and a third +fire; that would depend upon the combined strength and delicacy at which +he was aiming, and upon the method of the man. For, though one may +indicate the technique in vogue at a given time, no one will suppose +that painters at any time worked all in the same way. Some men no doubt +could get more out of a single painting than others out of two; some +were daring in their method, some timid; some made more use than others +of the stick for scraping out lines of light; some depended more upon +crisp touches with the sable "tracer," necessary, in any case, for the +more delicate pencilling of the features; some would venture upon the +ticklish operation of passing a thin wash of colour over matt or +stippling before it was fired, at the risk of undoing all they had +done--and so on, each man according to his skill and according to his +temperament. But with whatever aid of scratching out lights, or touching +in darks, or floating on tints, the practice in the sixteenth century +was mainly, by a process of scrubbing lights out of matted or washed +tints of brown, to get very considerable modelling, especially in flesh +painting and in white draperies. + +It is impossible in illustrations of the size here given to exemplify in +any adequate manner the technique of the Early Renaissance glass +painters, but it is clear that the man who painted the small subject +from the life of S. Bonnet, in the church dedicated to that saint at +Bourges, (page 210) was a painter of marked power. A still finer example +of painting is to be found in the head of William de Montmorency +(opposite) from the church of S. Martin at Montmorency near Paris, +really a masterpiece of portraiture, full of character, and strikingly +distinguished in treatment. There is at the Louvre a painting of the +same head which might well be the original of the glass. If the glass +painter painted the picture he was worthy to rank with the best painters +of his day. If the glass painter only copied it, he was not far short of +that, for his skill is quite remarkable; and the simple means by which +he has rendered such details as the chain armour and the collar, and the +Order of S. Michael, supplementing the most delicate painting with +touches of opaque colour, which in less skilful hands would have been +brutal, show the master artist in glass painting. + +Here, towards the end of the first quarter of the sixteenth century, we +have glass painting carried about as far as it can go, and yet not +straying beyond the limits of what can best be done in glass. The +apologists for the Renaissance would attribute all such work as this to +the new revival. That would be as far wide of the mark as to claim for +it that it was Gothic. The truth is, there is no marked dividing line +between Gothic and Renaissance. It is only by the character of some +perhaps quite slight monumental or architectural detail that we can +safely classify a window of the early sixteenth century as belonging to +one or the other style. It belongs, in fact, to neither. It is work of +the transition period between the two. Gothic traditions lingered in the +glass painter's shop almost as long as good work continued to be done +there; so much so, that we may almost say that with those Gothic +traditions died the art itself. For all that, it is not to be disputed +that the most brilliant achievements in glass painting were certainly in +the new style and inspired by the new enthusiasm for art. + +[Illustration: 40. GUILLAUME DE MONTMORENCY, MONTMORENCY.] + + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +GLASS PAINTING (RENAISSANCE). + + +The quality _par excellence_ of Renaissance glass was its painting; its +dependence upon paint was its defect. Until about the middle of the +sixteenth century the painter goes on perfecting himself in his special +direction, neglecting, to some extent, considerations of construction on +the one hand, and of colour upon the other, which cannot with impunity +be ignored in glass, but achieving pictorially such conspicuous success +that there may be question, among all but ardent admirers of glass that +is essentially glass-like, as to whether the loss, alike in depth and in +translucency of colour, as well as of constructional fitness, may not be +fully compensated for by the gain in fulness of pictorial expression. +According as we value most the qualities of glass in glass, or the +qualities of a picture in no matter what material, will our verdict be. +But there comes a point when the painter so far oversteps the limit of +consistency, so clearly attempts to do in glass what cannot be done in +it, so plainly sacrifices to qualities which he cannot get the qualities +which stained glass offers him, that he ceases to be any longer working +in glass, and is only attempting upon glass what had very much better +have been done in some other and more congenial medium. + +The event goes to prove the seductiveness of the pictorial idea, and +illustrates once more the danger of calling to your assistance a rival +craft, which, by-and-by, may oust you from your own workshop. The +consideration of the possibilities in the way of pictorial glass is +reserved for a chapter by itself. It concerns us for the moment only in +so far as the pictorial intention affected, as it very seriously did, +the technique of glass painting. + +In pursuit of the pictorial the painter strayed from his allegiance to +glass. He learnt to depend upon his manipulation instead of upon his +material; and that facility of his in painting led him astray. He not +only began to use paint where before he would, as a matter of course, +have glazed-in coloured glass, but to lay it on so heavily as seriously +to detract from that translucency which is the glory of glass. + +It is rash to say, at a glance, whether glass has been too heavily +painted or not. I once made a careful note, in writing, that certain +windows in the church of S. Alpin, at Châlons, were over-painted. After +a lapse of two or three years I made another equally careful note to the +effect that they were thin, and wanted stronger painting. It was not +until, determined to solve the mystery of these contradictory memoranda, +I went a third time to Châlons, that I discovered, that with the light +shining full upon them the windows were thin, that by a dull light they +were heavy, and that by a certain just sufficiently subdued light they +were all that could be desired. There is indiscretion, at least, in +painting in such a key that only one particular light does justice to +your work; but the artist in glass is always very much at the mercy of +chance in this respect. He cannot choose the light in which his work +shall be seen, and the painter of Châlons may have been more unfortunate +than in any way to blame. There comes, however, a degree of heaviness in +painted glass about which there can be no discussion. When the paint is +laid on so thick that under ordinary conditions of light the glass is +obscure, or when it is so heavy that the light necessary to illuminate +it is more than is good for the rest of the window, the bounds of +moderation have surely been passed. And in the latter half of the +sixteenth century it was less and less the custom to take heed of +considerations other than pictorial; so that by degrees the translucency +of glass was sacrificed habitually to strength of effect depending not +so much upon colour, which is the strength of glass, as upon the relief +obtained by shadow--just the one quality not to be obtained in glass +painting. For the quality of shadow depends upon its transparency; and +shadow painted upon glass, through which the light is to come, must +needs be obscure, must lack, in proportion as it is dark, the mysterious +quality of light in darkness, which is the charm of shadow. The misuse +of shading which eventually prevailed may best be explained by reference +to its beginnings, already in the first half of the century, when most +consummate work was yet being done. For example, in the masterpieces of +Bernard van Orley, at S. Gudule, Brussels--one of which is illustrated +overleaf; it is a mere diagram, giving no idea of the splendour of the +glass, but it is enough to serve our purpose. + +The execution of the window is, in its kind, equal to the breadth and +dignity of the design. The painter has done, if not quite all that he +proposed to do, all that was possible in paint upon glass. Any fault to +find in him, then, must be with what he meant to do, not what he did. To +speak justly, there is no fault to find with any one, but only with the +condition of things. We have here, associated with the glass painter, a +more famous artist, the greatest of his time in Flanders, pupil of +Michael Angelo, court painter, and otherwise distinguished. It was not +to be expected that he should be learned in all the wisdom of the glass +painter, nor yet, human nature being what it is, that he should submit +himself, lowly and reverently, to the man better acquainted with the +capacities of glass. All that the glass painter could do was to +translate the design of the master into glass as best he might, not +perhaps as best he could have done had there been no great master to +consult in the matter. + +This was not the first time, by any means, that the designer and painter +of a window were two men. There is no saying how soon that much +subdivision of labour entered the glass worker's shop; but so long as +they were both practical men, versed each in his art, and, to some +extent, each in the technique of the other, it did not so much matter. +When the painter from outside was called in to design, it mattered +everything. What could he be expected to care for technique other than +his own? What did he know about it? He was only an amateur so far as +glass was concerned; and his influence made against workmanlikeness. He +may have done marvels; he did marvels; but his very mastery made things +worse. He bore himself so superbly that it was not seen what dangerous +ground he trod on. Lesser men must needs all stumble along in his +footsteps, until they fell; and in their fall they dragged their art +with them. + +[Illustration: 41. MOSAIC GLASS, AREZZO.] + +The fault inherent in such work as the Brussels windows is neither Van +Orley's nor the glass painter's; it is in the mistaken aim of the +designer striving less for colour in his windows than for relief. He +succeeds in getting quite extraordinary relief, but at the expense of +colour, which in glass is the most important thing. The figures in the +window illustrated are so strongly painted that even the white portions +of their drapery stand out in dark relief against the pale grey sky. +That is not done, you may be sure, without considerable sacrifice of the +light-giving quality of the glass. It is at a similar cost that the +white-and-gold architecture stands out in almost the solidity of actual +stone against the plain white diamond panes above, giving very much the +false impression that it is placed in the window, and that you see +through its arches and behind it into space. Another very striking thing +in the composition is the telling mass of shadow on the soffit of the +central arch. It produces its effect, and a very strong one. The +festoons of yellow arabesque hanging in front of it tell out against it +like beaten gold, and the rather poorish grey-blue background to the +figures beneath it has by comparison an almost atmospheric quality. It +is all very skilfully planned as light and dark; but there is absolutely +no reason why that shadow should have been produced by heavy paint. +Under certain conditions of light there are, it is true, gleams of light +amidst this shadow. You can make out that the roof is coffered, and can +perceive just a glow of warm colour; but most days and most of the day +it is dead, dull, lifeless, colourless. The points to note are: (1) that +this painted shadow must of necessity be dull; and (2) that on work of +this scale at all events (the figures here are very much over lifesize), +this abandonment of the mosaic method was not in the slightest degree +called for. On the contrary, the simpler, easier, and more workmanlike +thing to do would have been to glaze-in the shadow with deep rich +pot-metal glass. That was done in earlier glass, and in glass of about +the same period as this. + +[Illustration: 42. RENAISSANCE WINDOW, S. GUDULE, BRUSSELS.] + +For example, at Liège, where there are beautiful windows of about the +same period, very similar in design, the glass is altogether lighter and +more brilliant, partly owing to the use of paint with a much lighter +hand, but yet more to greater reliance upon pot-metal. In the Church of +S. Jacques, as at S. Gudule, there are arched canopies with festoons in +bright relief against a background of shadowed soffit; but there the +shadow is obtained by glazing-in pot-metal, which has all the necessary +depth, and is yet luminous and full of colour. + +So also the deeply shadowed architectural background to the +representation of the Daughter of Herodias dancing before Herod, in the +Church of S. Vincent, at Rouen (overleaf), is leaded up in deep purple +glass, through which you get peeps of distant atmospheric blue beyond. +And this was quite a common practice among French glass painters of the +early half of the sixteenth century--as at Auch, at Ecouen, at Beauvais, +at Conches, where the architecture in shadow is leaded in shades of +purple or purplish glass, which leave little for the painter to do upon +the pot-metal. At Freiburg, in Germany, there is a window designed on +lines very similar indeed to Van Orley's work, in which the shadowed +parts are glazed in shades of deep blue and purple. In Italy it was the +custom, already in the fifteenth century, to lead-in deep shadows in +pot-metal; and they did not readily depart from it. Surely that is the +way to get strong effects, and not by paint. You may take it as a test +of workmanlike treatment, that the darks have been glazed-in, where it +was possible, and not merely painted upon the glass. + +There is some misconception about what is called Renaissance glass. +Glass painting was not native to Italy, and was never thoroughly +acclimatised there, any more than Gothic architecture, to which it +was--the handmaid I was going to say, but better say the +standard-bearer. Much glass was accordingly executed in Italy in +defiance, not only of all tradition, but of all consistency and +self-restraint. But even in Italy you will find sixteenth century glass +as workmanlike as can be. The details from Arezzo and Bologna, above, +overleaf, and on page 266, are pronouncedly Renaissance in type, but the +method employed by the glass painter is as thoroughly mosaic as though +he had worked in the thirteenth century. Not less glazier-like in +treatment are the French Renaissance details from Rouen, on pages 75 and +347, from which it may be seen that a workmanlike treatment of glass +was not confined to Gothic glaziers. It was less a question of style, in +the historic sense, than of the men's acquaintance with the traditions +of good work, and their readiness to accept the situation. + +[Illustration: 43. MOSAIC GLASS, AREZZO.] + +Possibly the Netherlandish love of light and shade--and especially of +shade--may account for the character of the Brussels glass. Against that +it should be said that, elsewhere in Flanders, splendid glass was being +done about the same time, less open to the charge of being too heavily +painted--at Liège, for example. But everywhere, and perhaps more than +anywhere in the Netherlands, which became presently a great centre of +glass painting, the tendency, towards the latter part of the century, +was in the direction of undue reliance upon paint; of which came +inevitably one of two things--either the shaded parts were heavy, dirty, +and opaque, or they were weak and washy in effect. If, by means of +painting, an artist can get (as he can) something worth getting not +otherwise to be got, though we may differ as to the relative value of +what he gains and what he sacrifices, it would be hard to deny him his +preference, and his right to follow it; but if by painting on glass he +attempts to get what could better be expressed by working in it, then +clearly he has strayed (as Van Orley did) from the straight path, as +glass-workers read the map. + +[Illustration: 44. SALOME, S. VINCENT, ROUEN.] + +It is rather a curious thing that the avoidance of leading, the +dependence upon glazing and paint, should manifest itself especially in +windows designed on such a scale that it would have been quite easy to +get all that was got in paint, and more, by the introduction of coloured +glass; in windows, for example, on the scale of those at King's College, +Cambridge, with figures much over lifesize, where the artist, you can +see, has been afraid of leading, and has shirked it. Evidently he did +not realise for how little the leads would count in the glass. He +does not in that case fall into the error of painting with too heavy a +hand, but he trusts too much to paint--a trust so little founded that +the paint has oftentimes perished, much to the disfigurement of his +picture. + +[Illustration: 45. RENAISSANCE MOSAIC GLASS.] + +The French glass painters of about the same period, though working upon +a smaller scale, did not depart in the same way from the use of glazing; +and where they did resort to painting, it was often with a view to a +refinement of detail not otherwise to be obtained, as in the case of the +delicate landscape backgrounds painted upon pale blue, which have a +beauty all their own. + +There is here no intention whatever of disparaging such work as that at +S. Gudule. Any one capable of appreciating what is strongest and most +delicate in glass must have had such keen delight in them that there is +something almost like ingratitude in saying anything of them but what is +in their praise. But the truth remains. Here is a branching off from old +use; here the painter begins to wander from the path, and to lead after +him generations of glass painters to come. It takes, perhaps, genius to +lead men hopelessly astray! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ENAMEL PAINTING. + + +The excessive use of opaque paint was not so much a new departure as the +exaggeration of a tendency which had grown with the growth of glass +painting itself. The really new thing in glass painting about this time +was the introduction of enamel. + +When glass painters were resorting, not only to opaque painting, but to +abrasion, annealing, or whatever would relieve them from the difficulty +of getting in mosaic glass the pictorial effect which was more and more +their ruling thought, when glazing had become to them a difficulty (to +the early glass-workers it was a resource), it was inevitable that they +should think about painting on glass in colour. Accordingly towards the +middle of the sixteenth century they began to use enamel. This was the +decisive turning-point of the art. + +In theory the process of painting in enamel is simple enough. You have +only to grind coloured glass to impalpable dust, mix it with "fat oil," +or gum-and-water, and paint with it upon white or tinted glass; in the +furnace the medium will be fired away, and the particles of coloured +glass will melt and adhere, more or less firmly, to the heated sheet of +glass to which they have been applied. This theory glass painters began +to put into practice. In the beginning they used enamel only +tentatively, first of all in the flesh tints. It had been the custom +since the fourteenth century to paint flesh always upon white or whitish +glass in the ordinary brown pigment; and something of the simple dignity +and monumental character of old glass is due, no doubt, to that and +similar removedness from nature. Gradually the fashion was introduced of +painting the flesh in red instead of brown. In one sense this was no +such very new thing to do. The ordinary brown pigment spoken of all +along is itself enamel, although it has been thought better not to speak +of it by that name for fear of confusion. Inasmuch, however, as this +was the use of a pigment to get not merely flesh painting but flesh +tint--that is to say, colour--it was a step in quite a new direction. +Pictorially it offered considerable advantages to the painter. He could +not only get, without lead, contrast of colour between a head and the +white ground upon which it was painted, or the white drapery about it, +but he could very readily give the effect of white hair or beard in +contrast to ruddy flesh, and so on. There is a fragment at the _Musée +des Arts Décoratifs_ at Paris, attributed to Jean Cousin, 1531, in which +a turbaned head appears to have been cut out of a piece of purplish-blue +glass, the flesh abraded, and then painted in red, the lips still +redder, whilst the beard is painted on the blue, which shades off into +the cheeks in the most realistic manner. Very clever things were done in +this way, always in the realistic direction; but down to the middle of +the century, and even later, there were always some painters who +remained faithful to the traditional cool brown colour. A rather happy +mean between warm and cold flesh is found at Auch (1513), where warmish +enamel upon grey-blue or greenish glass gives modelling and variety of +colour in the flesh, which is yet never hot. Well-chosen pieces of glass +are made use of, in which the darker half comes in happily for the +bearded part of a man's face. So, also, the head of the Virgin at the +foot of the cross is painted upon grey, which tells as such in her coif, +shaded with a cooler brown, but only deepens and saddens her face, and +intensifies the contrast with the Magdalen. Occasionally one of these +heads comes out too blue, but at the worst it is better than the hot, +foxy flesh painting which became the rule. + +Painting in colour upon glass could naturally not stop at flesh red. It +was used for pale blue skies, at first only to get a more delicate +gradation from pale pot-metal colour to white, but eventually for the +sky throughout the picture. In connection with yellow stain it gave a +green for distant landscape. + +Enamel was used in ornament to give the colour of fruits and flowers in +garlands and the like, and generally for elaboration of detail, which, +if not trivial, was of small account in serious decoration. For a while +there were glass painters who remained proof against its seduction. It +was not till the latter half of the sixteenth century that glass +painters generally began seriously to substitute enamel for pot-metal, +and to rely upon paint, translucent as well as opaque. Even then they +could not do without pot-metal, avoid it as they might. The really +strong men, such as the Crabeth Brothers, at Gouda, by no means +abandoned the old method, but they relied so much upon paint as to +greatly obscure the glory of their glass. The Gouda windows, which bring +us to the seventeenth century, contain among them the most daring things +in glass extant. They prove that a subject can be rendered more +pictorially than one would have conceived to be possible in glass, but +they show also what cannot be done in it; in fact, they may be said to +indicate, as nearly as can be, the limits of the practicable. What +artists of this calibre could not do we may safely pronounce to be +beyond the scope of glass painting, even with the aid of enamel. + +[Illustration: 46. THE BAPTISM, GOUDA.] + +No skill of painting could make otherwise than dull the masses of +heavily painted white glass employed to represent the deep shade of the +receding architecture in the upper part of the window on page 242; so, +the mass of masonry which serves in the lower half of the window on this +page as a background to the Donor and his patron saint and some shields +of arms, represented as it is by a thick scum of brown paint, could not +but lack lustre. Think of the extent of all that uninteresting paint; +what a sacrifice it means of colour and translucency! + +Enamel painting did not lead to much. The colours obtained by that means +had neither the purity nor the richness and volume of pot-metal. They +had to be strengthened with brown, which still further dulled them; and, +the taste for light and shade predominating as it did in the seventeenth +century, the glass painter was eventually lured to the destruction of +all glass-like quality in his glass. + +There are some windows in the cathedral at Brussels, in the chapel +opposite that of the Holy Sacrament, where are Van Orley's windows, +which bear witness to the terrible decline that had taken place during +something like a century--not that they are badly executed in their way. +The texture of silk, for example, is given by the glass painter +perfectly; but, in the struggle for picturesque effects of light and +shade, all consistency of treatment is abandoned. The painter is here +let loose; and he can no more withstand the attractions of paint than a +boy can resist the temptation of fresh fallen snow. The one must throw +snowballs at somebody, the other must lay about him with pigment. Here +he lays about him with it recklessly. He is reckless, that is, of the +obscurity of the glass he covers with it. At moments, when the sun +shines fiercely upon it, you dimly see what he was aiming at; +nine-tenths of the time all is blackness. Slabs of white glass are +coated literally by the yard with dense brown pigment through which the +light rarely shines. + +It had become the practice now to glaze a window mainly in rectangular +panes of considerable size. Where pot-metal colour was used at all, it +had of necessity to be surrounded with a leaden line; but within the +area of the coloured mass the leading was usually in these upright and +horizontal lines, and not at all according to the folds of the drapery +or what not. If the glazier went out of his way to take a lead line +round a face, instead of across it, that was as much as he would do; if +it was merely the face of a cherub, however delicately painted, he +would, perhaps, as at S. Jacques, Antwerp, cut brutally across it; and +even where structural lead lines compelled him to use separate pieces of +material, he by no means always took advantage of the opportunity of +getting colour in his glass, but, as at Antwerp, contentedly accepted +his rectangular panes of white, as something to paint on--to the +exclusion of no matter how much light. It simplified matters, no doubt, +for the painter thus to throw away opportunities, and just depend upon +his brush; but it resulted at the best only in an imitation of oil +painting, lacking the qualities of oil paint. + +[Illustration: 47. S. MARTIN ÈS VIGNES, TROYES.] + +The French glass painters were less reckless. At Troyes, indeed, there +is plenty of seventeenth century glass in which a workman can still find +considerable interest. That of Linard Gontier, in particular, has +deservedly a great reputation. He was a painter who could get with a +wash of colour, and seemingly with ease, effects which most glass +painters could only get at by stippling, hatching, and picking out; and +he managed his enamel very cleverly, floating it on with great +dexterity. But it is rarely that he gets what artists would call colour +out of it. Even in the hands of a man of his prodigious skill the method +proclaims its inherent weakness. The work is thinner, duller, altogether +poorer, than the earlier glass of much less consummate workmen, who +worked upon sounder and severer principles. The strength and the +weakness of the painter are exemplified in the group of Donors above. +The painting is admirable, not only in the heads, but in the texture of +the men's cloaks; those cloaks, however, are painted in black paint. +When the light is quite favourable they look like velvet; they never +look like glass. + +There is here the excuse, for what it may be worth, of texture and +perhaps other pictorial qualities. Even that is often wanting in +seventeenth century work, as when, at S. Jacques, Antwerp, the +background to a design in white and stain is glazed in panes of white +glass solidly coated with brown paint. This is obscuration out of pure +wilfulness. + +It was not only when the artist sought to get strong effects in enamel +painting that the method fell short of success. The delicacy that might +be got by means of it was neutralised by the necessity of some sort of +glazing, and matters were not mended by glazing the windows in panes. It +is impossible to take much satisfaction in the most delicately painted +glass picture when it is so scored over with coarse black lines of lead +or iron that it is as if you were looking at it through a grill. That is +very much the effect seen in Sir Joshua Reynolds' famous window in the +ante-chapel at New College, Oxford (two lights of which are shown +opposite), where the Virtues are seen imprisoned, you may say, within +iron bars. They look very much better there than in the glass, which, +for all the graceful draughtsmanship of the artist and the delicate +workmanship of the painter, is ineffective to the last degree. It has no +more brilliancy or sparkle than a huge engraving seen against the light; +square feet of white glass are muddied over with paint. + +It was not Sir Joshua's fault, of course, that the traditions of the +glazier's craft were in his day well-nigh extinct; but Sir Horace +Walpole was quite right when he described these vaunted Virtues as +"washy." To say that they are infinitely more pleasing in the artist's +designs is the strongest condemnation of the glass. + +[Illustration: 48. VIRTUES, BY SIR J. REYNOLDS, NEW COLL., OXFORD.] + +There was one use made of enamel which promised to be of real help to +the glazier--that of painting the necessary shadows on pot-metal in +shades of the same colour as the glass. Since enamel of some kind had to +be used, why not employ a colour more akin to the glass itself than mere +brown? It would seem as if by so doing one might get depth of colour +with less danger of heaviness than by the use of brown; but the glass +painted in that way (by the Van Lingen, for example, a family of +Flemings established in England, whose work may be seen at Wadham and +Balliol Colleges, Oxford) was by no means free from heaviness. Enamel +then, it will be seen, was never really of any great use in glass +painting, and it led to the degradation of the art to something very +much like the painting of transparencies, as they are called, on linen +blinds. + +Let us note categorically the objections to it. A glazier objects to it, +that it is an evasion of the difficulty of working in glass, and not a +frank solution of it. That may be sentimental more or less. A colourist +objects to it, because it is impossible to get in it the depth and +richness of strong pot-metal, or the brilliancy of the more delicate +shades of self-coloured material. That, it may be urged, remains to be +proved, but the enamel painter practically undertook to prove the +contrary, and failed. Admirers of consistency object to it, that it +succeeds so ill in reconciling the delicacy of painting aimed at with +the brutality of the glazing employed. That, again, is a question of +artistic appreciation, not so easily proved to those who do not feel the +discord. Lovers of good work, of work that will stand, object to it that +it is not lasting. This is a point that can be easily proved. + +The process of enamel painting has been explained above (page 77). The +one thing necessary to the safe performance of the operation is that the +various glass pigments shall be of such consistency as to melt at a +lower temperature than the glass on which they are painted. That, of +course, must keep its shape in the kiln, or all would be spoilt. The +melting of the pigment is, as a matter of fact, made easier by the +admixture of some substance less unyielding than glass itself--such as +borax--to make it flow. This "flux," as it is called, makes the glass +with which it is mixed appreciably softer than the glass to which it is +apparently quite safely fixed by the fire. It is thus more susceptible +to the action of the atmosphere; it does not contract and expand equally +with that; and in the course of time, perhaps no very long time, it +scales off. Excepting in Swiss work (to which reference is made in +Chapter IX.) this is so commonly so, that you may usually detect the use +of enamel by the specks of white among the colour, where the pigment has +worked itself free, altogether to the destruction of pictorial illusion. +And it is not only with transparent enamel that this happens, but also +with the brown used by the later painters for shading. + +The brown tracing and painting colour was originally a hard metallic +colour which required intense heat to make it flow. The glass had to be +made almost red-hot, at which great heat there was always a possibility +that the pigment might be fired away altogether, and the painter's +labour lost. In the case of the thirteenth century painter's work the +danger was not very serious. Thanks to the downright and sometimes even +brutal way in which he was accustomed to lay on the paint, solidly and +without subtlety of shade, his work was pretty well able to take care of +itself in the kiln. It was the more delicate painting which was most in +danger of being burnt away; and in proportion as men learnt to carry +their painting further, and to get delicate modelling, they became +increasingly anxious to avoid all possibility of any such catastrophe. +The easiest way of doing this was (as in the case of transparent enamel) +to soften this colour with flux. That enabled them to fire their glass +at a much lower heat, at which there was no risk of losing the painting, +and they were able so to make sure of getting the soft gradations of +shade they wanted; and the more the painter strove to get pictorial +effects the more he was tempted to soften his pigment; but, according as +the flux made the colour easier to manage in the fire, it made it less +to be depended upon afterwards; and the later the work, and the more +pictorial its character, the more surely the painting proves at this +date to have lost its hold upon the glass. In many a seventeenth century +window the Donors were depicted in their Sunday suits of black velvet +and fur, the texture quite wonderfully given; now their garments are +very much the worse for wear, more than threadbare. The black or brown +is rich no longer, it is pitted with specks of raw white light; +sometimes the colour has peeled off _en masse_. Time has dealt +comparatively kindly with the gentlemen on page 81, but in the glass +there is an air of decay about their sable cloaks which takes +considerably away from their dignity. It is one characteristic of +enamelled windows that they do not mellow with age, like mosaic glass, +but only get shabby. + +Any one altogether unacquainted with the characteristics of style is apt +to be very much at fault as to the date of a window. The later windows +are in so much more dilapidated a condition than the earlier that they +are quite commonly mistaken for the older. + +It has to be borne in mind that most of the devices adopted by the glass +painters--the use, namely, of large sheets of fragile glass, and the +avoidance of strengthening leads, no less than the resort to soft +enamel, whether for colour or for shading--all go to make it more +perishable. + +It may be said that the decay of the later painting is due not so much +to the use of enamel as to the employment of soft flux. That is true. +But when it comes to the painting of texture and the like, the +temptation to use soft colour has generally proved to be irresistible. +One is forced to the conclusion that the aim of the later glass painter +was entirely wrong; that for the sake of pictorial advantages--which +went for very little in a scheme of effective church decoration, even if +they did not always detract from the breadth of the work--he gave up the +qualities which go at once to make glass glorious, and to give it +permanence. Whatever the merits of seventeenth century glass painting +they are not the merits of glass; there is little about it that counts +for glass, little that is suggestive of glass--except the breakages it +has suffered. + +What is said of seventeenth century glass applies also to that of the +eighteenth century, only with more force. Sir Joshua and Benjamin West +were quite helpless to raise the art out of the slough into which it had +fallen, for they were themselves ignorant of its technique, and did not +know what could be done in glass. It was not until the Gothic revival in +our own century, and a return to mosaic principles, that stained glass +awoke to new life. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE NEEDLE POINT IN GLASS PAINTING. + + +Allusion has been made to the glass painter's use of the point for +scraping out lights, and especially diapers upon glass coated with +pigment. These are often quite lace-like in their delicacy. That would +be a poor compliment if it meant that the glass painter had had no more +wit than to imitate the effects produced in a material absolutely unlike +glass. But it is not merely for want of a better word that the term +lace-like is used. It is strictly appropriate, and for a very good +reason. It was explained how from the first the glass painter would use +the stick end of his brush to scrape out sharp lights in his painting, +or even diaper patterns out of a tint. The latest glass painters made +more and more use of the point, and of a finer point than the brush end, +until, in Swiss work, they adopted the pen and the needle itself. It is +not surprising, then, that point-work should resemble point-work, though +the one be in thread and the other on glass. The strange thing would +have been if it were not so. Thus it comes about that much of the Swiss +diaper work is most aptly described as lace-like in effect. + +The field of a small shield is frequently diapered with a pattern so +fine that it could only have been produced with a fine point. Some of +the diapers opposite may be identified as portions of heraldic shields. +On a shield it may be taken to represent the engraving of the metal +surface of the thing itself; and, indeed, here again is a significant +resemblance between two technical processes. + +To scratch with a needle or with a graver is much the same thing; and +thus many a Swiss diaper suggests damascening, and might just as well +have been executed in bright lines of gold or silver filigree, beaten +into lines graven in steel or iron, as scraped out of a tint on glass. + +[Illustration: 49. EXAMPLES OF SCRATCHING OUT.] + +But the use of the point was by no means reserved for ornamental detail. +It became the main resource of the painter, and so much so, that this +technique, or this development of technique, is the most striking +characteristic of Swiss glass painting--if that should be called +painting which has really more affinity with etching. + +For the laying on of the paint in the form of solid colour, or of matted +tint, or of skilfully floated wash, is only the groundwork of the Swiss +glass painter's method. It scarcely needs to be explained how admirably +the point adapted itself to the representation of hair, fur, feathers, +and the like. The familiar bears, for example, the device of the city of +Berne, which occur very frequently in Swiss heraldic work, are rendered +at Lucerne in the most marvellously skilful manner. First a juicy wash +of colour is floated all over the body of the beast, more or less +translucent, but judiciously varied so as to give _à peu près_ the +modelling of the creature. Then with a fine point the lines of the fur +are scraped out, always with an eye to the further development of the +modelling. Finally, the sharp lights are softened, where necessary, with +delicate tint, and a few fine hair-lines are put in with a brush in dark +brown. + +By no conceivable method of execution could certain textures be better +rendered than this. A similar process is adopted in rendering the +damascened surface of slightly rounded shields; but in that case the +modelling of the ground is first obtained by means of matt, not wash. + +Black as a local colour, whether by way of heraldic tincture or to +represent velvet in costume, was very generally used; but in such small +quantities always as entirely to justify its use. The practice, that is +to say, referred to on page 57, with reference to the German work at +Shrewsbury, was carried further. This was quite a different thing from +what occurs, for example, in a late window at Montmorency, where four +brown Benedictine monks are frocked in muddy paint: that is a fault of +judgment no skill in execution could make good. In the case of black +used by way of local colour the drawing lines were of course scraped out +in clear glass, and toned, if need were, with tint. The hair, cap, and +feathers of the figure opposite illustrate the processes of execution +above described; the chain armour about the man's neck is also very +deftly suggested. + +[Illustration: 50. NEEDLE POINT WORK, SWISS.] + +The use of the point went further than rendering the texture of hair, +and so on. It was used for the rendering of all texture and the +completion of modelling everywhere. The Swiss glass painter did very +much what is done in large when one draws on brown or grey paper in +white and black; only instead of black chalk he used brown paint, and +instead of putting on white chalk he scraped away a half tint with which +he had begun by coating the glass; and of course he worked in small. + +One knows by experience how much more telling the white crayon is than +the black, how much more modelling you seem to get with very little +drawing; and so it is in glass; and so it was that the glass painter +depended so much more upon taking out lights than upon putting in darks. +The difference between the Swiss manner and the process already +described in reference to Renaissance church glass was mainly that, +working upon so much smaller a scale, the artist depended so much more +upon the point. His work is, in fact, a kind of etching. It is the exact +reverse of drawing in pen and ink, where the draughtsman works line by +line up to his darkest shadow. Here he works line by line to clearest +light, precisely as the etcher draws his negative upon copper, only on +glass it is the positive picture which is produced. So far as +manipulation is concerned the two processes are identical. It is indeed +quite within the bounds of possibility that the method of the glass +painter (and not that of the damascener, as generally supposed) may +first have put the etcher upon the track of his technique. + +The method of workmanship employed by the painter is shown pretty +clearly on page 90. In spite of a certain granular surface given by the +stone employed by the lithographer in reproducing the design, it is +quite clearly seen how the man's armour and the texture of the silk in +his sleeves is all obtained by the point. The trace of the needle is not +clearly shown in the flesh, except in the hand upon his hip; but on page +93 it is everywhere apparent--in the shading of the architecture, at the +top of the page, in the damascening of the tops of shields below, in the +drawing of the pastoral staff, in the modelling of the mitre and the +representation of the jewels upon it, no less than in the rendering of +the texture of the silk. + +This ultra-delicacy of workmanship was naturally carried to its furthest +extent upon white glass or upon white and stain, but the same method was +employed with pot-metal colour; and, during the early part of the +sixteenth century at least, pot-metal colour was used when it +conveniently could be, and the leading was sometimes cleverly schemed, +though the glass employed was often crude in colour. Eventually, in +Switzerland as everywhere, enamel colour succeeded pot-metal, by which, +of course, it would have been impossible correctly to render the +tinctures of elaborately quartered shields on the minute scale to which +they were customarily drawn. At Lucerne, for example, there are some +small circular medallions with coats of arms not much bigger than occur +on the back of an old-fashioned watchcase. Needless to say that there +the drawing is done entirely with a point. This kind of thing is, of +course, glass painting in miniature; it is not meant to say that it is +effective; but it is none the less marvellously done. It was at its +best, roughly speaking, from 1530 to a little later than 1600. Some of +the very best that was ever done, now at the Rath-haus at Lucerne, bears +date from 1606-1609; there is some also at the Hof-kirche there; but +that is out of the reach of ordinary sight, and this is placed where it +can conveniently be studied. The point-work, it should be understood, is +still always scraped out of brown, or it may be black. The enamel that +may be used with it is floated on independently of this; and as time +went on enamel was of course very largely used, especially in the +seventeenth century. To the credit of the Swiss it should be said that, +alone among later glass painters, they were at once conscientious and +expert in the chemistry of their art, and used enamel which has been +proof against time. They knew their trade, and practised it devotedly. +Possibly it was the small scale upon which they worked which enabled +them to fuse the enamel thoroughly with the glass. It is due to them +also to say that, though their style may have been finikin, there was +nothing feeble about their workmanship; that was masterly. And they +remain the masters of delicate manipulation and finish in glass +painting. + +Although the needle point was used to most effective purpose in Swiss +glass it did not of course entirely supersede other methods. At the +Germanic Museum at Nuremberg (where there is a fair amount of good work, +1502-1672) there is some matted tint which is shaded and then lined in +brown, much after the manner of one of Dürer's woodcuts. It has very +much the appearance of a pen drawing shaded, as many of the old masters' +drawings were, in brown wash. + +[Illustration: 51. NEEDLE-POINT WORK, SWISS.] + +A fair amount of simple figure work in white and stain continued to be +done, in which outline went for a good deal, and matted shadow was only +here and there helped out with the point. In landscape backgrounds shade +tint was sometimes broadly and directly floated on. But as often as not +shading was executed to a great extent with the needle, whilst local +colour was painted with enamel. Even in association with admirable +heraldry and figure work, one finds distant figure groups and landscapes +painted in this way. They look more like coloured magic-lantern slides +than painted window glass. + +Sometimes subtlety of workmanship was carried rather beyond the bounds +of discretion, as when at Nuremberg (1530) faces were painted in tint +against clear glass, without outline, the mere shading, delicate as it +is, being depended upon to relieve them from the ground. It must be +confessed that, near to the eye, it does that; but the practice does not +recommend itself. + +It is remarkable how very faint a matt of colour on the surface of +transparent glass gives a sort of opacity to it which distinguishes it +from the clear ground. Sometimes white enamel is used, sometimes perhaps +a mere coat of flux: it is difficult to say what it is, but there is +often on the lightest portions of the painted glass no more than the +veriest film, to show that it has been painted. + +It is obvious that glass of the most delicate character described must +be the work of the designer; and it seems clear, from numerous drawings +extant, which are evidently the cartoons for Swiss window panes, that +the draughtsman contemplated carrying out his design himself. At all +events, he frequently left so much out of these drawings, that, if he +trusted to the painting of another, no little of the credit of the +draughtsmanship was due to that other, and he was at least part designer +of the window. In glass where painting is carried to a high state of +perfection it goes without saying that the painter must be an artist +second only to the designer. Invention and technical power do not always +go together. But if the designer can paint his own glass, and will, so +much the better. It is more than probable that the best glass is the +autograph work of the designer. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE RESOURCES OF THE GLASS PAINTER--A RECAPITULATION. + + +Having followed the course of technique thus far, it may be as well to +survey the situation and see where we now stand. Suppose an artist +altogether without experience in glass had occasion to design a window. +The first thing he would want to know would be the means at his command +at this present moment, and what dependence he could place upon them. +That is what it is intended briefly to set forth in this chapter, quite +without reference to date or style or anything but the capacities of the +material. The question is, what can be done with it? Not until a man +knows that is he in a position to make up his mind as to what he will +do. + +If he ask, as artists will, why cannot he do just what he likes, and as +he likes, the answer is: because glass was not made for him, and will +only do what he wants on condition of his demands upon it being +reasonable. He might find it pleasanter if the world revolved round him; +but it does not. If he would make a window he must go the way of glass; +and the way of glass is this:-- + +In the first place, it is mosaic. It may be a mosaic of white glass or +of the pearly tints which go to make what is termed grisaille, in which +case the leads which bind the glass together form the pattern, or, at +all events, a feature in it. Or it may be of coloured glass, or of white +and colour, in which case the glass forms the pattern, and the lead +joints are more or less lost in the outline of the design. + +If the pattern is in white upon a deep-coloured ground the lead joints +crossing the pattern and not forming part of it are, as it were, eaten +up by the spreading rays of white light, and, supposing them to be +judiciously contrived, do not count for much. On the other hand, the +lead joints crossing the coloured ground are lost in its depth. +Advantage is taken of this to break up the ground more than would be +necessary for convenience of glazing, or of strength when glazed, and so +to get that variety of pot-metal upon which so much of the beauty of +glass colour depends. + +[Illustration: 52. PLAIN GLAZING, EARLY FRENCH.] + +To give satisfactory colour the best of pot-metal glass is essential. +Structural conditions which a man is bound to take into account in his +design are--that the shapes he draws must be such as can readily be cut +by the glazier; that his lead joints must be so schemed as, where not +lost in the glass, to form part of the design, strengthening, for +example, the outlines; that his plan must at intervals include provision +for substantial iron bars which shall not interfere with the drawing. + +He must understand that each separate colour in his composition is +represented by a separate piece of glass, cut out of a sheet of the +required colour. There may, and should, however, be variety in it. A +sheet of glass varies in depth of tone according to its thickness, which +in the best glass is never even; moreover, it may be streaked or +otherwise accidentally varied; and so considerable play of tint may be +got in a well-selected piece of pot-metal. Should a tint be required +which the palette of the glazier does not supply it may sometimes be +obtained by leading up two thicknesses of glass together. This expedient +is called "plating." + +[Illustration: 53. MOSAIC GLASS, ASSISI.] + +There are two very workmanlike ways in which white and colour may be +obtained in one piece of glass. If the glass is not coloured throughout +its thickness, but only a part of the way through, the coloured part may +be eaten away in places by acid (it used formerly to be tediously +abraded); and so a pattern of white may be traced upon a ground of blue, +for example, or, as is more common, ruby. + +A piece of white or pale coloured glass may further be _stained_, but +only, so far, of one colour, yellow. The window opposite is all in white +and golden-yellow. This result is produced by the action of silver upon +it, which, at a sufficient temperature, develops a tint varying from +lemon to orange of beautiful quality, and as imperishable as the glass; +but one cannot be quite certain always as to the precise shade it will +take in the fire. On blue it gives green, and so on. + +By the combination of these two processes three tints may be obtained, +or even four upon the same piece of glass--say white, green, and yellow +all upon a blue ground. + +There is a third method of avoiding lead glazing. If little jewels of +coloured glass be cut out of various sheets and placed upon white glass +they become fused at a sufficient heat in the kiln, and adhere more or +less firmly to the glass on which they are laid; but this process of +"annealing" is not very safe. Still less to be depended upon is the +fourth process of "enamelling." In that case the coloured glass is +applied in the form of a paint upon a sheet of white. Fusing at a +comparatively low temperature, it rarely gets quite firmly fixed. Nor +has it the depth of pot-metal colour. The three processes of staining, +annealing, and enamelling, entail, it will be seen, the burning of the +glass. Literally this is the limit of what can be done in stained glass. + +[Illustration: 54. WINDOW IN WHITE AND STAIN, WARWICK CASTLE.] + +The term stained glass, however, is generally used to include painting, +which from the first has been associated with it. This painting (not to +be confounded with the above mentioned enamelling) is a second process, +which the glass undergoes after it is cut and before it is fired. It is +not in the least what a painter understands by painting. It is, in the +first place, a means of giving in solid brown pigment, which effectually +stops out the light, detail smaller than mere glazing would permit, such +as the features of a face or the veining of a leaf: it gives the foils +of the foliage, and marks the individual berries in the border overleaf. +In the next it is used partially to obscure the glass, so as to give +shading. The pigment is not used as colour, but for drawing and shading +only. Local colour is represented by the pieces of pot-metal glass +employed; the painting fulfils precisely the part of the engraving in a +print coloured by hand. The various methods of painting are explained +on pages 45, 64, 89. In some respects they have more affinity with line +drawing, mezzotint, and etching than with oil or water-colour painting. + +[Illustration: 55. AUXERRE.] + +It is extremely difficult to get delicacy of modelling or high finish at +one painting--to all but a consummate glass painter impossible. Many a +time the work has to be painted several times over, each painting being +separately burnt in, always at some risk. Painting that is not +sufficiently fired peels off in time. If it is fired too much it may be +burnt quite away. + +The effect of paint in the form of shading is naturally to obscure the +glass. Up to a certain point there is not much harm in that; it counts +for nothing as compared with the facilities of expression it affords. +But that point is soon reached. Then it becomes a question of the +relative value of, on the one hand, purity and translucency of glass +colour, and, on the other, of pictorial qualities. The problem is to get +the utmost of modelling or expression with the minimum of obscuration. +Much depends upon the method of painting adopted. So long as the light +is allowed to get through it, one may indulge in a fair amount of +shading, but a deep even tint, leaving none of the glass clear, is +inevitably heavy. The more one can represent shadows by deeper tinted +glass the more brilliant the result will be. + +This painting, although, strictly speaking, in brown enamel, is not, as +was said, what is usually meant by enamel painting: that is described on +page 77. A window may be painted altogether in enamel; and, when the +mosaic method went out, designs were painted in enamel upon panes of +plain white glass; but, for the most part, since the pieces had to be +connected by lead, it was found convenient to use pot-metal for some of +the stronger colours. In recent times, however, owing to the +introduction of large sheets of thicker glass, to improved glass kilns, +and also to more accurate knowledge of the chemistry of enamel colours, +it is possible to paint a picture-window on one sheet of glass. That has +been done with extraordinary skill at Sèvres. You may see really +marvellous results in this kind in the Chapel of the Bourbons at Dreux. +If you want neither more nor less than a picture upon glass, and are +content with a picture in which the shadows are opaque and the lights +transparent, that is the way to get it. You will not get the qualities +of glass. Within the last two or three years there seems to have been +very considerable improvement in the purity, translucency, and depth of +enamel colours. How far they are lasting remains to be proved. Anyway, +brilliant as they are, they have not by any means the intensity of +pot-metal glass, and it does not seem, humanly speaking, possible that a +film of coloured glass upon a sheet of white can ever compete in +strength and volume with colour in the body of the glass itself. + +If, therefore, we want the qualities of deep, rich, luminous and +translucent colour, which glass better than any other medium can give, +we must resort to the use of pot-metal--that is to say, to +glazing--assisted more or less by brown paint, used, not to get colour, +but to stop it out, or to tone it down. + +According to the more or less of your dependence upon paint your method +may be described as mosaic or pictorial. + +Starting upon the mosaic system, you rough out your design in coloured +glass (or what stands for it upon paper), and then consider how, by use +of paint, as above mentioned, you may get further detail, shading, +harmony of tone. + +Starting upon the pictorial system you sketch in your design, shade it, +and colour it, and then bethink you how you can get the glass to take +those lines. + +In either case you have, of course, from the first, a very distinct idea +as to the assistance you will get from the supplementary process; but it +makes all the difference whether you think first of the glass or of the +painting. Upon that will depend the character of your window. If you +want all that glass can give in the way of colour, begin with the +mosaic. If you want pictorial effect, think first of your painting. If +you want to get both, balance the two considerations equally in your +mind from the first. Only, to do that, you must be a master of your +trade. + +A first consideration in the design of a window are the bars which are +to support it. The skilled designer begins by setting these out upon his +paper, nearer or closer together, according to the width of the opening, +from nine to eighteen inches asunder. In a wide window it may be as well +to make every second or third bar extra strong. Upright stanchions may +also be introduced. Exigencies of design may make it necessary to alter +the arrangement of bars with which you set out. You may have +occasionally to bend one of them to escape a face, or other important +feature; but, if you begin with them, this will not often be necessary. +Bars may be shaped to follow the lines of the design. There is nothing +against that, except that it is rather costly to do; and, on the whole, +it is hardly worth doing. In big windows, such as those at King's +College, Cambridge, raised some feet above the level of the eye, stout +bars have, in effect, only about the value of strong lead lines, whilst +lead lines disappear. + +The points to be observed with regard to glazing are these: Since leads +must form lines, it is as well to throw them as much as possible into +outlines. In a cleverly glazed window the design will tell even when the +paint has perished. To glaze a picture in squares, regardless of the +drawing, is mere brutality. Because by aid of the diamond glass may +actually be cut to almost any shape, it is not advisable, therefore, to +design shapes awkward to cut, but rather to design the lead lines of a +window with a view to simplicity of cutting and strength of glazing. +Pieces of glass difficult to cut are the first to break. It is the +business of the designer to anticipate breakage by introducing a lead +just where it would occur. _Tours de force_ in glazing are not worth +doing. It is a mistake to be afraid of leads. Skilfully introduced, they +help the effect; and, except in work which comes very near the eye, they +are lost in the glass. + +The quality of pot-metal glass is all important. It should never be +mechanically =flat= and even. The mechanically imperfect material made in +the Middle Ages is so infinitely superior to the perfect manufacture of +our day, that we have had deliberately to aim at the accidents of colour +and surface which followed naturally from the ruder appliances and less +accurate science of those days. There are legends about lost secrets of +glass making, to which much modern produce gives an appearance of truth. +But, as a matter of fact, though old glass undoubtedly owes something of +its charm to weathering, better and more beautiful glass was never made +than is now produced; but it is not of the cheapest, and it wants +choosing. + +The choice of glass is a very serious matter. What are called "spoilt" +sheets are invaluable. It takes an artist to pick the pieces. But +without experience in glass the judgment even of a colourist will often +be at fault. Some colours spread unduly, so that the effect of the +juxtaposition of any two is not by any means the same as it would be in +painting. It is only by practical experiment that a man learns, for +example, how much red will, in conjunction with blue, run into purple, +and which shade of either colour best holds its own. Effects of this +kind have been more or less scientifically explained--by M. Viollet le +Duc for one--but, in order to profit by any such explanation, a man must +have experience also. + +Referring to "flashed" glass, all kinds of double-glass are now made: +red and blue = purple, yellow and blue = green, and so on; but there is +not, except, perhaps, in work on quite a small scale, much to be gained +by this. In fact, it is not well in work on a fairly large scale to +depend too much upon etching pattern out of coated glass. In a window +breadth of effect is of more account than minuteness of detail. Damask +or other patterns in draperies might, more often than they are, be +leaded up in pot-metal. It would compel simplicity on the part of the +designer, and the effect of the glass would be richer. + +With the increasing variety of coloured glass now made, plating becomes +less necessary than once it was. The drawback to the practice is that +dust and dirt may insinuate themselves between the two pieces of glass, +and deaden the colour. The safe plan is to fuse the two pieces of glass +together. + +Good glass is more than half the battle. Raw glass may be toned down by +paint, but poor glass cannot be made rich by it. The Italian glass +painters often used crude greens and purples, and softened them with +brown. They might do that with comparative safety under an Italian sky; +but the deeper tones produced that way have not the purity and +lusciousness of juicy pot-metal, and the paint is liable to peel off and +betray the poverty of the cheap material. It is the fundamental mistake +of the painter, because by means of paint he can do so much, to depend +upon it for more than it can do. The toning of local colour with brown +paint is only a makeshift for more thoroughly mosaic work; but it is an +ever-present temptation to the painter, and one against which he should +be on his guard. + +The actual technique of glass painting, it has been explained already, +is quite different from painting as the painter understands it; often it +is not so much painting as scraping out paint. The artist may, nay must, +choose his own technique. He will get his effect in the way most +sympathetic to him. What he has to remember is, that, except where he +wants actually to stop out light, he must get light into his +shadows--whether by stippling the wet colour, or by scrubbing it when +dry with a hog tool, or by scraping with a point, is his affair. For +example, if he wants to lower the tint of a piece of glass, the worst +thing he could do would be to coat it with an even film of paint. It +would be better to stipple it so that in parts more light came through. +But the best way of preserving the brilliancy of the glass would be +either to paint the glass with cross-hatched lines, or to scrape bright +lines out of a coat of paint. + +In draperies, backgrounds, and so on, this is most effectively done in +the form of a diaper, often as minute as damascening, which scarcely +counts much as pattern. Bold or delicate, a diaper is quite the most +effective means of lowering colour; even hard lines seldom appear hard +in glass, owing to the spreading of the light as it comes through; but +the inevitable hardness of lines scraped out may be mitigated by dabbing +the wet paint so as to make it uneven, or by rubbing off part of the +paint after the lines have been scraped out. Another and yet another +delicate film of paint may be passed over the painted diaper by a +skilful hand, but out of each film lights should be scraped if the full +value of the glass is to be preserved. + +[Illustration: 56. SCRATCHED DIAPER.] + +Solid pigment as local colour is a thing to indulge in only with extreme +moderation. The strong black lead lines often want lines or touches of +black strong enough to keep them in countenance (that is not +sufficiently remembered, and it is when it is forgotten that the leads +assert their harshness in white glass), and here and there, in work on a +small scale, a point of black (a velvet cap, a bag, a shoe, as shown +overleaf,) is very valuable as local colour; but, when the scale allows, +it is better always to get this mass in dark-toned glass, which gives +the necessary depth of colour most easily, most safely, and with most +luminous effect. + +The thing not to do, is to paint the robes of black-draped figures in +black, a common practice in the seventeenth century. On the other hand, +a robe of black richly embroidered with gold and pearls may quite well +be rendered, as it was in late Gothic work, by solid paint, because the +pearls being only delicately painted, and the gold being in great part +perfectly clear yellow stain, plenty of light shines through. + +As to the means of getting delicate painting in glass, the utmost +delicacy can be got, but it costs patient labour, and there is risk of +its going for nothing. + +The only quite safe way of getting very delicate effects of painting is +to paint much stronger than it is meant to appear. A very fierce fire +will then reduce that to a mere ghost of what it was; possibly it will +burn it away altogether. Upon this ghost of your first painting you may +paint once again, strengthening it (and indeed exaggerating it) in all +but quite the most delicate parts. A strong fire will, as before, reduce +this without affecting the first painting. Possibly a third or even a +fourth painting may be necessary to an effect of high finish. When you +have it, it is as lasting as the glass itself. + +[Illustration: 57. S. MARY'S, SHREWSBURY.] + +This painstaking process, however, is found to be tedious. A much easier +plan is to add to the pigment a quantity of borax, or other substance +which will make it flow easily in the kiln. That necessitates only a +gentle fire, in which there is no risk of burning away the work done, +and enables you to do in one or two operations what would have taken +three or four. But the gentle fire required to fix soft flux only fixes +it gently. Securely to fix the pigment, the glass should have been +raised to almost red heat, to the point, in fact, at which it just +begins to melt, and the colour actually sinks into it, and becomes one +with it. A heat anything like that would have wiped out soft colour +altogether. Moreover, the borax flux itself is very readily decomposed +by the moisture of a climate like ours. Accordingly the more easily +executed work cannot possibly be fast. It fades, they say. That is not +the case. It simply crumbles off, sooner or later; but eventually the +atmosphere has its way with it. That is how we see in modern windows +faces in which the features grow dim and disappear. + +We have got to reckon with this certainty, that if we want our painting +to last we must fire it very severely. What will not stand a fierce oven +will not stand the weather. + +In view of the labour and risk involved in very delicate painting it +becomes a question how far it is worth while. That will depend upon the +artist's purpose. But the moral seems to be that, for purposes of +decoration generally, it would be better not to aim at too great +delicacy of effect, which is after all not the quality most valuable, +any more than it is most readily attainable, in glass. + +Only those who have had actual experience in glass appreciate the value +of silver stain. It gives the purest and most beautiful quality of +yellow, from lemon to orange, brilliant as gold. There is some risk with +it. One kind of glass will take it kindly, another will reject it; you +have to choose your glass with reference to it. The fire may bring it to +a deeper colour than is wanted. It may even come out so heavy and +obscure that it has to be removed with acid, and renewed. Some all but +inevitable uncertainty as to its tint, renders this peculiar yellow more +suitable for use where absolute certainty of tint is not essential. +Nevertheless, the skilled glass painter makes no difficulty of doubling +the process, and staining a dark yellow upon a lighter, with very +beautiful results. Occasionally a master of his craft has gone so far as +literally to paint in stain, scraping out his high lights in white, and +giving, for example, the very picture of embossed goldsmith's work. + +In the diapering of draperies and the like stain is of great service, +and again in landscape upon blue. But it has not been used for all it is +worth as a means of qualifying colour which is not precisely right, +apart altogether from pattern. Many a time where a scum of paint has +been employed to reduce a tint, a judicious blur of stain, not +appreciable as such, would have done it more satisfactorily, without in +the least obscuring the glass. + +Nowhere is silver stain more invaluable than in windows of white glass +or _grisaille_, the quality of which is not sufficiently appreciated. +The mother-of-pearl-like tints of what is called white glass lend +themselves, in experienced hands, to effects of opalescent colour as +beautiful in their way as the deeper pot-metal tones. + +There is no great difficulty in combining _grisaille_ and colour, +provided the white be not too thin nor the colour too deep; but the +happiest combinations are where one or the other is distinctly +predominant. With very deep rich glass, such as that used in the +thirteenth century, it is most difficult to use white in anything like a +patch (for the flesh, for example, in figure work). Unless very heavily +painted it asserts itself too much, and heavy paint destroys its +quality. Practically the only thing to do is to use glass of really +rather strong tint, which in its place has very much the value of white. +The "whites" in Early windows are a long way from purity. They are +greenish, bone colour, horny; but they have much more the effect of +white than has, for example, pure white glass reduced by paint to a +granular tint of umber. + +Flesh tints present a difficulty always, unless you are content to +accept a quite conventional rendering of it. In connection with strong +colour you may use flesh-tinted glass; but that is just the one tint +which it is most difficult to get in glass. It is usually too pink. +Painting on white glass in brown produces the most invariably happy +results, and in windows into which white largely enters that is quite +the best expedient to adopt. In practice it proves ordinarily a mistake +to adopt a warmer brown for flesh tint, or to paint it in brown and red, +as was done in the sixteenth century and after that. It looks always +unpleasantly hot. When flesh wants relieving against white it is better +to use a colder white glass for the background. The only condition under +which warm-tinted flesh is quite acceptable is when it is in the midst +of strong red and yellow. The use of red enamel for flesh seems to be a +weak, unnecessary, and unavailing concession to the pictorial. It does +not give the effect of actual flesh, and it does not help the effect of +the window. Since you cannot get actual flesh tones it is as well to +accept the convention of white flesh, which gives breadth and dignity +to the glass. There is a sort of frivolity about enamelled flesh-pink. +It is, in a way, pretty, but out of key with the monumental character of +a window. Glass lends itself best to strong, large work. The quality of +pot-metal gives the colour chord. The leads give the key to the scale of +design--the pitch, as it were, of the artist's voice. That these are +strong (it is seldom worth while resorting to extra thin leads) does not +argue that design must be coarse. You have to balance them with strong +work, with patches, perhaps, as well as strong lines, of dark paint, to +carry off any appearance of brutality in them. This done, much delicate +detail may be introduced. A strong design need not shout any more than a +speaker need, who knows how to manage his voice. That is the condition: +you must know your instrument, and have it under control. + +Experience seems to show that a certain formality of design befits +stained glass. Formality of colour arrangement soon becomes tedious; but +it is seldom, if ever, that the design of glass strikes one as unduly +formal. + +Mosaic glass is designed, it was said above, with a view to glazing. The +skilled artist designs, so to speak, in leads; but they are not the +design; in fact, they count only as contours, and, except in mere +glazing, they should not be expected to give lines. It is a common fault +to make leads take a part in the design which they will not play in the +glass. + +In drawing, strong, firm, even angular lines are valuable, if not +imperative. The radiating light softens them. Drawing which is already +suave is likely to be too soft in the glass, to want accent. Only +experience will tell you how much you must attenuate fingers and the +like in your drawing in order that the light shall fill them out, and +give them just their normal plumpness. The beginner never allows enough +for the spreading of light. + +Glass painters who know what they are about use plenty of solid painting +out; but it takes experience to do it cunningly. An artist whose +_métier_ is really glass is not careful of the appearance of his +drawings. Cartoons are nothing but plans of glass, not intrinsically of +any account. Really good glass is better than the drawings for +it--necessary as good sketches may be to please the ignorant patron. + +New departures in technique will suggest themselves to every inventive +mind. They may even be forced upon a man--as, by his own confession, +they were forced upon Mr. Lafarge--by the inadequacy of the materials +within his reach, or the incompetence of the workmen on whom he has to +depend. Mr. Lafarge's glass is sometimes very beautiful in colour, and +is strikingly unlike modern European manufacture; but it is not so +absolutely original in method as Americans appear to think. He seems to +have discovered for himself some practices which he might have learnt +from old or even modern work, and to have carried others a step further +than was done before. The basis of his first idea, he explains, was in a +large way to recall the inlay of precious stones that are set in jade by +Eastern artists. That was practically the notion of the earliest +Byzantine workers in glass. His use of other materials than glass in +windows he might have learnt from China, Java, or Japan, where they use +oyster, tortoise, and crocodile shell; or from ancient Rome, where mica, +shells, and alabaster were employed. There is nothing very new in +blended, streaked, or even wrinkled glass, except that moderns do by +deliberate intention what the mediæval glass-maker could not help but +do, and carry it farther than they. In chipping flakes or chunks out of +a solid lump of glass, Mr. Lafarge certainly struck out an idea which +had probably occurred to no one since, in prehistoric ages, man shaped +his arrow heads and so on out of flint. He has produced very beautiful +and jewel-like effects by means of this chipping, though the material +lends itself best to a more barbaric style of design than the artist has +usually been content to adopt. He has appreciated, no one better, the +quality of glass, but not the fact that so characteristic a material as +he adopts must rule the design. The attempt to get pictorial, +atmospheric, or other naturalistic effects by means of it, soon brings +you to its limitations. At the rendering of flesh it comes to a full +stop. + +The experiment has been tried by Mr. Lafarge of a minute mosaic of +little pieces of glass between two sheets of white, all fused into one; +but it appears to be too costly, if not too uncertain an expedient, to +be really practical as a means of rendering the human face, more +especially if you want to get expression, which is there of more +importance than natural colour. Another new departure, the device of +blowing glass into shapes, so as to get modelling in them, results so +far in rather dumb and indeterminate form. + +It is quite possible to melt together a mosaic of glass without the use +of lead. That practice may yet come into use in window panes, but they +will be as costly as they are fragile. In larger work there is no real +artistic reason why lead or its equivalent should be avoided. How much +old glass would have remained to us if it had been executed in huge +sheets? Here and there perhaps a broken scrap in a museum. + +It is not meant to suggest that we should do in the nineteenth century +only what was done in times gone by. Our means are ampler now, our wants +are more. We can follow tradition only so far as it suits our wants; +and, in carrying it further, we are sure to arrive at something so +different that it may be called a new thing. If old methods do not meet +new conditions we must invent others. The problem of our day is how to +reconcile manufacture with anything like art; or failing that, whether +there is a livelihood for the independent artist-craftsman? + +Whoever it may be that is to make our stained glass windows in the +future, he will have to make them fit the times. He may discover new +materials. Meanwhile it is of no use quarrelling with those he has. He +must know them and humour them. Bars have to be accepted as needful +supports, leads to be acknowledged as convenient joints; glass must be +allowed its translucency, and painting kept to what it can best do. A +window should own itself a window. + +And what is the aim and use of a stained glass window? To "exclude the +light," said the poet, sarcastically. Yes, to subdue its garishness, +soften its glare, tinge it with colour, animate it with form perhaps. + +The man who means to do good work in windows will devote as serious +study to old glass as a painter to the old masters. He will not rest +satisfied without knowing what has been done, how it was done, and why +it was done so; but he will not blind himself to new possibilities +because they have never yet been tried. The pity is that often the +antiquary is so bigoted, the glass painter so mechanical, the artist so +ignorant of glass. The three men want fusing into one. The ideal +craftsman is a man familiar with good work, old and new, a master of his +trade, and an artist all the while; a man too appreciative of the best +to be easily satisfied with his own work, too confident in himself to +accept what has been done as final; a man experimenting always, but +basing his experiments upon experience, and proving his reverence for +the great men who light the way for him by daring, as a man has always +dared, to be himself. + + + + +BOOK II. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE DESIGN OF EARLY GLASS. + + +Design in glass developed itself on lines almost parallel to the +progress of technique. Each, of course, affected the other--how and why +it is now proposed to show. + +It is not intended at present to say more than is absolutely necessary +about "Style," in the historic sense--that is reserved for a chapter by +itself--but, as it is convenient to refer to a period of design by its +name, it will be as well at this stage briefly to enumerate the historic +"Periods." + +Glass follows, inevitably, the style of architecture of the period. +Accordingly it is divided broadly into Gothic and Renaissance. Gothic, +in its turn, is divided by Rickman (who first attempted to discriminate +between the styles of architecture in England) into three periods. +Winston, who did for English glass what Rickman did for English +architecture, adopts his classification as follows:--Early Gothic--to +about 1280. Decorated Gothic--to about 1380. Perpendicular Gothic--to +about 1530. + +Renaissance art has been classified in Italy according to the century, +and in France has been named after the reigning sovereign--François +Premier, Henri Deux, and so on. In England also we make use of the terms +Tudor, Elizabethan, Jacobean, and the like. No one, however, has +attempted to draw subtle distinctions between the periods of Renaissance +glass, for the obvious reason that the best of it was done within a +comparatively short period, and the rest is not of much account. It is +enough, therefore, to mark off two divisions of Renaissance glass. The +first (which overlaps the latest Gothic) may be called Sixteenth +Century, or by the Italian name Cinque-Cento, or simply Renaissance; +whilst the second, which includes seventeenth century and later work, is +sufficiently described as Late glass. + +The development of style in other countries was not quite parallel with +its march on this side of the water. The French were always in advance +of us, whether in Gothic or Renaissance; the Germans lagged behind, at +all events in Gothic; but the pace is equal enough for us to group +windows generally into three Gothic and two Renaissance periods--Early, +Middle, and Late Gothic; Early and Late Renaissance. If we do that it +will concern us less, that Early German work is more Romanesque than +Gothic, that Late French work is not Perpendicular but Flamboyant, and +so on. + +The accepted classification is determined mainly by the character of the +architectural or ornamental detail of the design. Such architectural or +other detail--that of costume, for example--is of the very greatest use +as a clue to the date of glass. That is a question of archæology; but it +is not so much the dates that artists or workmen have to do with as with +the course of craftsmanship, the development of art. It is convenient +for us to mark here and there a point where art or workmanship has +clearly reached a new stage; it gives us breathing time, a +starting-point on some fresh voyage of discovery; but such points need +be few. The less we bother ourselves by arbitrary subdivisions of style +the better; and Winston himself allows that his divisions are arbitrary. + +The student need not very seriously concern himself about dates or +names. People are much too anxious to get a term for everything, and +when they can use the term glibly they fancy they know all about the +thing. It is no doubt easier to commit to memory a few names and a few +dates than to know anything about a craft; but the one accomplishment +will not do in place of the other. A very little real knowledge of art +or practical workmanship will lead you to suspect, what is the truth, +that there is a good deal of fee-fi-fo-fum about the jargon of styles. +It is handy to talk of old work as belonging to this or that broadly +marked historic period; and it is well worth the while of any one +interested in the course of art to master the characteristics of style. +The student should master them as a matter of course; but he must not +take the consideration of period for more than it is worth. Really we +give far too much attention to these fashions of bygone days--fashions, +it must be allowed, on a more or less colossal scale, compared to ours, +but still only fashions. + +It is proposed then to allude here only so far to the styles as may be +necessary to explain the progress of design, and especially the design +of stained glass windows. + +In dividing Gothic into Early, Middle, and Late Gothic, corresponding +roughly with the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, it is +not forgotten that there is an earlier Gothic of the twelfth and perhaps +eleventh centuries, more or less reminiscent of the Romanesque period +preceding it; but English glass begins, to all intents and purposes, +with the thirteenth century, and even in France there is not a very +great quantity of characteristically earlier glass. What there is +differs from thirteenth century work mainly in the Romanesque character +of the figure drawing and ornamental detail, in its deliberately simple +composition, and in the spontaneity of its design. The glazier was still +feeling his way. Any composition to be found in a Byzantine +ivory-carving, enamel, illuminated manuscript, or what not, might just +as well occur in glass. The more familiar types of early Gothic window +design had not yet settled down into orthodoxy. The lines on which the +oldest windows extant were set out are in the main those of the +thirteenth century also. They were more or less suggested by the shape +of the window opening, which, it will be seen, had always had a good +deal to say as to the direction glass design should take. + +[Illustration: 58. POITIERS.] + +The window openings in Romanesque or Norman-French churches were single +lights, round or pointed arched, rather broad in proportion to their +width. Stained glass, it has been explained, has to be held in its place +by copper wires, soldered to the leadwork, and attached to iron bars let +into the masonry for that purpose. In the case of a very narrow lancet, +such bars would naturally be placed at convenient intervals across the +opening. But for the most part windows were the reverse of narrow, and +the horizontal bars had to be supplemented by vertical stanchions, so +that the window space was divided into rectangular divisions. As a +matter of construction the glass was made in panels, corresponding to +these, and attached to them. It is not surprising, therefore, that these +divisions should often have been accepted as part of the design, or that +the design of the glass should to some extent have followed them. On +page 113 is the skeleton of the upper part of a twelfth century window. +The strong black lines in the diagram show the bars, the finer ones +indicate the main divisions of the design of the glass. It will be seen +that the four strips into which the upright bars divide the window are +not equal, but that the outer divisions are narrower than the inner, so +as to accommodate themselves to the width of the border. Naturally that +was determined always by the proportion of the window; such borders +measured often one-sixth part, or more, of the entire width. The way in +which the central circular shape in the glass breaks across in front of +the border is an instance of the spontaneity and unexpectedness of +design characteristic of the earliest existing work; later one series of +forms would repeat themselves without interruption throughout the length +of the window. When, as above, the centre of a window is occupied by a +great crucifix, or, as below, other such irregularity occurs, it is safe +to conclude that the glass, if not prior to the thirteenth century, +belongs to its first years. It is characteristic of the very early date +of the glass that the bars in the diagrams given do not go out of their +way to follow the outline of the circles, vesicas, quatrefoils, and +other shapes, but on occasion cut relentlessly across them. + +[Illustration: 59. POITIERS EAST WINDOW. (Compare with 24.)] + +[Illustration: 60. POITIERS, NORTH TRANSEPT.] + +The filling out of such a skeleton as those given would in many respects +be much the same in the eleventh, twelfth, or thirteenth century; and +in each case it would be in direct pursuance of the traditions of Early +Christian design. You may see in Byzantine ivories and enamels precisely +the kind of thing that was done in glass; and in the Romanesque +Michaelis Kirche at Hildesheim, is a painted roof, the design of which +might have been carried out, just as it is, in a giant window. + +[Illustration: 61. BORDER, ANGERS.] + +[Illustration: 62. BORDER, ANGERS.] + +The main divisions of the centre part of such a window would each +contain its little "subject" or glass picture; the border and the +interstices between the pictures would be occupied with foliated +ornament; only, the earlier the work, the more pronounced would be the +Romanesque character, alike of the ornament and the figure work. The +broad borders from Angers, above, and the narrower one from Le Mans +(page 327) differ materially from the accepted thirteenth century type +(page 117). Witness how in the Angers glass the stalks of the foliage +frame little panels in the border, and how in the Le Mans work the +stalks take the form of straps, patterned with painted ornament. This +elaboration of the stalks with painted zig-zag, pearlwork, and so on, is +precisely the kind of thing one sees in Byzantine carving and inlay. +The very early spandril from Angers, below, if not markedly Romanesque +in character is yet not of the distinctively Early Gothic type. + +[Illustration: 63. ANGERS.] + +The shape of each medallion would be emphasised by a series of coloured +lines or fillets framing it. In quite early work the broader of these +would be broken up into blocks of alternating colour; they would be +patterned probably (which in the thirteenth century they would probably +not be), and altogether the effect of the ornament would be more +jewelled. One of these broken and patterned margins is shown in the +vesica-shaped framing to the figure on page 37--belonging, by the way, +to the window given in skeleton on page 114. + +The difference between twelfth and thirteenth century pictures is in the +lingering of Byzantine traditions of design in the earlier work, and in +the strictly simple disposition of the figures _en silhouette_ against +the background, as well as in the way the drapery is wrapped closely +round them, so that the figure always explains itself. There is an +expression and a "go" about some of the earliest figures for which we +look in vain later in the thirteenth century. The figures of the +Apostles from the Ascension at Le Mans on page 33 are altogether more +alive than the thirteenth century bishops, for example, on page 276, who +seem by comparison tame and altogether respectable. A certain +exaggeration there is, no doubt, about the action of these earliest +figures, a certain brutality of rendering, as there is also a certain +barbaric quality in the ornament, and, indeed, in the whole effect; but +of its superlative richness there is no manner of doubt. One is even led +to speculate, when one compares it with later work, whether a certain +barbaric character of design does not go to that unrivalled brilliancy. +In the absolute glory of rich colour the very earliest glass has never +been equalled. The advance of glass painting was at the cost of this, +perhaps barbaric, quality. + +[Illustration: 64. EARLY ORNAMENT, SALISBURY.] + +In the earliest windows the subjects were not invariably enclosed in +medallions; sometimes the square lines of the bars would be accepted +as division enough; these would be framed with lines of colour, and the +design of the portion of the window within the border would consist (as +occasionally at Chartres) of a series of square subjects, each with its +marginal lines, ranged one above the other. For the most part, however, +the design of the earliest richly coloured windows extant took the shape +of little pictures in panels or medallions. Another favourite scheme was +to delineate the Tree of Jesse. The upper portion of such a window is +given on page 117; but further consideration of Jesse windows is +reserved for a separate chapter. + +[Illustration: 65. S. REMI, REIMS.] + +From the earliest period, no doubt, clerestory or other lights were +often occupied each with a separate figure standing upright; but such of +these as may remain in their places are not readily distinguishable from +thirteenth century work; and the undoubtedly earlier figures--such, for +example, as those in S. Remi at Reims--have been re-set in framework +more or less old, but so as not to tell us anything very authentic about +the setting out of the original windows. Again at Augsburg, where the +figures in the clerestory are said to be the oldest in Germany (to +belong, in fact, to about the year 1000), the windows are bordered with +modern glazing in white. At Reims we have very rudely drawn figures in +rich colour against a deep background, standing with splayed feet upon +little rounds or half rings of colour, representing the earth, their +names inscribed in bold lettering, which forms a band of yellow behind +their heads. At Augsburg the figures, equally rude in drawing, equally +splay-footed, are in white and colour upon a white ground. They stand +upon little hemispheres of Byzantine ornament, and their names are writ +large in black letters upon the white glass around their heads. +Presumably they were framed in a border of pattern work similar to that +surrounding the medallion windows. The ornamental work in the windows at +S. Remi may not always have formed part of the same window with the +figure work--it does not go very happily with it now--but it is probably +of about the same date; and it illustrates, together with some similar +work at S. Denis, near Paris (so "thoroughly restored" as to have lost +its historic value), a kind of pattern work peculiar to the earliest +glass. + +As a rule, early glass divides itself naturally into two classes: work +in rich colour, which is what we have hitherto been discussing, and work +in "grisaille," as it is called; that is to say, in which the glass is +chiefly white, or whitish, relieved only here and there by a line or a +jewel of colour. + +Occasionally, as at Auxerre, Reims, and Poitiers, rich figure work is +found set in grisaille or framed by it; and in some fragments from +Châlons, now at the _Musée des Arts Décoratifs_ at Paris, coloured +figures are found on a white ground. + +You find also in France rich colour-work surrounded by white glass--the +work of a period when the powers that were became possessed of the idea +that they must lighten the interior of their churches, and accordingly +removed so much of the coloured glass as seemed good to their ignorance, +and replaced it with plain glazing. But, as a rule, and apart from the +tinkering of the latter-day ecclesiastic, rich colour and grisaille were +kept apart in early mediæval churches; that is to say, a coloured window +has not enough white in it perceptibly to affect the depth and richness +of its colour, nor a grisaille window enough colour to disturb the +general impression of white light. At Reims and S. Denis, however, you +find ornament in which white and colour are so evenly balanced that they +belong to neither category. The amount of colour introduced into +grisaille was never at any time a fixed quantity; one has to allow +something for the predilection of the artist; but here the amount of +colour makes itself so distinctly felt that the term grisaille no longer +serves to express it. + +The design of these patterns was of a rather mechanical type (pages 35, +118, 120) and not in any case very interesting; but it would have been +difficult under any circumstances to produce a very satisfactory effect +by so equally balancing white and colour. The designer falls between two +stools. The well-known gryphon medallions at S. Denis seem at first to +promise something rather amusing in design, but there is no variety in +them:--and no wonder! the greater number of them prove to be new, and +they have all been rearranged by Viollet le Duc. That is as much as to +say, some of the gryphons are of Abbot Suger's time, but the design of +the window is Viollet le Duc's. White and colour are again too evenly +mixed in the heavy-looking English glass at Lincoln shown on page 121, +but that is of the thirteenth century. + +It need hardly be said that the earlier the work, the simpler was the +character of the painting, the more deliberately was pigment reserved +for painting out the light, the more strictly was the shading in lines. +But the painted detail was often small; glass was used in small pieces; +subjects themselves were ordinarily small in scale. The largeness of +effect was due first to the actual simplicity of the main lines of the +design, and then to breadth of colour, a breadth of colour all the more +remarkable seeing the small pieces of glass of which the broad surfaces +were of necessity made up. + +Of course, too, the earlier the work the more the design was influenced +by the technique of glazing, the more clearly it can be seen how the +glazier designed (as was explained on page 44) in lead lines, and only +made use of paint to fill them out. + +[Illustration: 66. S. REMI, REIMS.] + +In twelfth century glass the white was greenish and rather horny in +texture; ruby was sometimes streaky, and often tawny or inclined to +orange; blue varied from deep indigo to pale grey, occasionally it was +of the colour of turquoise; yellow, dark or pale, was usually brassy; +green ranged from bluish to pale apple, and from dull to emerald. These +colours, with a rich brownish-purple, the lighter shades of which served +always as flesh tint, made up the glazier's palette. Happily there was +considerable inequality of colour in the material. It deepened, for +example, towards the selvage of the sheet where it was thickest; it had +streaks and bubbles in it; no two batches ever came out of the pot quite +alike; and altogether the rudely made pot-metal was chemically most +imperfect and artistically all that glass should be. + +[Illustration: 67. LINCOLN.] + +It would be rash in the extreme to formulate any theory as to early +schemes of colour; probably the glazier's main thought was to get +somehow a deep, rich, solemn effect of colour. He secured this very +often by not confusing his tints, and by allowing a single colour so to +predominate that the window impressed you at once as bluish or greenish +or reddish in tone. He was on the whole happiest when he kept his colour +cool; but he produced also red windows which are never to be forgotten. + +In the cathedral at Poitiers, where many of the beautiful medallion +windows belong to the very early part of the thirteenth century, the +scheme is usually to adopt a blue background, alike for the medallions +and for the spaces between, relying upon a broad band of ruby, edged +with white pearling, to mark the medallion shapes, which it effectively +does; but these are not the most beautiful windows in the church. One +recognises their date rather by the individuality and spontaneity of the +design than by any distinctly Romanesque character in the detail. It +should be mentioned, also, that at Poitiers, even in windows which seem +not so emphatically to belong to the very beginning of the century, the +early practice of using only straight upright and cross bars is adhered +to. There may be something of local conservatism in that. + +[Illustration: 68. BARS IN EARLY MEDALLION WINDOWS.] + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MEDALLION WINDOWS. + + +In the thirteenth century the practice of the earlier glaziers stiffened +into something like a tradition, and design took almost inevitably the +form of (1) the Medallion window, (2) the Single Figure window, (3) +Ornamental Grisaille. + +The full-blown thirteenth century Medallion window differed from what +had gone before in that it was more orthodox. The designer begins as +before by marking off a broad border to his glass, defined on the inner +side by an iron bar, and proceeds to fill the space within the border +with medallion shapes. But he now adapts the medallions more regularly +to the spaces between the bars. At most two alternating shapes occur +throughout the length of the light, without break or interruption, such +as occurs in earlier work, and as a rule they keep strictly within the +lines of the border. In all the nine examples here given, taken at +random from Chartres, Bourges, Canterbury, and elsewhere, only in one +case does a medallion cut boldly across the border in the head of the +light. The slight overlapping of the quatrefoils in one case is not +really an overlapping of the border but only of the marginal lines to +it, not shown in the diagram above, but clearly enough explained on page +132, which shows the completion of a corner of the window, less its side +border. In the window with large circular medallions divided into four, +there is no upright bar to define the border, faintly indicated by a +dotted line. + +[Illustration: 69. BARS IN EARLY MEDALLION WINDOWS.] + +It will be seen from these diagrams, which illustrate at once the main +divisions of the glass and the position of the ironwork, what a change +came over the construction of windows in the thirteenth century. The +window is no longer ruled off by upright and horizontal bars into panels +into which the design is fitted; it is the bars which are made to follow +the main lines of the design, and to emphasise the forms of the +medallions. The rare exceptions to this rule (as at Bourges, overleaf) +may generally be taken to betray either the beginning or the end of the +period; but at Poitiers they seem to have passed through the early +period without ever arriving at shaped bars. The early glazier, it was +said, first blocked out his design according to his leading; here he +begins with the bars. The iron framework forms, itself, in many of these +windows, a quite satisfactory pattern, and one which proudly asserts +itself in the finished window. The designs of the period are not of +course all equally ingenious. Sometimes, in order to strengthen a circle +or quatrefoil of great size, the glazier, instead of breaking up the +shape ornamentally as was the rule, merely supports it by cross bars; +not only that, but he accepts the awkward shapes given by them as +separate picture spaces. Of this comes one of two evils: either he +frames his little pictures with sufficient border lines to keep them +distinct, and so draws attention to the shapes, an attention they do not +deserve; or he has to accept the bars, with perhaps a fillet of colour, +as sufficient frame, which they are not, and his pictures run together, +to the bewilderment of whoever would decipher them. + +[Illustration: 70. SPANDRILS OF MEDALLION WINDOW, BOURGES.] + +It is matter for regret that the French did not accept the full shape of +even the largest medallion, and fill it with one bold subject; over and +over again one feels that the subjects in medallion windows are not only +too small to be readable, but so small that the figures are out of scale +with the ornamental detail. The scale of the church has, of course, to +be taken into account; but the French churches are big enough to warrant +figures thrice the size of those which ordinarily occur in medallions. +In our narrower "Early English" lancet windows the medallions naturally +came small. + +To divide a window into eccentric divisions (halves or quarters of +circles, quatrefoils, and the like) and then to take these awkward +shapes as separate picture frames, is an archaic method of design much +in need of excuse. The more reasonable thing to do would have been to +make use of such incomplete forms only in some secondary position, and +as framework for ornament, or at least quite subsidiary figures. + +Apart from shapes which are really only segments of medallions, the only +awkward medallion shapes occurring in Early glass are those which are +broader than they are high, such as occur, for example, at Soissons. +These have always the uncomfortable appearance of having been crushed. + +How the iron skeleton of a medallion window is filled out with leaded +glass; how the border and the medallion shapes are strengthened by bands +of colour; how the medallions themselves are occupied with little figure +subjects, and how the interspaces are filled in with ornament, is +indicated opposite and on pages 132, 325. + +By way of variation upon the monotony of design, the designer will +sometimes reverse the order of things. At Bourges, for example, you will +find the centre of a light devoted to insignificant and uninteresting +ornament, whilst the figure subjects are edged out into half quatrefoils +at the sides of the window; and, again, at Chartres and Le Mans you may +occasionally see the pictures similarly ousted from their natural +position by rather mechanical ornament. One can sympathise with an +artist's impatience with the too, too regular distribution of the +stereotyped medallion window. There is undoubtedly a monotony about it +which the designer is tempted to get rid of at any price; but +consistency is a heavy price to pay for the slight relief afforded by +the treatment just described. + +This striving after strangeness results not only in very ugly picture +shapes--no one would deliberately design such a shape as that which +frames the picture of the Dream of Charlemagne (overleaf)--but it +produces a very uncomfortable impression of perversity. It is quite +conceivable that ornament may be better worth looking at than some +pictures; but a picture refuses to occupy the subordinate position; it +will not do as a frame to ornament. There is no occasion to illustrate +very fully the design of Early figure medallions; they are often of very +great interest, historical, legendary and human, but there is little +variation in the system of design. The picture is of the simplest, +perhaps the baldest, kind. The figures, as before stated, are clearly +defined against a strong background, usually blue or ruby; a strip or +two of coloured glass represents the earth upon which they stand; a +turret or a gable tells you that the scene is in a city; a foliated +sprig or two indicate that it is out of doors, a forest, perhaps; a +waving band of grey ornament upon the blue tells you that the blue +background stands for sky, for this is a cloud upon it. The extremely +ornamental form which conventional trees may assume is shown in Mr. T. +M. Rooke's sketch from a medallion at Bourges, opposite. In the +medallions from Chartres (page 325) are instances of simpler and less +interesting tree forms, and in the upper part of the larger of the two, +a bank of conventional cloudwork. Explanatory inscriptions are sometimes +introduced into the background, as in the dream of Charlemagne (above), +or in the margin of the medallions, as in the Canterbury window on page +132, fulfilling in either case an ornamental as well as an elucidatory +function. + +[Illustration: 71. THE DREAM OF CHARLEMAGNE, CHARTRES.] + +In the Canterbury glass it will be seen the figures are more crowded +than in the French work illustrated. This is not a peculiarity of +English glass, but a mark of period; as a rule the clump or compact +group of personages proclaims a later date than figures isolated against +the background. There is no surer sign of very early work than the +obvious display of the figures against the background, light against +dark or dark against light. Another indication of the date of the +Canterbury figures is that their draperies do not cling quite so +closely about them as in figures (page 33) in which the Byzantine +tradition is more plainly to be traced. + +There is no mistaking a medallion window, the type is fixed: within a +border of foliated ornament a series of circles, quatrefoils, or other +medallion shapes, for the most part occupied by figure subjects on a +rather minute scale, and between these ornament again. + +The border might be wider or narrower, according to the proportion of +the window, though a wide border was rather characteristic of quite +early glass. A twelfth century border (Angers) will sometimes measure +more than a quarter of the entire width of the window. The borders from +Canterbury, Beverley, Auxerre, and Chartres (overleaf) are of the +thirteenth. A border of sufficient dimensions will sometimes include +medallion shapes as on pages 115, 325, and even occasionally little +subject medallions at intervals, or it may be half-circles, each +containing a little figure; but such interruption of the running border +is rare. In so far as it counts against monotony it is to the good. + +[Illustration: 72. DETAIL FROM AN EARLY MEDALLION.] + +In narrower windows, such as more frequently occur in this country, +where, as the Gothic style of architecture supplanted the Norman, lancet +lights took a characteristically tall and slender shape, the border was +reduced to less imposing proportions, as for example at Beverley;--there +was no room for a wide frame to the medallions, nor any fear, it may be +added, that these should be so large as to require breaking up into +segments, as in much French glass, or at Canterbury: there the window +openings, as was to be expected of a French architect, are more +characteristically Norman than English in proportion. In a very narrow +light in the one-time cathedral at Carcassonne the medallions break in +front of a not very wide border; but then this, though a medallion +window, belongs probably by date to the Second Gothic period. + +[Illustration: 73. CANTERBURY.] + +Medallions themselves may be simple or fantastic in shape. They may be +devoted each to a single picture, or subdivided into a series of four or +five; they may be closely packed, and supported by segments of other +medallions, also devoted to figure work, or they may be separated by +considerable intervals of ornament. The character of that ornament takes +two distinct forms. + +[Illustration: 74. BEVERLEY MINSTER.] + +In the examples given (pages 132, 325) it takes the form of foliated +scrollwork, very much of a piece with the ornament in the borders, +except that there is more scope for its growth. In actual detail it +varies, according to its date and whereabouts, from something very much +like Romanesque strapwork to the more or less trefoiled foliage typical +of Early Gothic ornament, whether French or English. Further examples of +the last are shown in the borders from Auxerre and Chartres (page 328). +The one from Chartres illustrates the transition from the Romanesque; it +is intermediate between the two. The borders from S. Kunibert's, +Cologne, are quite Romanesque in character, though they are of the +thirteenth century; but then it has to be remembered that the Romanesque +style of architecture was flourishing on the Rhine long after the Gothic +style had developed itself in France and England. Many of the details +from Canterbury--which, by-the-bye, are almost identical with +contemporary French ornament--show a lingering influence of the +pre-Gothic period, but the scroll occupying the spandril on page 132 is +pronouncedly of Early Gothic type. Of much the same character is the +detail from Salisbury on page 117, which forms no part of a medallion +window, but more likely of a tree of Jesse. + +[Illustration: 75. AUXERRE.] + +[Illustration: 76. CHARTRES.] + +It was in this ornamental kind of design that the thirteenth century +glaziers were most conspicuously successful. One no longer feels here, +as one does with regard to their figure work, that they mean much better +than their powers enable them to do. And it is with scrollery of this +kind, either growing free or springing from the margin of the medallion, +that the Early English designers occupied the intervals between the +medallions in their windows. In France it became the commoner practice +to substitute for it a diaper of geometric pattern. Other expedients +were occasionally adopted. There is a window at S. Denis in which there +is foliated scrollwork on a background of geometric diaper, although +this last is so much "restored" that, for all one can tell, Viollet le +Duc may be entirely responsible for it. + +[Illustration: 77. S. KUNIBERT, COLOGNE.] + +[Illustration: 78. FRENCH MOSAIC DIAPERS.] + +At Soissons is a window in which the interspaces between the medallions +are filled with deep blue, broken only here and there by a spot of ruby; +at Poitiers also the ornament in spandrils is often just a quatrefoil or +so, barely foliated, if at all; at Bourges there is an instance of +spandrils (page 125) occupied by bare curling stalks and rosette-like +flowers; at Poitiers the bands which frame the medallions have a way of +interlacing, not in the simple fashion shown in the example from +Canterbury below, but so as to form a kind of pattern in the spandrils +in front of the geometric filling; and there are other variations on the +accustomed medallion tunes; but as a rule the ornament consists either +of the usual Early Gothic foliation, closely akin to that in the +borders, such as is shown on pages 129, 130, 328, 330, or of geometric +pattern, such as is here given. The rarity of the mosaic diaper in this +country may be gathered from the fact that in the whole series of Early +medallion windows at Canterbury it is found only once, its frequency in +France from the fact that in the choir alone of Bourges Cathedral it +occurs in no less than twenty-two instances; again at Chartres, out of +twenty-seven great windows, not more than four have scrollwork; at +Poitiers, on the other hand, there is little geometric diaper, but the +ornament is of the simplest, and barely foliated. This device of +geometric diaper-filling was possibly inspired by the idea of utilising +the small chips of precious glass, which, with the then method of +working, must have accumulated in great quantity. In any case, it +must have been encouraged by that consideration, if not actually +suggested by it. Apart from economy, which is a condition of +craftsmanlike work, there does seem a sort of artistic logic in the use +of merely geometric design for quite subordinate filling, to act as a +foil to figure work; but there was no occasion to put the mosaic of +fragments quite so regularly, not to say mechanically, together, as was +the custom to do. + +[Illustration: 79. CANTERBURY.] + +[Illustration: 80. FRENCH MOSAIC DIAPERS.] + +[Illustration: 81. DETAIL OF MEDALLION WINDOW, CANTERBURY.] + +[Illustration: 82. FRENCH MOSAIC DIAPER.] + +That is shown in a rather unusual instance in a window of the Lower +Church at Assisi; there occurs there a diaper of circles with blue +interstices, where the circles, though all alike painted with a star +pattern, vary in colour in a seemingly accidental way, and are red, +yellow, green, brown, just as it took the fancy of the glazier. + +It follows inevitably from the small scale on which these patterns are +set out, and from the radiation of the coloured light, that unless very +great discretion is exercised the rays get mixed, with a result which is +often the reverse of pleasing. And the worst of it was that the French +glaziers particularly affectioned a combination of red and blue most +difficult to manage. A very favourite pattern consisted of cross bands +of ruby (as above), enclosing squares or diamonds of blue, with dots of +white at the intersection of the ruby bands, which persists always in +running to purple. + +Instances of this unpleasant cast of colour are of continual occurrence, +but they are never otherwise than crude and plummy in effect. The rather +unusual combination of red and green mosaic diaper occurs, however, +pretty frequently at Carcassonne. The diapers illustrated indicate the +variety of geometric pattern to be found at Bourges, Chartres, Le Mans, +and Notre Dame at Paris, and elsewhere. In proportion as there is in +them a preponderance of blue and ruby the effect is that of an +aggressive purple. The safest plan seems to be in associating with the +blue plenty of green, or with the ruby plenty of yellow glass; or a +similar result may be obtained by the choice of a deep neutral blue and +of an orange shade of red, taking care always that the two contrasting +colours shall not be of anything like equal strength. + +At the best these diapers compare very unfavourably with scrollwork. +They are, in the nature of things, more monotonous and less interesting +than a growth of foliage; they are apt also to run to gaudy colour, +which by its mass overpowers the pictures set in it. Compare, in any +French church, the windows in which there is geometric mosaic and those +in which there is scrollwork; and, though they may be all of the same +period, and presumably the work of the same men, you will almost +certainly have to marvel how artists who at one moment hold you +spellbound by the magic of their colour can in the next disturb your +eyesight with a glare of purple produced by the parody of a Scotch +plaid. Many of these diapers are very minute in scale; the smaller the +scale on which they are designed the greater the certainty of the +colours running together. + +[Illustration: 83. S. PETER DELIVERED FROM PRISON, LYONS.] + +It is to the very small scale of the figures, also, that the confusion +of effect in medallion subjects, in spite of their comparatively flat +treatment, is to be attributed. At Bourges, at Canterbury, everywhere, +the medallion subjects are on far too minute a scale to be made out by +mortals of ordinary patience, or, to speak accurately, impatience. +Often, even in windows which come close enough to the eye for study, it +is only the more conventionally familiar pictures which explain +themselves readily; and those you recognise almost by anticipation. You +have no difficulty in deciphering the Nativity, the Crucifixion, the +Ascension, and so on, because you expect to find them. A certain muddle +of effect must be accepted as characteristic of medallion windows. + +It is not to be wondered at, that, considering the difficulty of making +out the ordinary medallion subjects in the lower windows, where they are +usually found, some other scheme of composition should have been adopted +for clerestory windows where those would have been more than ever +unintelligible. Accordingly, in that position, the single figure +treatment was adopted, and carried further than in the preceding +century. The figure was now, not for the first time, but more +invariably, enclosed in something like an architectural niche--a +practice borrowed from the sculptor, who habitually protected the +carved figures enriching the portals of great churches by a projecting +canopy, giving them at the same time a pedestal or base of some kind to +stand upon. + +In glass there was clearly no occasion for such architectural shelter or +support; but the pretended niche and base offered a means of occupying +the whole length of the space within the border, which, without some +additional ornament, would often have been too long in proportion to the +figure, the mere band of inscription under its feet not being enough to +fill out the length. These very rudimentary canopies, specimens of which +are given here, are usually very insignificant. It takes sometimes an +expert to realise that the broken colour about the head of the saint +(page 46) stands for architecture. The forms, when you come to look at +them closely, may be ugly as well as childish, but they go for so little +that it seems hardly worth while to take exception to them. It is only +as indication of a practice (later to be carried to absurd excess) of +making shift with sham architecture for the ornamental setting necessary +to bring the figure into relation and into proportion with the window it +is to occupy, that the device of thus enshrining a figure as yet +deserves attention. As the beginning of canopy work in glass it marks a +very eventful departure in design. All that need here be said about the +Early Gothic canopy is that it would have been easy to have devised +decorative forms at once more frankly ornamental, more interesting in +themselves, and more beautiful, not to say less suggestive of a child's +building with a box of bricks. + +[Illustration: 84. LYONS.] + +Sometimes, as at Chartres and elsewhere, the base of the canopy would +itself take the form of a little subordinate niche enclosing a figure +in small of the Donor, or perhaps only of his shield of arms. Sometimes +it would take the form of a panel of inscription, boldly leaded in +yellow letters upon blue or ruby. + +An alternative idea was to represent the Saints, or other holy +personages, sitting. The figure on page 135 belongs actually to the +beginning of the fourteenth century; but, except for a slightly more +naturalistic character in the drawing of the drapery, it might almost +have belonged to the same period as the standing figure on page 46. In +longer lights two saints are often figured, sitting one above the other. +This may be seen in the clerestory at Canterbury; but the effect is +usually less satisfactory than that of the single figure on a larger +scale. The standing position is also much better suited to the +foreshortened view which one necessarily gets of clerestory windows. A +curious variation upon the ordinary theme occurs in four of the huge +lancets in the south transept at Chartres, where the Major Prophets are +represented each bearing on his shoulders an Evangelist. The same idea +recurs at Notre Dame, Paris, under the south rose. That is all very well +in idea--iconographically it is only right that the Old Testament should +uphold the New--but reduced to picture it is absurd, especially as the +Evangelists are drawn to a smaller scale than the Prophets, and +irresistibly suggest boys having a ride upon their fathers' shoulders. +Dignity of effect there can be none. Not now for the first time, +seemingly, is art sacrificed to what we call the literary idea. + +It shakes one's faith somewhat in the sincerity of the early mediæval +artist to find that in the serried ranks of Kings, Prophets, Bishops, +and other holy men, keeping guard over the church in the clerestory +lights, one figure often does duty for a variety of personages, the +colour only, and perhaps the face, being changed. At Reims there are as +many as six in a row, all precisely of the same pattern, though the +fraud may not be detected until one examines them from the triforium +gallery. At Lyons, again, it looks as if the same thing occurred; but +one cannot get near enough to them to be quite certain. None the less +they are fine in colour. Thirteenth century glass was capable of great +things in the way of colour; and the rows of Kings and Prophets looking +down upon you from the clerestory of a great church like Bourges, +archaic though the drawing be, are truly solemn and imposing. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +EARLY GRISAILLE. + + +With grisaille glass begins a new chapter in the history of glass +painting, and a most important one--not only because of the beautiful +work which was done from the first in white, but also because coloured +glass grew, so to speak, always towards the light. + +[Illustration: 85. S. SERGE, ANGERS.] + +The first coloured windows were intense in colour, rich, and even heavy. +The note they struck was deep, solemn, suited to the church and to the +times. Neither priest nor parishioner was afraid to sacrifice a certain +amount of light. It was the business of a window to shut in those that +worshipped from the outer world, and wrap them in mysterious and +beautiful gloom. With other days, however, came other ideals. As time +went on, and men emerged from the dark ages, the problem of the glazier +was how more and more to lighten his glass; until at last white glass +predominated, and the question was how to introduce colour into it. +Meanwhile the thirteenth century glaziers resorted, where they wanted +light, to the use of windows in grisaille, in absolute contrast to the +rich picture-glass in the same church. + +The model for grisaille design was readily found in the earlier pattern +work in plain glazing. + +[Illustration: 86. S. SERGE, ANGERS.] + +[Illustration: 87. S. JEAN-AUX-BOIS.] + +This last never quite went out of use. But already in the thirteenth +century, and probably in the twelfth, it began to be supplemented, for +the most part, by painting. The exceptionally graceful work at S. Serge, +Angers, for example, on this page and the last, is probably not very +much later than the year 1200. You can see at a glance how this is only +a carrying further of the unpainted work in the same church (page 27) +attributed to the thirteenth century. There may be found indeed amidst +the plain glazing scraps of painted work; but they never happen to fit, +and have pretty certainly found their way into the window in course of +repairs. The unpainted window seems to be of greener and more silvery +glass than the painted, to which perhaps the cross-hatching gives a +rather horny look. + +The one way of painting grisaille in the thirteenth century was to trace +the design (which of course followed the traditional lines) boldly upon +the white glass, and then to cross-hatch the ground, more or less +delicately according to the scale of the work and its distance from the +eye, as here shown. By this means the pattern was made to stand out +clear and light against the background, which had now the value of a +tint, only a much more brilliant one than could have been got by a film +or wash of colour. Very occasionally a feature, such as the group of +four crowns which form the centre of the circle, above, might be +emphasised by filling in the ground about them in solid pigment; but +that was never done to any large extent. The rule was always to +cross-hatch the ground. + +[Illustration: 88. S. JEAN-AUX-BOIS.] + +[Illustration: 89. SOISSONS.] + +With the introduction of colour into grisaille comes always the question +as to how much or how little of it there shall be. There is a good deal +of Early French work, which, on the face of it, was designed first as a +sort of strapwork of interlacing bands in plain glazing, and then +further enriched with painted work, not growing from it, except by way +of exception. This is seen in the example here given. The painter +indulged in slight modifications of detail as he went on. He had a model +which he copied more or less throughout the window; but he allowed +himself the liberty of playing variations, and he even departed from it +at times. By this means he adapted himself to the glass, which did not +always take just the same lines, and at the same time he amused himself, +and us, more than if he had multiplied one pattern with monotonous +precision. His painting was strong enough to keep the leads in +countenance; that is to say, his main outlines would be as thick (see +opposite) as lead lines. + +[Illustration: 90. EARLY DETAIL.] + +Patterns such as those on pages 138, 139, and below, from Soissons, +Reims, S. Jean-aux-Bois, would make good glazed windows apart from the +painting on them. Indeed, the painting is there comparatively +insignificant in design. In the Soissons work, in particular, it +consists of little more than cross-hatching upon the background, to +throw up the interlacing of the glazed bands; for, with the exception of +just a touch of colour in the one opposite, these designs are executed +entirely in white glass. The geometric glazing shapes so completely +convey the design, that the painted detail might almost be an +after-thought. + +[Illustration: 91. SOISSONS.] + +[Illustration: 92. REIMS.] + +[Illustration: 93. LINCOLN.] + +[Illustration: 94. WATER PERRY, OXON.] + +In much of the earliest grisaille there is absolutely no colour but the +greenish hue belonging to what we are agreed to call white glass, and +the effect of it is invariably so satisfactory as to show that colour is +by no means indispensable. And, at all events in France, the colour was +at first very sparingly used, except in those twelfth century patterns +(pages 35, 118, 120) which cannot fairly be called grisaille. In the +window on page 137 the colour is, practically speaking, enclosed in +small spaces ingeniously contrived between the interlacing bands of +white; in that on page 138 it is introduced in half rings, which form +part of the marginal line, and in spots or jewels; but in either case +there is little of it, and it is most judiciously introduced. The +interlacing of bands of plain white upon a ground of cross-hatching, +itself enriched with scrollwork clear upon it, is characteristically +French. Similar bands of white occur, though not interlacing, in the +comparatively clumsy panel from Lincoln (above), but the more usual +English way was to make the bands of white broader, and to paint a +pattern upon them, as in the lancet from Water Perry, Oxfordshire +(opposite), or in the much more satisfactory light from Lincoln +(overleaf), leaving only a margin of clear glass next the cross-hatched +background. A similar kind of thing occurs in the church of S. Pierre at +Chartres (below). A yet more usual plan with us was to make the +strapwork in colour, as at Salisbury. In the patterns on this page the +straps do not interlace. In that on page 143 they not only interlace one +with the other, but the painted ornament, which now takes the form of +more elaborate scrollwork than heretofore, is intertwined with them. +This is an extremely good example of Early English grisaille. Altogether +Salisbury Cathedral is rich in white glass windows of this period (pages +143, 148, 329, 332). + +[Illustration: 95. LINCOLN.] + +[Illustration: 96. S. PIERRE, CHARTRES.] + +The grisaille in the clerestory at Bourges is similar to the Salisbury +work, but it is not possible to get near enough to it to make careful +comparison. The scrollwork on page 143 may be profitably compared with +the very unusual white window at S. Jean-aux-Bois (overleaf). There the +design consists altogether of scrolls in white upon a cross-hatched +ground. It is as if the designer had set out to glaze up a pattern in +white upon a white ground, cross-hatched. But it is obvious that, as +there is no change of colour, it was no longer necessary always to +cut the ornament out of a separate piece of glass from the ground. We +find consequently that, wherever it is convenient, a painted line is +used to save leading. That, it has been already explained (page 24), was +a practice from the first; and it was resorted to more and more. It came +in very conveniently in the French windows, in which the design +consisted largely of white strapwork. It was adopted in the example from +Châlons here given, though it does not appear in the sketch, any more +than it does in the glass until you examine it very carefully. However, +in the sketches from the great clerestory window from Reims Cathedral +(overleaf), and in the smaller one from S. Jean-aux-Bois (facing it), +the economy of glazing is easy to perceive; whilst in that from +Coutances (page 147) the glazier is already so sparing of his leads that +they no longer always follow or define the main lines of the pattern. + +[Illustration: 97. GRISAILLE, SALISBURY CATHEDRAL.] + +[Illustration: 98. CHÂLONS.] + +In a remarkable window in the choir of Chartres Cathedral (page 150) the +design includes interlacing bands both of white and colour, the coloured +ones flanked with strips of white; but the white bands are not glazed +separately. They are throughout included in the same piece of glass as +the cross-hatching, which defines them. This ingenious and very graceful +pattern window is still of the thirteenth century, though clearly of +much later date than, for example, the windows of S. Jean-aux-Bois, +which might indeed almost belong to the twelfth. + +[Illustration: 99. CLERESTORY, REIMS.] + +In several of the Salisbury windows (pages 148, 386) thin straps of +colour are bounded on the outer side by broader bands of white painted +with pattern. And here it should be noticed the bands no longer +interlace at all; on the contrary, the ornamental forms are superposed +one upon the other. This is very markedly the case on page 148. In the +centre of the light is a series of circular discs, and at the sides of +these a row of zig-zags, which, as it were, disappear behind them, +whilst at the edges of the window, again, is an array of segments of +smaller circles losing themselves behind these. In such cases, it will +be seen, the broad white bands fulfil the very useful purpose of keeping +the coloured lines apart, and separating one series of shapes from the +other. In this window, as in the narrow light on page 386, where the +vesica shape is occupied once more with flowing scrollwork, and as in +all but one of the windows on that page, the background of +cross-hatching is for the first time omitted, and the pencilled pattern +is by so much the less effective. As a rule, patterns traced in mere +outline like this belong to a later date; but these windows are +certainly of the thirteenth century. It is seldom safe to say that this +or that practice belonged exclusively to any one period. The white glass +on page 335, almost entirely without paint, might have been executed in +the twelfth century, but its border indicates more likely the latter +part of the thirteenth. Quite the simplest form of glazing was to lead +the glass together in squares or diamonds. These "quarries," as they are +called (from the French _carré_) are associated sometimes with rosettes +and bands of other pattern work, as at Lincoln (pages 284, 287); but +more ordinarily the ornamental part of the window is made up entirely of +them. "Quarry" is a term to be remembered. It plays in the next century +an important part in the design of windows. + +[Illustration: 100. S. JEAN-AUX-BOIS.] + +The best-known grisaille windows in England are the famous group of long +lancets, ending the north transept of York Minster, which are known by +the name of the Five Sisters. You remember the legend about them. The +"inimitable Boz" relates it at length in "Nicholas Nickleby"; but it is +nonsense, all the same. The story tells how in the reign of Henry the +Fourth five maiden ladies worked the designs in embroidery, and sent +them abroad to be carried out in glass. But, as it happens, they belong +to the latter part of the thirteenth century; they are unmistakably +English work; and, what is more, no woman, maiden, wife, or widow, ever +had, or could have had, a hand in their design. Their authorship is +written on the face of them. Every line in their composition shows them +to be the work of a strong man, and a practical glazier, who worked +according to the traditions that had come down to him. A designer +recognises in it a man who knew his trade, and knew it thoroughly. The +notion that any glazier ever worked from an embroidered design is too +absurd. As well might the needlewoman go to the glazier to design her +stitchery. But such is the popular ignorance of workmanship, and of its +intimate connection with design, that no doubt the vergers will go on +repeating their apocryphal tale as long as vergers continue to fill the +office of personal conductors. + +[Illustration: 101. COUTANCES.] + +The Five Sisters are rather looser and freer in design than the +Salisbury glass, and have broad borders of white. In detail they are +certainly not superior to that, nor in general design, so far as one can +make it out at all; but, from their very size and position, they produce +a much more imposing effect. Whoever is not impressed by the Five +Sisters is not likely ever to be moved by grisaille. They form one huge +fivefold screen of silvery glass. The patterns are only with great +difficulty to be deciphered. It is with these as with many others of the +most fascinating windows in grisaille; the glass is corroded on the +surface, black with the dirt and lichen of ages, cracked and crossed +with leads introduced by the repairing glazier, until the design is +about as intelligible as would be a conglomeration of huge spiders' +webs. But, for all that, nay, partly because of it, it is a thing of +absolute beauty, as beautiful as a spider's web, beaded with +dewdrops, glistening in the sun on a frosty winter's morning. It is a +dream of silvery light: who cares for details of design? But it is all +this, because it was designed, because it was planned by a glazier for +glazing, and has all that gives glass its charm. + +[Illustration: 102. GRISAILLE, SALISBURY CATHEDRAL.] + +[Illustration: 103. CHARTRES CATHEDRAL.] + +Stained glass, like the men who design it, has always the defects of its +qualities. It is the first business of those who work in it to see that +it has at least the qualities of its defects. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +WINDOWS OF MANY LIGHTS. + + +The merry life of the medallion window was a short one. It reigned +during the Early Gothic period supreme; but after the end of the +thirteenth century it soon went quite out of fashion, and with it the +practice of shaping the bars to suit the pattern of the window--a +practice, it will have been noticed, not followed in grisaille windows, +though it might very well have been. + +With the change which came over the spirit of later thirteenth century +architecture some new departure in the design of glass became +inevitable. The windows spoken of till now were all single lights, +broader or narrower, as the case might be, but each so far off from the +other that it had to be complete in itself, and might just as well be +designed with no more than general reference to its neighbours. But in +time it began to be felt in France that the broad Norman window was too +broad, and so they divided it into two by a central shaft, or mullion as +it is called, of stone. In England equally it began to be felt that the +long narrow lancet lights were too much in the nature of isolated +piercings in the bare wall, and so the builder brought them closer and +closer together, until they also were divided by narrow mullions. + +In this way, and in answer especially to the growing demand for more +light in churches, and consequently for more windows, it became the +custom to group them. Eventually the window group resolved itself into a +single window of several, sometimes of many, lights, divided only by +narrow stone mullions. Or, to account for it in another way, windows of +considerable size coming into vogue, it became necessary, for +constructional no less than for artistic reasons, to subdivide them by +mullions into two or more lights. The arched window head was broken up +into smaller fancifully shaped "tracery" lights, as they are called; and +so we arrive at the typical "Decorated" Gothic window. + +The height of these windows being naturally in proportion to their +width, the separate lights into which they were divided were apt to be +exceedingly long. To have treated them after the Early medallion manner, +each with its broad border, would have been to draw attention to this, +and even to exaggerate their length. The problem now to be solved in +glass was, how best to counteract the effect of insecurity likely to +result from the thinness of the upright lines of the stone and the +narrowness of the openings between them. It is not meant to say that the +medallion window expired without a spasm. For a while Decorated windows +were treated very much after the fashion of the earlier medallion +windows. The medallions were necessarily smaller, and usually long in +proportion to their width, although they extended now to the edge of the +stonework, the narrowish border to the lights passing, as it were, +behind them. This is very amply illustrated in the windows in the choir +clerestory at Tours. Occasionally there is no border but a line of white +and colour, and the whole interval between the elongated hexagonal or +octagonal panels is given up to mosaic diaper. The medallions naturally +range themselves in horizontal order throughout the three or four lights +of the window, giving just the indication of a horizontal line across +them. By way of exception, the subject of the Last Supper extends +through all three lights of the East window, the tablecloth forming a +conspicuous band of light across it. This glass at Tours is deep and +rich throughout, as intense sometimes as in earlier work, though warmer +in colour, owing to the greater amount of yellow glass employed. That +was not to last long. + +[Illustration: 104. DECORATED MEDALLION WINDOW, GERMAN.] + +It lingered longest in Germany. There is a curious two-light window in +Cologne Cathedral, with queer rectangular medallions, of considerable +interest, which is probably not very early in date. A not very common +type of Decorated medallion window is illustrated above. The cutting +across the border by medallion or other subjects, is a common thing in +fourteenth century glass (below and opposite), just because such +encroachment is obviously a most useful device in dealing with narrow +spaces. It occurs in some medallion windows (also of the fourteenth +century) at the church of Santa Croce, at Florence. + +But this was not enough. The Germans went a step further, and carried +the medallions boldly across two lights, treating them as a single +medallion window with a stone mullion instead of an iron bar up the +centre. There is an instance of this at S. Sebald's Church, Nuremberg, +and another, more curious than beautiful to see, at Strassburg. They +went further still, and carried the medallions across a three-light +window. There is one such at Augsburg, where the medallions almost fill +the window, extending to the extreme edge of the outer lights. Indeed, a +broad outer border of angels surrounding the great circles is cut short +by the side walls. This is at least a means of getting rid of the +littleness resulting sometimes from the small medallion treatment, and +it is in fact most effective. The broad, sweeping, circular lines also +have the appearance of holding the lights together and strengthening +them. + +[Illustration: 105. FREIBURG.] + +This was a thing most needful to be done in Decorated glass. It was +needed sometimes already in Early work. At Clermont-Ferrand the narrow +lancets at the end of the South transept are filled, except for a thin +white beaded border, with diaper work in rich colour, interrupted at +intervals by big rosettes of white, which form two bands of light across +the series, and make them seem one group. + +[Illustration: 106. DETAILS OF DEC. GERMAN GLASS.] + +The deliberate use of horizontal lines (or features giving such lines) +in glass, was clearly the most effective way of counteracting the too +upright tendency of the masonry, or rather of preventing it from +appearing unduly drawn out; and it became the custom. Even in a +comparatively small Decorated window, for example, the figures would +usually form a band across it, distinguished from the ornamental +shrinework above and below it by a marked difference in colour. In a +taller window there would be two, or possibly three, such bands of +figures, in marked contrast to their framing. In Germany very often one +big frame would cross the window, or the figure subjects would be +separated--as at Strassburg, for example--by bands of arcading, out of +which peeped little saints each with a descriptive label in his hand. + +A typical English canopy of the period is given on this page. It was +commonly enclosed, as here shown, within a border, wide enough to be +some sort of acknowledgment of the subdivision of the window, but not +wide enough to prevent the colour of the canopy from forming a distinct +band across the window. The predominance of a powerful, rather brassy, +yellow in the canopy work, and a contrast in colour between its +background and that of the figures, carried the eye without fail across +the window. A notable exception to the usual brassiness of the Decorated +canopy occurs at Toulouse, where a number of high-pitched gables of the +ordinary design, stronger in colour than usual, have crockets and +finials of a fresh bright green. + +[Illustration: 107. TYPICAL DECORATED CANOPY.] + +The Decorated canopy, with its high-pitched gable and tall flying +buttresses, its hard lines, and its brassy colour was a characteristic, +but never a very beautiful feature in design; and it grew to quite +absurd proportions. It was in Germany that it was carried to greatest +excess, extending to a height three or four times that of the figure and +more; but with us also it was commonly tall enough altogether to dwarf +the poor little figure it pretended to protect. Even when it was not +preposterously tall, its detail was usually out of all proportion to the +figure. Your fourteenth century draughtsman would have no hesitation in +making the finial of his canopy bigger than the head (nimbus and all) of +the saint under it. Clumsiness of this kind is so much the rule, and +disproportion is so characteristic of the middle of the fourteenth +century, that, but for some distinctly good ornamental glass of the +period, one might dismiss it as merely transitional, and not worthy of a +chapter to itself in the history of glass design. + +[Illustration: 108. S. URBAIN, TROYES.] + +[Illustration: 109. NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD.] + +Our distinctions of style, as was said, are at the best arbitrary. We +may devise a classification which shall serve to distinguish one marked +type from another, but it is quite impossible to draw any hard-and-fast +line between the later examples of one kind and the earlier of another +one. We may choose to divide Gothic art into three classes, as we may +subdivide the spectrum into so many positive colours, but the +indeterminate shades by which they gradate each into the other defy +classification or description. + +Certainly the best figure work of the middle period is that which might +quite fairly be claimed as belonging, on the one hand, to the end of the +Early, or on the other to the beginning of the Late, Gothic period. In +the figures from Troyes, for example (page 47 and opposite), the Early +tradition lingers; in those from New College (also opposite) the +characteristics of Late work begin to appear. In the figure of the +headsman on this page there is certainly no sense of proportion. In all +the wealth of Decorated figure-and-canopy work at York Minster there is +nothing to rank for a moment with the best Early or Perpendicular glass. +Nor in France, though there is Decorated work in most of the great +churches, is there anything conspicuously fine. Even at S. Ouen, at +Rouen, there is nothing particularly worthy of note. It is true that the +period of the English occupation and the troubles which followed it was +not the time when we should expect the arts to flourish there. + +[Illustration: 110. EXECUTIONER OF S. JOHN THE BAPTIST, 14TH CENTURY.] + +A most characteristic thing in glass of this intermediate period was the +way in which colour and grisaille were associated. It has been already +told how, before then, white and colour had been used together in the +same light--at Auxerre, for example, where, within a broad border of +colour, you find an inner frame of grisaille, enclosing a central figure +panel of colour. Quite at the beginning of the fourteenth century, if +not already at the end of the thirteenth, you find, as at S. Radegonde, +Poitiers, upon a ground of grisaille, coloured medallion subjects, or +more happily still, little figures, as it were, inlaid, breaking the +white surface very pleasantly with patches of unevenly but judiciously +dispersed colour--the whole enclosed in a coloured border. But in the +fourteenth century the more even combination of white and colour was +quite a common thing. Naturally it was introduced in the form of the +horizontal bands already mentioned. And indeed it is in windows into +which grisaille enters that this band-wise distribution of design is +most apparent, and most typical. The designer very commonly conceived +his window as in grisaille, crossed by a band or bands of colour, +binding the lights together. That may be seen in the chapter-house at +York, where you have several series of little subjects, more or less in +the shape of medallions, forming so many belts of colour across the +five-light grisaille windows, which belts the eye insensibly follows +right round the building. + +[Illustration: 111. DECORATED BORDERS.] + +That is the theory of design. Its practical construction may be better +described otherwise. The iron horizontal bars, to the use of which the +glaziers had by this time come back, divide the lights each into a +series of panels, which panels are filled at York alternately with +coloured subjects and ornamental grisaille. Elsewhere perhaps two panels +are filled with colour to one of grisaille, or three to one, or _vice +versâ_. In any case these alternate panels of white and colour, +occurring always on the same level throughout the lights composing the +window (and often through all the windows along the aisle of a church), +range themselves in pronounced horizontal strips or bands. + +[Illustration: 112. GRISAILLE AND FIGURE.] + +This acceptance of the bars as a starting-point in design, and this +deliberate counterchange of light and dark, may appear to indicate a +very rough-and-ready scheme of design. But any brutality there might be +in it is done away with by the introduction of a sufficient amount of +white into the coloured bands and of a certain modicum of colour in the +bands of white. And that was habitually the plan adopted. Into the +subjects it was easy to introduce just as much white as seemed +necessary. A little white might be there already in the flesh, which was +no longer always represented in flesh-coloured glass but more and more +commonly in white. The usual border at the sides of the grisaille--now +reduced to quite modest proportions--perhaps a simple leaf border, as on +pages 44, 158, perhaps a still simpler "block" border, as above, served +to frame the white, at the same time that it was an acknowledgment once +more of the fact that each light forms a separate division of the +window. In most cases the introduction of a little colour into the +grisaille panel, very often in the form of a rosette, went further to +prevent any possible appearance of disconnection between the figures and +their ornamental setting. As a matter of fact, so little obvious is the +plan of such windows in the actual glass that it often takes one some +time to perceive it. + +[Illustration: 113. EVREUX.] + +In the nave at York Minster the grisaille is crossed by two bands of +coloured figure work. Elsewhere it is crossed by one; but where the +figures have canopies, as they often have, that makes again a +horizontal subdivision in the coloured portion of the glass. Sometimes +the topmost pinnacles of the coloured canopies will extend into the +grisaille above, breaking the harshness of the dividing line; but it is +seldom that it appears harsh in the glass. The fact seems to be that the +upward tendency of the long lights is so marked, and the mullions make +such a break in any cross line, that there is no fear of horizontal +forms pronouncing themselves too strongly; the difficulty is rather to +make them marked enough. Architects came eventually to feel the want of +some more sternly horizontal feature than the glazier could contrive, +when they introduced the stone transom, which was a feature of the later +Gothic period. + +When it was a question of glazing a broad single light of earlier +construction, the fourteenth century artist designed his glass +accordingly. Not that he then adopted the thirteenth century manner--it +never entered his mind to work in any other style than that which was +current in his day; the affectation of bygone styles is a comparatively +modern heresy--but he adapted his design equally to help, if not to +correct, the shape of the window opening. Accustomed as he was to +narrower lights, the broad window of an earlier age appeared to him +unduly broad, and his first thought was to make it look narrower. This +he did by dividing it into vertical (instead of horizontal) strips of +white and colour. That is shown in the window from Troyes (page 159), in +which the centre strip of the window, occupied by figures and canopies +in colour, is flanked by broad strips of grisaille, and that again by a +coloured border. There, as usual, you find some white in the figure work +and some colour in the grisaille, always the surest way of making the +window look one. + +The judicious treatment of a belated lancet window like this goes to +show that it was of set purpose that the tall lights of a Decorated +window were bound together by ties of coloured glass. So long as windows +were built in many lights, that plan of holding them together was never +abandoned. There is a very notable instance of this at Berne, where the +four long lights of a Late Gothic window are crossed by lines of canopy +work, taking not horizontal but arched lines (a device common enough in +German glass), effectually counteracting the lean and lanky look of the +window. Still markedly horizontal lines of subdivision in glass design +are more characteristic of the second Gothic period than of any other. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +MIDDLE GOTHIC GLASS. + + +Towards the fourteenth century, it seems, a wave of realism swept over +Gothic art. So much is this so that a relatively speaking naturalistic +form of ornamental detail is the most marked feature of the Decorated +period, giving it its name, and, indeed, its claim to be a style. + +[Illustration: 114. NORBURY, DERBYSHIRE.] + +No great stress has been laid in the foregoing chapters upon this new +departure in naturalism, because it did not so very vitally affect +design. When it is said that glass followed always the fashion of +architecture, that is as much as to say that, as the sculptors took to +natural instead of conventional foliage, so did the glass painters; and +there is not much more to tell. To trace the development of naturalistic +design would lead us far astray. Enough to say that, by the naturalistic +turn of its ornamental foliage you may recognise the period called +"Decorated." How far that naturalism of Decorated detail may be to the +good is a question there is no need here to dispute. It was a new +departure. The new work lacked something of the simple dignity and +self-restraint which marked the earlier, and it had not yet the style +and character which came in the next century of more consistently +workmanlike treatment. In so far it was a kind of prelude to +Perpendicular work. This is not to deny that excellent work was done in +the Decorated period, especially perhaps in glass, where naturalism, at +its crudest, is less offensive than in wood or stone. But there is no +getting over the fact that the period was intermediate; and Decorated +glass is in a state of transition (1) between the archaism of the early +and the accomplishment of the later Gothic; (2) between the conventional +ornament which merely suggests nature and natural foliage conventionally +treated; (3) between strong rich colour and delicate silvery glass. The +transition of style is nowhere more plainly to be traced than in the +grisaille of the period. At first the character of fourteenth century +grisaille did not greatly differ from earlier work, except in the form +of the painted detail. That from S. Urbain, Troyes, on page 333, is a +typical instance of Early French Transition foliage, in which the scroll +is only less strong and vigorous than before. Precisely the same kind of +detail is shown again in the lower of the two instances, likewise from +Troyes, opposite; but already natural leaves begin to mingle with it; +whilst in the illustration above it, though the mosaic border is +characteristically early, the foliage in grisaille is deliberately +naturalistic. The grisaille at Troyes, by the way, often reminds one of +that at York Minster. It is mainly by the naturalistic character of the +ivy scroll, or perhaps it would be nearer the mark to say of the leaves +upon it, that the design from Norbury, Derbyshire (page 162), betrays +its later date, by that and the absence of cross-hatching on the +background. The glazing of the window is still thoroughly mosaic. + +[Illustration: 115. S. PIERRE, CHARTRES.] + +[Illustration: 116. DEC. GRISAILLE, S. URBAIN, TROYES.] + +[Illustration: 117. CHARTRES.] + +[Illustration: 118. EVREUX.] + +[Illustration: 119. ROUEN CATHEDRAL.] + +There is a different indication of transition in the little panel from +S. Pierre at Chartres, almost entirely in white glass, on page 163. The +foliated ornament is here still early in character; but, it will be +seen, there is no longer any pretence of leading up the bands of clear +glass in separate strips. They are only bounded on one side by a lead +line. That is so again in the three designs from Chartres Cathedral +above, where, further, the background is clear of paint; and in those +from Evreux, on pages 165, 284. There the background is cross-hatched; +but in one case the foliage is naturalistic. + +The coloured strapwork in the grisaille from the Lady Chapel of Rouen +Cathedral on page 165 is frankly mosaic; but the foliated ends of the +straps, gathered together into a central quatrefoil in a quite unusual +fashion, indicates the new spirit. The white glass is there painted with +trailing foliage in outline upon a clear ground, not shown in the +sketch, which is merely a diagram of the glazing. The grisaille from +Stanton S. John, Oxford, here given, still hesitates rather between two +opinions. The foliage is naturalistic, but the background is +cross-hatched; the broad diagonal bands, patterned with paint, are +glazed in colour; the rings of white are not separately leaded. That +sort of thing has occurred, as already pointed out, before; but it was +not till the fourteenth century, or thereabouts, that the strapwork of +white lines, forming so characteristic a feature in Decorated grisaille, +are systematically indicated by painted outlines and not glazed in if it +could be helped. + +[Illustration: 120. STANTON S. JOHN, OXFORD.] + +You have only to examine the crossing of the white lines in any of these +last-mentioned patterns to see that, now that they are not separately +glazed, they do not really interlace as before. It is out of the +question that they should. + +It is easy enough to glaze up bands so that they shall interlace; but, +when some of the drawing lines are lead and some paint, it occurs +continually that you want a leaded line to pass behind a line of clear +glass--which, of course, is a physical impossibility. It follows that +the pretended interlacing comes to grief. The pattern is confused (it is +worse when there is no hatched background) by the occurrence of leads, +stronger than the painted lines, which, so far from playing any part in +the design, occur just at the points where they most interfere with it. + +[Illustration: 121. CHÂLONS.] + +That this did not deter them, that they made a shift with interlacing +which does not truly interlace, marks a falling off in what may be +called the conscientiousness of the Gothic designers. French and English +Decorated grisaille, effective as it often is in the window, is +distinctly less satisfactory in design than the common run of earlier +work. Its charm is never in its detail. + +The patterns may be ingenious and not without grace, but they are never +altogether admirable, any more than are the figures. + +[Illustration: 122. CHÂLONS.] + +What you most enjoy in it is the distribution of white and colour; and +you enjoy it most when you do not too curiously examine into the detail +of the design, when you are satisfied to enjoy the colour, and do not +look for form, which after all is of less account in glass. + +[Illustration: 123. REGENSBURG.] + +[Illustration: 124. MUNICH MUSEUM.] + +So far as effect only is concerned, quarry work, the mere glazing in +squares, answers in many places (such, for example, as the clerestories +of narrow churches, where you could not possibly enjoy any detail of +design that might be there) all the purpose of grisaille; and it was +commonly resorted to. But the painting upon such quarries counts for +very little; it is far too small and fine in detail to have any effect +further than to tone the glass a little, which would have been +unnecessary if the glass employed had been less clear. In fact, delicate +paint on distant clerestory glass is much ado about very little; and one +cannot help thinking that plain glazing would there have answered all +the purpose of the most delicately painted pattern work. The fourteenth +century glaziers seldom complicated their quarry work by the +introduction of bands or straps of colour between the quarries, or by +the introduction of colour other than such as might occur in rosettes or +shields and so on, planted upon them, rather than worked into the +design. Occasionally, however, as at Châlons-sur-Marne, you come upon an +ornamental window (page 167) in which quarries are separated by bands of +clear white, a certain amount of colour being introduced in the form of +yellow quarries substituted at regular intervals for the white. On the +same page is another coloured diaper window designed on quarry lines, +also at Châlons. In that quarries of white and yellow are separated by a +trellis of blue. Something of the sort is to be seen also at S. +Radegonde, Poitiers. + +In these cases the painting, as will be seen, is strong enough to hold +its own at a considerable distance from the eye, but the effect is not +very happy. When, by the way, it was said that delicate painting on +distant quarries was lost, it was not meant to imply that strong +painting on quarries would be a happy solution of the difficulty. As a +matter of experience, it is seldom satisfactory. On the other hand, the +common expedient of leading up the coloured backgrounds to figure work +in small squares of ruby, green, and so on, was generally the means of +securing good broken colour. + +It can hardly be said that geometric pattern windows in strong colour +are ever very successful. The Germans, who, it should be remembered, +call their second Gothic period the "Geometric," often attempted it, but +without conspicuous success. + +[Illustration: 125. 14TH CENTURY GERMAN.] + +In Germany it was customary to use geometric diaper work long after it +had gone out of use in France. In fact, it is there more likely a sign +of the second period. The crosslines in the diaper from Regensburg +(opposite) would have been in lead, not paint, if the work had been +executed in the thirteenth century; again, the diaper below it would not +at that period have been painted in the likeness of oak-leaves. Diaper +of this kind was not used merely to fill up between medallions, but as +background, for example, to canopy work. Frequently it was very small in +scale, as well as elaborate in pattern. It can hardly be said that it +was always worth the pains spent upon it--often it was not; but the +Germans avoided, as a rule, the dangerous red and blue combination, and +preferred, as did also the Italians, less stereotyped arrangements of +green and yellow, or of red and green, or of red and green and yellow; +if they ventured upon red and blue, it was with a difference very much +to their credit. For example, they would enclose diamonds of ruby in +bands of purple-brown, with just a point of blue at the interstices; +again, they would make a diaper of purple, purple-brown, and grey; and +in many another way show that they deliberately aimed at colour in such +work--whereas many of the Early diapers suggest that the glazier was +thinking more of pattern. An instance of heraldic diaper is given on +page 169. + +[Illustration: 126. FREIBURG.] + +In Italy also you find sometimes, as at Florence and Assisi, medallion +windows with mosaic diaper between, or mosaic diaper used as background +to figures which certainly cannot be described as Early. + +[Illustration: 127. FREIBURG.] + +The Germans differed from the rest of us in their frank use of geometric +pattern. We habitually disguised it more or less, clothing it most +likely with foliation; they used it quite nakedly, and were not ashamed. +Instances of this innocent use of geometric form are here given. At +Freiburg are quite a number of windows entirely of geometric pattern +work. There is a good deal of white glass in them, but they count rather +for colour than for grisaille. It would not be quite unfair to say they +fall between the two stools. These designs are much more pleasing in the +glass than in black and white (where they have rather too much the +appearance of floor-cloth), but they are by no means the happiest work +of the Germans of that day. Where they were really most successful, more +successful than their contemporaries, was in foliated or floral pattern +windows, and those of a kind also standing dangerously near midway +between colour and grisaille. The method of execution employed in them +was to a large extent strictly mosaic; but there is quite a refreshing +variety and novelty, as well as very considerable ingenuity, in their +design. + +[Illustration: 128. FROM REGENSBURG, MUNICH MUSEUM.] + +[Illustration: 129. IVY, MUNICH MUSEUM.] + +The window from Regensburg on page 389 sets out very much as if it were +going to be a grisaille window; but it has, in the first place, more +colour than is usual in grisaille, and, in the second, it will be seen +that the little triangular ground spaces next the border are filled with +pot-metal. The contrast of the set pattern and the four coloured leaves +crossing each circle with the flowing undergrowth of grisaille is +unusual, and so is the cunning alternation of cross-hatching and plain +white ground. The designs from Munich Museum on pages 171 to 174 have +nothing in common with grisaille. The design consists of natural foliage +chiefly in white, growing tree-like upon a coloured ground up the centre +of the light. In the one the stem is waved, in the other it takes a +spiral form, in the third it is more naturalistic. But nature is not +very consistently followed. What appears like a vine on page 171 has +husks or flowers which it is not easy to recognise; and the ivy here is +endowed with tendrils. The border of convolvulus leaves and the hop +scroll, opposite, are unmistakable, though there is some inconsistency +between the naturalness of the leaves and the stiffness of their growth. +The ivy pattern differs from the others inasmuch as the leaves show +light against the yellow ground, whilst the green stem and stalks tell +dark upon it, and there is a band of red within the outer border which +holds the rather spiky leaves together. The most interesting window of +this kind illustrated is that on page 174, in which the stem is +ingeniously twisted into quatrefoil medallion shapes, so as to allow a +change in the colour of the ground, and the leaves are designed to go +beyond the filling and form a pattern upon the border. The rose is a +hackneyed theme enough, but this at least is a new way of working it +out. Fourteenth century German windows are altogether more varied in +design than contemporary French or English work. The glass is not so +much all of one pattern. There are more surprises in it. The Germans +treated grisaille in a way very much their own. At the risk of a certain +coarseness of execution, they would paint out the background to their +natural foliage in solid pigment, or in brown just hatched with lines +scratched through to the clear glass. That is very effectively done, for +example, at the Church of S. Thomas at Strassburg. It is not contended +that this is at all a better plan than that practised in France or +England: it is on the whole less happy; but there are positions in which +it is more to the purpose; and it has at least the merit of being +different; it suggests something better than it accomplishes, and it is +a timely reminder that the best methods we know of cannot be accepted as +final. + +[Illustration: 130. GERMAN ORNAMENTAL GLASS.] + +Again at Regensburg there is some distant ornamental work, so simple in +execution that it is little more than glazing in colours; in fact just +what distant work should be--effective in its place without any waste of +labour. + +[Illustration: 131. 14TH CENTURY GLASS.] + +A word or two remains to be said about borders. The narrower decorated +light implied, as was said, a narrower border. It was, as a rule, only +when a wide Early window had to be glazed that there was room for a +broad one. In that case it showed of course the new naturalism, with +perhaps the added interest of animal life, as here illustrated; but +there lingers in German borders such as this and the one on page 338, +something of early tradition. It looks as if it would not be difficult +to accept glazing lines like these and fill them in with painted detail +_à la Romanesque_. In one of the windows in York Minster there is a +border of alternate leaves and monkeys, both much of a size, which +broadens out at the base, affording space for the representation of a +hunt, men, dogs, grass and all complete. + +[Illustration: 132. 14TH CENTURY GERMAN.] + +[Illustration: 133. 14TH CENTURY GERMAN.] + +There was another reason for the adoption of a narrower border. Not only +were windows narrower now, but their arched heads were cusped, which +made it exceedingly difficult to carry any but the narrowest possible +border round them satisfactorily. It will be seen how awkwardly the +border fits (or does not fit) the window head on page 155. Even the +simplest border had to be very much distorted in order to make it follow +the line of the masonry; and, in any case, it gave a very ugly shape +within the border, and one again difficult to fill. Already, at the +beginning of the fourteenth century, the designer found it convenient to +run his border straight up into the cusped head of the light and let the +stonework cut it abruptly short; that occurs at Carcassonne. Sometimes, +as at Tewkesbury, the inconvenient border is allowed to end just above +the springing line of the arch, against a pinnacle of the canopy, beyond +which point there is only a line or two of white or colour, by way of +frame or finish to the background. An unusual but quite satisfactory way +of getting over the difficulty of carrying the border round the window +head is, to accept the springing line of the arch as the end of the +central design, and to make the foliated border spread and fill the +entire window head above. Some quarry lights in the triforium at Evreux +are effectively treated in that manner. + +[Illustration: 134. STRASSBURG.] + +Types of ordinary Decorated borders, English, French, and German, are +shown in this and the preceding chapter. The leafage springs from one +side or the other or from a central stem, or from either side of a +waving stem, or from two stems intertwined (page 158). Sometimes the +ground on one side is of a different colour from that on the other; in +any case the glazing is usually simple. One of the leaf borders at Rouen +Cathedral includes a series of little green birds; another, an oak +pattern, is inhabited at intervals by squirrels and wild men of the +woods. Rather interesting variations upon the ordinary type of border +are given on this and the preceding pages. The broader one above is of +distinctly unusual character, inasmuch as it has no background except +the painting out, and the colour of the leafage varies +quasi-accidentally. + +[Illustration: 135. 14TH CENTURY GERMAN.] + +The use of the rosette borders on pages 171, 172 is sufficiently +accounted for by the desire to get contrast to the foliated filling, but +it occurs at all periods more or less. So does the "block border"; but +for all that it is almost as characteristic of Decorated work as the +leaf border. It is seen in its simplest form on page 144. On page 389 it +is associated with foliage and rosettes. A typical form of it is where +the blocks are charged with heraldic devices, which may serve to +indicate the date, or to confuse one. In the design from Evreux on page +160 there occur, for example, the Fleurs-de-Lys of France alternating +with the Castle of Castille. These particular charges occur frequently +in the windows of the S. Chapelle at Paris, and in the lights from that +source now in the South Kensington Museum; and they go perhaps to show +that Blanche of Castille (who married Louis VIII.) gave them to the +chapel, or that they were in her memory. She died in 1252. It is most +improbable that the Evreux glass should belong to so early a date as +that. Were it so, the occurrence of this kind of thing in such early +work would only go to show that heraldic devices are as old as heraldry, +and that when the glazier had a narrow light to fill he treated it as a +narrow light, with a border in proportion to its width: he certainly did +that at the S. Chapelle. The fact remains that this particular form of +"block" border marks, as a rule, the approach of the fourteenth century. + +It may be as well to remind the reader that dates and periods are only +mentioned in order to save circumlocution. When the thirteenth century +is mentioned, it is not meant to convey the year 1201, nor yet 1299, but +the century in its prime. And, what is more, it is not meant to say that +the work ascribed to that period was quite certainly and indisputably +done after the year 1200 or before the year 1300, but only that it bears +the mark of the century--which, from the present point of view, is the +important thing. The precise and certain year in which this or that +device was by exception for the first time employed, or until which by +chance a practically obsolete practice survived, is interesting (if it +can be ascertained) only as a question of archæology. Anyway, a workman +would rather believe the evidence of his eyes, which he can trust, than +of documents, which, even if authentic, may not be trustworthy, and +which are perhaps open to misinterpretation. + +Typically Decorated glass, apart from the ornamental windows just +referred to, is the least interesting of Gothic. There is in it a +straying from Early tradition without reaching the later freedom and +attainment. In colour it has neither the strength of the Early work nor +the delicacy of the Late. It marks some progress in technique, but +little in design, and none in taste. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +LATE GOTHIC WINDOWS. + + +The subdivision of art into periods is in reality the veriest makeshift. +To be on quite safe ground we should have, as a matter of fact, to +reduce our periods to not more than half their supposed duration, and to +class all the rest of the time as belonging to intervals of transition. + +The truth is, it is always a period of transition. The stream moves +perpetually on; there are only moments in its course when it seems to +move more slowly, and we have time to fix its characteristics. It +follows that, if we divide our periods according to time, we have to +include within them work of very various character; and if we divide +them according to style, our dates get hopelessly confused. + +Some sort of classification is necessary in order to emphasise changes +which actually took place only by degrees, and are perceptible only to +the expert. But no sooner do we begin to classify, than we find so many +exceptions, that we are inclined almost to wonder if they do not form +the rule. All that has been said, therefore, and may yet be said, about +the periods of design, must be taken with more than a grain of +suspicion. For example, what shall be said about the great East window +at Gloucester Cathedral, which Winston instances as a typical example of +Decorated glass? Doubtless the technique is that of soon after the +middle of the fourteenth century, and the detail of the canopies, when +you come to examine them, is more nearly Decorated than anything else; +but the first impression of the glass is quite that of Perpendicular +work. This may come partly of the circumstances that the masonry of the +window follows already distinctly Perpendicular lines; but it comes much +more from the colour of the glass and its distribution. It is not merely +that blue and ruby backgrounds are carried straight up through the long +lengths of each alternate light, or that the blue is lighter and greyer +than in Decorated glass, but that the figures, and especially the +canopies, are for the first time, practically speaking, altogether in +white, only very slightly relieved with yellow stain. The student who +accepted this as typical Decorated work, would be quite at sea when he +came to Perpendicular glass, in which this paler colour, this +preponderance of white, and especially this framing of the figures in +white canopy work, is a most distinctive, if not the most distinctive, +feature. After all, the window is Perpendicular; and, though the glass +in it may have many characteristics of Decorated work, it cannot well be +said that the glass is Decorated, true though it be that glass did, as a +rule, follow rather in the wake of architectural progress. + +Many windows are almost equally difficult to classify. In the Decorated +glass at Wells there are both earlier and later features. The heads +glazed in pinkish glass, with eyes and beards leaded up in white, strike +an Early note, whilst the broadly treated bases or pedestals of certain +canopies in the Lady Chapel, one of which is here shown (the canopies +themselves are strictly Decorated), prelude the coming style. + +[Illustration: 136. PEDESTAL, WELLS.] + +These bases remind one of those in the ante-chapel at New College, +Oxford, dating from the last quarter of the fourteenth century, which, +though it is not difficult to trace in them the lingering influence of +Decorated tradition, must undoubtedly be put down as early examples of +the later style. In these fine windows (upon which the tourist turns his +back whilst he admires the poor attempt of Sir Joshua Reynolds in the +West window) there is not yet the accomplishment of full-fledged +Perpendicular work. The figures, though full of fine feeling, are not +well drawn, and the painting is not delicate; but the design of the +glass, its setting out, the balance and arrangement of colour, the tone +of the windows, and the breadth of effect, are admirable; and it is +precisely in these respects that it proclaims itself of the later school +of Gothic. Indeed, we may assume that it was in order to include such +work as this that the line was drawn at the year 1380. To class it with +Decorated glass would have been too absurd. Compare the New College +canopy on page 180 with the Decorated canopy on page 155 and the more +orthodox Perpendicular canopies below and on pages 185, 340, and there +is no possible hesitation as to which it most resembles. The only thing +in which it shows any leaning towards Decorated work is in the very +occasional introduction of pot-metal colour; and the main thing in which +it differs from later Perpendicular design is that its shafts are round +instead of square, and that it is more solidly built up, larger, more +nobly conceived. + +[Illustration: 137. CANOPY, NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD.] + +A parallel French instance is at the S. Chapelle at Riom, in which +canopies, having at first sight all the appearance of typically Late +Gothic work, prove to have details which one would rather describe as +Decorated. The German canopy work at Shrewsbury (pages 183, 186) is not +very far removed from Decorated. The later Perpendicular canopies run to +finikin pinnacles. + +[Illustration: 138. TYPICAL PERPENDICULAR CANOPY.] + +The New College canopies have none of the brassy yellow colour +characteristic of Decorated work, but are absolutely silvery in effect. +The gradual dilution, as one may say, of the deep, rich, Early colour is +noticeable throughout the fourteenth century. Towards its close the +glass painter halts no longer between two opinions, between light and +colour. He has quite made up his mind in favour of white glass. He has +come pretty generally to conceive his window as a field of white, into +which to introduce a certain amount of rich colour, not often a very +large amount. As a rule, perhaps not more than one-fourth of the area of +a fifteenth century window was colour; for, in addition to the white of +the canopy, there was commonly a fair amount of white in the draperies, +and the flesh was now always represented by white. The typical +Perpendicular window, then, is filled with shrinework in white, +enclosing figures, or figure subjects, into which white enters largely +(the flesh and some of the drapery, often a good deal, is sure to be +white), upon a background of colour. Not much of this coloured +background, most often in blue or ruby, and sometimes deep in colour, +was ordinarily shown, so fully was the space occupied by figure work. +Sometimes there would be represented, behind the figure, a screen of +white, so that only the head and shoulders would stand revealed against +dark colour. Sometimes this screen would be in colour, contrasting with +the background, richly diapered in imitation of damask (page 342). +Sometimes the background would be white, leaded perhaps in quarries; but +in any case the prevalent scheme of design was to frame up pictures, +more or less in colour, in architectural canopy work of white and stain. +Yellow stain, it should be said, was freely used in connection with all +this white; and its invariable association therewith is one of the +marked characteristics of Later Gothic glass; but as a rule the yellow +was not only delicate in tint but delicately introduced, so that it did +not much disturb the effect of white. There were significant passages of +yellow in it, but the effect of the mass was cool and silvery. + +In canopies yellow stain was used as gold might be in stonework, which +the canopies imitated; crockets and pinnacles would be tipped with +yellow, as with gilding (see opposite), and the reveal of the arch, +shown in false perspective above the figure, would be similarly stained, +so as to soften the transition from the dark colour of the background to +the white of the canopy mass. + +One comes upon windows, probably of about the beginning of the end of +the fourteenth century, in which the colour scheme is practically +limited to red, white, and blue, the yellow being, comparatively +speaking, lost in the white. Again, one finds windows in which the +colours are much lighter than in earlier glass. But as a rule the +lighter colours now introduced (the glazier's palette was by this time +quite extensive) were used to support, and not to the exclusion of, the +richer and deeper colour, which is the glory of glass, seldom to be +dispensed with even in grisaille. You may do without colour altogether, +but pale colours always have a poor effect. + +[Illustration: 139. FIGURE AND CANOPY, S. MARY'S, SHREWSBURY.] + +The typical Perpendicular canopies illustrated and already referred to +are quite favourable specimens of the kind of thing in vogue throughout +the fifteenth century. In France much the same forms were adopted (page +342). Some exceptionally delicate figure-and-canopy windows (or parts of +them) are to be found in the cathedral at Toulouse--the figure in +colour, or in white and colour, against a background of white, richly +diapered with damask pattern, which quite sufficiently distinguishes it +from the architecture only just touched with yellow. An instance of +later German work is given below. The German designer indulged +temperamentally in the interpenetration of shafting and other vagaries +of the kind, which we find in German stone carving. Sometimes in German +work, and occasionally also in French, Late Gothic canopies were all in +yellow, framing the picture, as it were, in gold. As a rule, however, +they were, as with us, silvery in tone, and framed the coloured glass in +a way most absolutely satisfactory, so far as effect is concerned. + +[Illustration: 140. GERMAN LATE GOTHIC CANOPY.] + +In itself, however, this canopy work is rarely of any great interest; +occasionally, as already in the preceding century, the designer has +enniched in the shafts little figures of saints or angels (there is just +the indication of such introduction of little statuettes in the very +simple and restrained example of canopy work from Cologne, on page 191), +redeeming it from dulness; but as a rule it is trite and commonplace to +a degree. The white, as frame, is perfect. It is none the more so that +it simulates misplaced stonework. What a strange thing it is in the +history of ornament that the natural bias of the designer seems to be so +irresistibly towards imitation! The man's first thought seems to be to +make the thing he is doing look like something it is not. Why, having +designed openings in the wall of his building, he should proceed +forthwith to fill them up with something in poor imitation of masonry, +is a mystery. Economy had then, perhaps, as now, more to do with it than +art, for it is a very cheap expedient. + +[Illustration: 141. ALL SOULS' COLLEGE, OXFORD.] + +Not only in the matter of colour, but in that of proportion, the later +Gothic canopies were a great improvement upon what had gone before. They +were distributed still very much upon the horizontal principle so +noticeable in Decorated work; but by this time the architect had come to +the tardy conclusion that the long lights of his window wanted holding +together, and he tied them together, if they were of any length, by +means of transoms, in which case the glass-worker had to deal with +lights of manageable length. The light from All Souls' College, here +given, is an example of a very usual Perpendicular arrangement. About +one half its entire length is occupied by a figure enshrined, as it +were, in an architectural niche. The base of the canopy is about equal +in height to the width of the light. The shafts are broad enough to +emphasise the independence of the light. The pinnacles of the canopy +extend into the window head. A point or two of background colour, as +though one could see through, are ingeniously introduced into the canopy +and its base. It would be difficult to better such an arrangement of +white and colour, except that one feels the urgent want of a margin of +white, to separate the coloured background from the masonry round the +window head. + +[Illustration: 142. TWO WINDOWS, S. MARY'S, SHREWSBURY.] + +The idea is, no doubt, that the shrinework should appear to stand in the +opening, and the figure be sheltered under that. The illusion aimed at, +it is scarcely necessary to say, is not produced, and in any case would +not have been worth producing. On the contrary, the desirable thing to +be done was, to acknowledge the window opening, which, except for this +pretence, the colour of the design effectually does. + +[Illustration: 143. FAIRFORD.] + +A frequent and equally typical arrangement was, where the light was long +enough, to make the base itself take the form of a low canopy over a +more or less square-proportioned subject, possibly a scene in the life +of the Saint pourtrayed above. This gave opportunity of introducing +figures on two different scales, without in any way endangering the +significance of the more important figure, which, by its size and +breadth of colour, asserted itself at a distance from which the smaller +subject appeared only a mass of broken colour. The proportions and +outline of such a subject are indicated by the Nativity on page 54, the +jagged line at the top of the picture marking the inner line of the +canopy work. In German work very commonly the base canopy encloses, as, +for example, at Cologne Cathedral, a panel of heraldic blazonry. + +The height of the canopy was, with us, more or less in accordance with +the length of the window; but sometimes more space was allowed for the +figure than at All Souls', and the vacant space about the head of the +saint was occupied with a label in white and stain bearing an +inscription. There are some admirable figure-and-canopy windows of this +description on the north side of the choir of York Minster, which seem +to have inspired a great deal of our modern mock-Perpendicular +figure-and-canopy glass. The label occurs, on a background of white +architecture, behind the Prophets from Fairford on pages 187, 391. A +more important example of it occurs round the figure of Edward the +Confessor, from S. Mary's, Ross (opposite), and again in the group from +the same source on page 339. Extremely clever ornamental use is made of +the label--a typically Perpendicular form of enrichment--in the German +glass on page 186. The extraordinary breadth of the phylacteries held by +the Prophets in the early fifteenth century windows in the S. Chapelle +at Riom, gives them quite a character of their own, and an admirable +one. + +[Illustration: 144. THE QUEEN OF SHEBA BEFORE SOLOMON, FAIRFORD.] + +At Great Malvern we find the lights above the transom of a window +occupied each by a figure and its canopy, whilst the lower lights +contain each three tiers of small subjects, separated only by bands of +inscription. In the four-light window at Malvern illustrating the Days +of Creation, each light contains three little subjects, one of which is +given on page 252. Sometimes, as in the windows from Fairford on pages +188, 372, subjects under a canopy are drawn to a scale as large as the +size of the window will allow. + +[Illustration: 145. KING EDWARD, S. MARY'S, ROSS.] + +In some shape or another the canopy almost invariably appears in +connection with figure work; it is the rarest thing to find, in place of +the familiar shafting, a border, such as that opposite. + +[Illustration: 146. YORK MINSTER.] + +Of the gradual improvement in drawing in the fifteenth century work it +is not necessary to say much. It belongs to the period rather than to +glass painting, and it is shown in the examples illustrated. It is of no +particular country, though our English work was possibly more +constrained than contemporary continental work. Particularly +characteristic of English work was the delicate tracing of the faces, +which were pencilled, in fine lines, the treatment altogether rather +flat, and this at a period when foreign glass was much more solidly +modelled. It is not possible, on the scale of illustration determined by +a book of this size, to illustrate this English peculiarity as clearly +as one would wish, but it will be apparent to the seeing eye even here. +It is within the bounds of possibility that the Fairford glass may have +been executed in England; if so, Flemish or German painters certainly +had a hand in it. To compare it with the neighbouring Perpendicular +glass at Cirencester, with its delicate tracing and fine stain (in which +matter the Fairford glass does not by any means excel), is to see how +very different it is from typical English work. Whether we look at the +detail of the canopies, or the drawing of the drapery, or the painting +of the glass, we see little to connect this with English work, though it +falls at once into its place as excellent Late Gothic glass. In the +windows of the nave of Cologne Cathedral, a figure from one of which is +here given, German Gothic glass reaches its limit. There is already a +trace, if only in the broad shaft of the canopy, of Renaissance +influence in the design. In others of these windows there are no single +figures. Entire lights are filled with biblical or legendary scenes, one +above the other, under dwarf canopies, which do not very clearly define +the horizontal divisions of the window; for all that, the horizontal +divisions are for the most part there. Except where the canopies are so +insignificant as not to count, a Perpendicular window presents, as a +rule, a screen of silvery-white, on which the pictures form so many +panels of more or less jewelled colour. + +[Illustration: 147. COLOGNE CATHEDRAL.] + +The enormous East window at York Minster, which belongs to the very +early years of the fifteenth century, contains, apart from its tracery, +no less than a hundred and seventeen subjects in its twenty-seven +lights; but the canopies dividing them are so narrow that they scarcely +answer the purpose of frames to the separate subjects. The design is +inextricably confused, and the subjects are very difficult to read; but +the effect is still as of a mass of jewels caught in a network of white. +In fact, the progress towards light is such that, whereas in the last +century the problem was how to get more and more white glass into a +coloured window, it seems now more often to be how to get colour into a +white one. + +White and stain enter so largely into Late Gothic glass that there +remains little to be said about grisaille. The glass of the period is, +for the most part, in grisaille and colour, the difference between it +and earlier grisaille being, that it consists so largely of +figure-and-canopy work. Windows, however, do occur all in white or all +in white and stain. Figures, for example, in white and stain, occur, as +in the South transept at York, on a ground of delicately painted +quarries. Again, a common arrangement is that of figures in white and +colour against a background of quarry work, a band of inscription +separating the pavement upon which they stand from quarries below them. +Such figures form a belt across many moderate-sized windows in parish +churches. Mere quarry lights also occur, with a border in which perhaps +some colour occurs. But the subject of quarries and quarry windows is +reserved for consideration in a chapter by itself. + +It must not be supposed that the drift of Later Gothic in the direction +of white glass was uninterrupted. That was by no means so. At certain +places, and at certain periods, and especially by certain artists, there +seems to have been a reaction against this tendency, if ever there was +any yielding to it. For example, notwithstanding all that has been said +about the lighter tone of Decorated glass, some of the very finest +fourteenth century German work, at S. Sebald's Church, Nuremberg, is as +intensely and beautifully rich as anything in Early work. There rows of +small subjects are framed in little canopies as deep in colour as the +pictures, and white glass is conspicuous by its absence. The nearest +approach to it is an opaque-looking horn colour, and that is used only +very sparingly. Possibly, however, it is not quite fair to call these +windows rich, for the upper part of them is light. So light is it, and +so little has it to do with the stained glass, that one scarcely accepts +it as part of the window, and therefore speaks of it as if it ended with +the colour. + +The unfortunate plan has been adopted here, as in the cathedral at +Munich and elsewhere in Germany, of filling only about half the window, +from the sill upwards, with strong stained glass. This ends abruptly at +an arbitrary and very unsatisfactory canopy arch, which, in a way, +frames it; and above it the window is filled with plain white rounds. At +Freiburg there is yet a further band of plain rounds next the sill of +the windows. The object of this is, doubtless, to get light into the +church; but the effect is as if the builders had run short of coloured +glass, and had only finished off the window temporarily. As a means of +combining white and colour this German shift is not, of course, to be +compared to the plan current elsewhere of distributing them in +alternating bands. It does not attempt to combine them, but cuts the +window deliberately in two. Not until you have shaded off from your eyes +the distracting rays of white light, can you properly appreciate or +enjoy the coloured glass. + +But, if these windows must be considered, as in a sense they must be, as +conforming to the demand for more light, there are others in which +strong colour is carried consistently through, not only in the +fourteenth but in the fifteenth century. (It is irritating and annoying +to have to hark back in this way to periods supposed to have been long +since left behind, but any arbitrary line of division between the styles +must, as it were, cut off points which project from one into the other, +sometimes very far indeed across the boundary line; and hence the +absolute necessity, at times, of seeming to retrace our steps, if we +would really trace the progress of design.) There are shown opposite +four lights out of a large window in the clerestory of the cathedral at +Troyes, in which the history of the Prodigal Son is pictured in little +upright subjects, framed in canopies of quite modest proportions and of +colour which in no wise keeps them separate from the richly coloured +figures underneath. One of them, for example, is of green, very much +the colour of an emerald, on an inky-purple ground. The result is a very +rich window, full of quaintly dramatic interest when you come to examine +it; but there are no broadly marked divisions of colour in the glass to +affect the architecture of the building one way or the other, nor does +it tell its tale very plainly. It is more easily read on page 194 than +from the floor of the church. + +[Illustration: 148. THE PRODIGAL SON, TROYES.] + +In the windows so far discussed the figure subjects, however small and +however close together, have always been marked off one from the other, +slightly as it might be, at first by the marginal lines round the early +subject medallions, and then by canopies. It is shown in another +fifteenth century window from Troyes (opposite) how even that amount of +framework was now sometimes abandoned. + +Progress in glass design, it was said, was in the direction of light and +of picture. Moved by the double impulse, the designer of the Later +Gothic period framed his coloured pictures in white. But where he +happened not to care so much about light, or had not to consider it, he +omitted even the narrow shaft of white or colour (which, so long as he +used a canopy, usually divided the picture from the stonework) and left +it to the mullions to separate them vertically. Horizontally he divided +them slightly by a band of ornament, as at Troyes, of about the width of +the mullions, or more frequently, and more plainly, by lines of +inscription on white or yellow bands. If the subjects were arranged +across the window in tiers alternately on ruby and blue grounds, that, +of course, separated each somewhat from the one next above and below it, +but it banded those on the same level together. This helped the +architectural effect, but confused the story-telling. + +If the pictures were arranged, throughout the width as well as the +length of the window, alternately in panels on red and blue grounds, +that kept the pictures rather more apart, but made the distribution of +the colour all-overish. That mere change of ground could not keep +pictures effectively separate will be clear when it is seen (opposite) +how little of the background extends to the mullion. The greater part of +the figures come quite up to the stonework, and the subjects +consequently run together. It is difficult to realise, except by +experience, how little the stonework can be depended upon to frame +stained glass. It seems when you see it all upon paper that the +mullions, with their strongly marked mouldings, must effectually frame +the glass between them. They do nothing of the kind. They go for so much +shadow: what you see is the glass. This the glass painters realised at +length, and took to carrying their pictures across them. And it has to +be confessed that so long as they schemed them cleverly the interference +of the mullion was not much felt. + +[Illustration: 149. THE STORY OF TOBIT, TROYES.] + +The distinction drawn so far between "single figures" and "subjects" has +answered its obvious purpose; but that also is, in a manner, arbitrary. +Figures standing separately, each in a light by itself, form very often +a series--such as the four Evangelists, the twelve Apostles, the +Prophets, the Doctors of the Church, or a succession of kings, bishops, +or other ecclesiastics. More than that, they form perhaps a group. When +we discover that facing the figure of the Virgin Mary is that of the +Angel Gabriel, we see at once that, though each figure occupies a +separate light of the window, and each stands in its own separate niche, +we have in reality here a subject extending through two lights--the +Annunciation. So in a four-light window--if in one light stands the +Virgin with the Infant Christ, and in the others a series of richly +garbed figures with crowns and gifts in their hands, it is clear that +this represents the Adoration of the Magi--a subject in four lights; and +the canopies over them may be taken to be one canopy with four niches. A +yet more familiar instance of continuity between the single figures in +the lights of a window occurs where the central light contains the +Christ upon the cross, and in the sidelights stand the Virgin and S. +John. We have in such cases the beginning of the subject extending +through several lights. It is only a short step from the Annunciation, +or the Adoration, or the Crucifixion described, to the same subject, +under one canopy, extending boldly across the window, with shafts only +to frame the picture at its sides. That is what was done--especially in +Germany. It occurs already in Early Decorated glass, where the upper +part of a big geometric window is sometimes occupied by brassy pinnacle +work, which asserts itself, perhaps, upon a ground of mosaic diaper, in +the most unpleasant way. In the white glass of a later period the effect +was happier. + +At first the designer did not, as a rule, aspire to carry his subjects +right across a big window. Accepting the transom as a natural division, +he would perhaps divide a four-light window vertically into two, so as +to get four subjects, each under a canopy extending across two lights; +or, in a five-light window, he would probably separate these by other +narrow subjects in the central lights. Divisions of this kind often +occur already in the stonework of the window, the lights being +architecturally divided by stronger mullions into groups. In that case +all the glass painter does is to emphasise the grouping of the lights +schemed by the architect. Where the architect has not provided for such +grouping he does it, perhaps, for himself. It enables him to design his +figures on a larger scale, and to get a much broader effect in his glass +than he could do so long as he kept each picture rigorously within the +limits of a single light. Consideration for his picture had probably +more to do with his reticence than respect for its architectural +framework; and so soon as ever he realised how little even a strong +mullion would really interfere with his work, he made no scruple to take +all the space he wanted for his purpose. Infinite variety of composition +is the result. The upper half of the window is perhaps devoted to a +single subject, or to two important pictures, whilst below the transom +the lights are broken up into quite little pictures; or in place of +these smaller pictures may be found little panels of heraldry, as occurs +often in Flemish work. These or the smaller pictures may be continued in +the sidelights of a broad window, flanking, and in a way framing, a +large central picture. Sometimes, as in the nave of Cologne Cathedral, +the upper half of the window may contain one imposing composition; below +that may be a series of important single figures, each provided with its +separate canopy; and below that again, at the base of the window, may be +a series, or several series, of small heraldic panels. + +The canopy extending across a broad window (page 200) may be so schemed +that there is obvious recognition of the lights into which it is +divided, or it may sprawl across the window space with as little regard +to intervening mullions as possible. There is now, in short, full scope +for the fancy of the artist, were he never so fanciful; and it would be +a hopeless task to try and catalogue the lines on which the design of a +large window might now be set out. + +We do not in the fifteenth century arrive yet at the most remarkable +achievements in glass painting. But you have only to compare such +pictures as those on pages 194, 196, with that on page 127 to see what a +complete revolution has come over the spirit of design. It is not only +that the draughtsman has learnt to draw, and the painter to paint; they +work on quite a different system. It was explained (page 44) how in +early days the glazier conceived his design as mosaic, how he first +thought it out in lead lines, and only relied on paint to help him out +in details which glazing could not give him. Now, it is easy to see that +the painter begins at the other end. He thinks out his picture as a +painting, and relies upon glazing only for the colour which he cannot +get without it. + +In the beginning, it was said, the glazier might often have fixed his +lead lines, and trusted to his ingenuity to fill them in with painted +detail. Now, it would seem, the painter might almost have sketched his +picture, and then bethought him how to glaze it. But that is not yet +really so. He did not even conceive his design as a picture and then +translate it into glass. His work runs so smoothly it cannot be +translation. The ingenuity with which he leads up little bits of colour +in the midst of white, is no mere feat of engineering; it is +spontaneous. It is clear that he had the thought of glazing in his mind +all along--that he designed for it, in fact. The difference between the +thirteenth century and the fifteenth century designer is, that one +thinks first of glazing, is primarily a glazier, the other thinks first +of painting, is primarily a painter. + +[Illustration: 150. FAIRFORD.] + +[Illustration: 151. RENAISSANCE WINDOW, TROYES CATHEDRAL.] + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +SIXTEENTH CENTURY WINDOWS. + + +The customary line between Gothic and Renaissance glass is drawn at +about A.D. 1530. That is to say, that there are to be found examples, +presumably of that date, which are still undoubtedly Gothic in +character. But he would be a bold man, even for an archæologist, who +dared to say precisely when the Gothic era came to an end. + +Quite early in the sixteenth century the new Italian movement began to +make itself felt in France, Germany, Flanders; in due course it spread +to this country. Eventually it supplanted the older style; but it was +only by degrees that it insinuated itself into the affections of +cis-alpine craftsmen. And in stained glass, even more plainly than in +wood or stone carving, is seen how gradually the new style was +assimilated by the mediæval craftsmen--more quickly, of course, by the +younger generation than the older--so that, concurrently with design in +the quasi-Italian manner, Gothic work was still being done. Much of the +earlier Renaissance work shows lingering Gothic influence. In the first +quarter of the sixteenth century a great deal of glass was designed and +executed by men hesitating between the old love and the new, only +partially emancipated from mediæval tradition, or only imperfectly +versed in the foreign style. + +There is a window at S. Nizier, at Troyes, for example, in which the +details are Renaissance, but the feeling is quite Gothic. The subjects +are even explained by elaborate yellow scrolls or labels inscribed in +black, very much after the manner of those which form such a feature in +the German Gothic work at Shrewsbury (page 186). Renaissance forms are +traced with a hand which betrays long training in the more rigid +mediæval school; and Gothic and Italian details are put together in the +same composition with a _naïveté_ which is sometimes quite charming. + +You can see that the designer of the window on page 203 was not +untouched by Renaissance influence. Possibly he thought the hybrid +ornament in his canopy was quite up to date. + +In the glass in the nave of Cologne Cathedral the suspicion aroused by +the side columns of the otherwise quite Gothic canopy on page 191 is +confirmed by definitely Renaissance forms in the ornament in the window +head. Again, at the Church of S. Peter, at Cologne, is a sort of pointed +canopy with ornament which looks at first like Gothic crockets, but on +nearer view it is just Italian arabesque in white and stain. Apart from +architectural accessories and detail of costume or ornament, to justify +the attribution of the work to this or that period, it is very often +difficult to give a name to early Renaissance work; the only safe refuge +is in the convenient word transitional. + +But for the nimbus in perspective, and the shield of arms and its little +amorino supporter, it would have seemed safe to describe the "Charge to +S. Peter" from S. Vincent at Rouen on page 207 as "Gothic." + +In French glass a lingering Gothic element is noticeable at a period +when Italian forms had firmly established themselves in contemporary +plastic art; but, then, glass painting was not an Italian art; and, +whilst wood carvers and sculptors were imported from Italy, and directly +influenced the Frenchmen working with them, glass painting remained in +the hands of native artists. + +Before very long the Renaissance did, of course, assert itself, in glass +painting as in all art, and we arrive at windows absolutely different +from anything that was done in the Middle Ages. The change was in some +places much more rapid than in others. Wherever there was a strong man +his influence would make for or against it. But meanwhile much +intermediate work was done, belonging more or less to the new school, +whilst retaining very much of the character of Gothic glass. + +That Gothic character was something well worth keeping; for it is the +character which belongs inherently to the material. + +The Gothic glass painters did, in fact, so thoroughly develop the +resources of the material, that a Renaissance window treated really like +glass inevitably suggests the lingering of Gothic tradition. This is no +slight praise of Gothic work; and, by implication, it tells against the +later Renaissance glass painters, whose triumphs were in a direction +somewhat apart from their craft. The great windows at Brussels, for +example (page 71), illustrate a new departure. They seem to have nothing +in common with mediæval art. On the other hand, one traces the descent +of such masterpieces of translucent glass painting as are to be found at +Arezzo (page 397), through those same intermediate efforts, directly to +Gothic sources. + +[Illustration: 152. ST. MARY'S, SHREWSBURY.] + +To trace the steps by which the new encroached upon the old, as one may +do, for example, at Rouen, is almost to come to the conclusion that the +short but brilliant period of Renaissance glass painting is really the +after-fruit of Gothic tradition, fertilised only by the great flood of +Renaissance feeling which swept over sixteenth century art. Nowhere is +this more clearly argued than in the windows at Auch, completed, +according to all accounts, as early as 1513. A strain of Gothic is +betrayed by the cusping which here and there fringes a semicircular +canopy arch; but no less mistakably mediæval is the technique +throughout, and equally so the setting out of the windows. For the +somewhat imposing canopies are not, for once, devised as frames to +correspondingly important pictures; but are simply shrines adorned with +figures each confined to its separate light: it is only the small +subsidiary predella or other such pictures which extend beyond the +mullions. No doubt there is doctrinal intention in the juxtaposition of +Prophets, Sibyls, and the rest--one of whom may even be supposed to be +addressing the other--but to all intents and purposes decorative, they +are just a row of standing figures, as distinct one from the other as +the usual series of figures under quite separate canopies. It is only +the canopy which connects them. This kind of composition (which is seen +again at Troyes, page 200) would never have occurred to a man altogether +cut off from Gothic tradition. + +[Illustration: 153. CHAPEL OF THE BOURBONS, LYONS.] + +[Illustration: 154. S. GODARD, ROUEN.] + +It is worth remarking that, even when Gothic and Renaissance canopies +alternate at Auch in a single window, or where Gothic niches are built, +as it were, into or on to larger Renaissance structures, there is no +appearance of incongruity. Truth to tell, the Gothic is not so purely +Gothic, nor the Renaissance so purely Renaissance, as that they should +clash one with the other. Both are seen through the temperament of the +artist. He mixed them in his mind; and the result is quite one, _his_ +style in short. + +Early Renaissance glass submitted itself, one can hardly say duly, but +almost as readily as late Gothic design, to the restraint of Gothic +mullions. The windows in which, as it happens, some of the best Early +French Renaissance work is found (and it is in France that the best is +to be found) are often smaller than the great Perpendicular windows +referred to, and do not lend themselves to such elaborate subdivision. +But the lines on which they are subdivided are very much as heretofore. +The canopy still extends through several lights, and covers a single +subject. Only now it is Renaissance in design. That does not mean to say +merely that round arched architecture takes the place of pointed. The +round arch occurs indeed, as in the windows in the Chapel of the +Bourbons, in Lyons Cathedral (on pages 204 and 349), supplemented by +amorini and festoons of fruit. But more often the canopy takes the form +of a frieze of Renaissance ornament, painted in white and stain, as at +S. Godard, Rouen (opposite), or glazed in white on colour, as in the +cathedral of the same city (pages 75, 350), supported at each end by a +pilaster. Not seldom it resolves itself into arabesque only very +remotely connected with architecture at all. Indeed, if it simulate +anything, it is goldsmith's work rather than masonry. Executed, as at +Rouen (pages 75, 206), in brilliant yellow on a dark coloured ground, it +has very much the appearance and value of beaten gold. That, rather than +sculpture, must have been in the mind of the designer. One form of +imitation is not much better than another; but here, at all events, +there is nothing which in the least competes with the surrounding +architecture; and it will scarcely be denied by any one who takes the +least interest in ornament, that design of this kind is vastly more +amusing than the dull array of misplaced pinnacles which often did duty +for ornamental detail in Gothic shrinework. A German version of a canopy +which ceases almost to be a canopy and becomes more like arabesque, is +given on page 350. That is supported by columns (the caps are shown in +the illustration) rather out of keeping with the ornament they support, +which makes very little pretence of being architectural. The canopies on +pages 204, 350, are supported only on little brackets at each side, and +have no shafts at all. This marks a new departure. The picture has now +no frame at its sides, only the stone mullion. + +[Illustration: 155. S. PATRICE, ROUEN.] + +[Illustration: 156. SUBJECT, S. VINCENT, ROUEN, 1525.] + +It was explained, in reference to glazing, what confusion of detail +resulted from the use of leads of which some were intended to form part +of the design and some not. Similar confusion is inevitable when certain +of the mullions are meant to be accepted as frame to the picture and +others to be ignored. The perhaps not very conspicuous canopy is often +the only hint as to which of the stone divisions you are to accept as +such, and which not. Even that was not always there to serve as a guide. +Already, as early as 1525, the date given to the window illustrating +the life of S. Peter (page 207), the canopy was sometimes annulled, and +the window given over entirely to picture, either one complete subject +or a series of smaller ones. The window dedicated to S. Peter contains +in its four lights eight equal subjects, a plan adopted in several +others of the windows at S. Vincent, Rouen. In a series of unframed +subjects, such as these, there is much less danger of confusion should +some one prominent figure recur throughout always in the same costume. +That is the case here, and again at Châlons, where the figure of Our +Lord, robed in purple, is conspicuous throughout: the mind grasps at a +glance that this is not one picture but a series. + +A change of period is indicated by the departure from the disc-shaped +nimbus. On pages 207, 210, 234, 397, the nimbus is shown in perspective; +an attempt is even made to make it hover above the head, an effect not +possible to produce in leaded glass; even at Arezzo it is not achieved. +Neither is the use of a mere ring of light, whether in flat or in +perspective, a happy substitution for the Gothic colour disc, as may be +seen, for example, at Cologne. The idea of the nimbus only keeps within +the border line which separates the sublime from the ridiculous, so long +as the thing is frankly accepted as a symbol, not as an effect. But, +were it otherwise, the use of the strongly marked disc of colour about +the head of prominent personages has an enormous value as a means of +distinguishing them from the background or from surrounding figures. Its +decorative importance is no less than its symbolic. Very especially is +this so in glass; and the glass painter who wantonly departs from its +use, reduces it to a mere ring (which does not separate it at all from +the background) or poises it in the air, is beginning to wander from the +way, narrow if you please, which leads to success in glass. This is said +with some reluctance in face of the all but perfect little panel from S. +Bonnet, at Bourges, on page 210. It is true that there the nimbus of the +boy saint, though in perspective, does by its dark tone separate the +head from the light ground, as the face is separated from the darker +drapery of his teacher; and, in so far, little of definition is +sacrificed; but, after all, admirably as the design is schemed, the oval +nimbus is not a whit less conventional than the round disc of mediæval +times, and it does lack something of distinction and dignity which that +conveyed. The date inscribed (1544) serves to remind us that we are +nearing the middle of the century, at which period glass painting may +safely be said to have reached its zenith and to be nearing the verge of +decline. + +It will have been seen in the examples lately instanced how story is +gradually more and more naturally set forth in glass. There is now no +vestige of flat treatment left. Even the standing figure (page 191) +stands forth from his niche, and though he may be backed by a curtain of +damask, there is shown above that a background of receding architecture. +So in the S. Bernard windows at Shrewsbury (pages 56, 203) there is +architectural distance shown in perspective, and again in the subjects +from Fairford, whether it be the portcullised gate of Jerusalem that is +represented (page 251), or the very inadequate palace of King Solomon +(page 188), or the Garden of Eden, in which the scene of the Temptation +is primitively pourtrayed (page 372), there is some attempt to render +the scene. Even in the fifteenth century work at Troyes (page 194) the +Prodigal is not merely shown among the swine, joining them in a dinner +of gigantic acorns, but he leans against an oak tree, and in the +distance is a little forest of trees. In Renaissance glass the scene is +much more naturally rendered, and forms almost invariably an important +part of the composition. Witness the palace of Herod (page 74) when +Salome dances before him, which is a great advance upon the Gothic +throne-room of King Solomon (page 188). + +[Illustration: 157. SUBJECT, S. BONNET, BOURGES.] + +The scene takes one of three forms: either it is architectural, or it is +landscape, or it is of architecture and landscape combined. A very +favourite plan of the French was to show distant architecture (glazed in +deep purple) through which were seen glimpses of grey sky, and perhaps a +peep of landscape; and it resulted invariably in a beautiful effect of +colour. In fact, a scheme of colour which recurs again and again at +Rouen, and in other French glass of the first part of the sixteenth +century, consists in the introduction of figures in rich colour and +white upon a background where white, green, purple, and pale blue +predominate to such an extent as to give quite a distinctive character +to the glass. The more distant landscape was painted very delicately +upon the pale grey-blue glass which served for sky, as shown on page +255, and in the same way architecture was also painted upon it. In the +view through the arches above the screen in a window at Montmorency +(page 213), both trees and buildings are represented in that way upon +pale grey glass, the green of the trees and hills stained upon it. +Sometimes the distance is painted upon white, as at King's College, +Cambridge; but in France the pale grey-blue background is so usual as to +be quite characteristic of the period. All this is a long way from the +mere diaper of clouds which in the early fifteenth century sometimes +took the place of damask pattern upon the blue which formed a background +to the Crucifixion, or other scene out of doors. It is now no longer a +case of symbolising, but of representing, the sky, and it is wonderful +what atmospheric quality is obtained by the judicious use of pale blue +painted with the requisite delicacy. The beauty of this kind of work, +especially on a small scale, is beyond dispute. Together with the +rendering of the flesh, it implies consummate skill in painting. The +painter comes quite to the front; but he justifies himself inasmuch as +he is able to hold the place. He does what his Gothic predecessors could +not have done, and does it perfectly. Could the Gothic artist have +painted like this, he also might have been tempted so far in the +pictorial direction as to have sacrificed some of the sterner qualities +of his design. + +The architectural environment of the figures on page 213 fulfils +somewhat the function of the Perpendicular canopy; it forms a kind of +setting of white for the colour; but, in the first place, it does not +pretend to frame them at the side, and, in the second, the attempt at +actual perspective necessitates an amount of shading upon the white +glass which detracts at once from its purity and from its value as +setting to the colour. The idea is there that you see through the window +into space; and, though that effect is never obtained, it is wonderful +how far some of the glass painters later in the century went towards +illusion. A certain false air of truth was sometimes given to the +would-be deception by an acknowledgment of the window-shape--that is, by +making the foremost arch or arches follow the shape of the window head, +and form, as it were, a canopy losing itself in perspective. +Architecture proper to the subject, or not too inappropriate to it, is +sometimes schemed so far to accommodate itself to the window-shape as to +form, with the white pavement, a more or less canopy-like setting for +the figures. It may be a sort of proscenium, the sides of which recede +into the picture, and form what may be called the scenery. At King's +College, Cambridge, Esau is seen bargaining away his birthright at a +table where stands the coveted pottage, in the midst of spacious halls +going back into distant vistas, seen through a sort of canopy next the +actual stonework. That concession to the framework of the window does +mend matters somewhat. The base of the picture opposite, for example, is +much more satisfactory than it would have been had it not acknowledged +the window-sill; but the architecture in the top part of the lights is +not a frame to the picture at all, nor yet a finish to the glass: it is +part of the picture, which thus, you may say, occupies the window as a +picture its canvas. In reality that is not quite so. There is some +acknowledgment, though inadequate, of the spring of the arch by a +horizontal cornice parallel with the bar; and the arcading, though +interrupted by the mullion and by the marble columns, steadies the +design; and altogether the architecture is planned with ingenuity, +though without frank enough acceptance of the window-shape. One would be +more tolerant to such misguided freedom of design were it not for the +kind of thing it led to. It must be admitted that both French and +Flemings, until they began to force their perspective, and to paint +shadow heavily, did very beautiful and effective work in this way. + +A multitude of figures, as, for example, in the Judgment of Solomon at +S. Gervais, Paris, more or less in rich colour, could be held together +by distant architecture and foreground pavement largely consisting of +white glass, in a way which left little to be desired, except fuller +acknowledgment of the stonework. But it took a master of design to do +it, and one with a fine sense of breadth and architectural fitness. + +When such architecture was kept so light as to have the full value of +white, and when the figures against it were also to a large extent in +white, and the colour was introduced only in little patches and jewels +skilfully designed to form, here the sleeves of a white-robed figure, +there a headdress, there again the glimpse of an underskirt, and so +on--all ingeniously designed for the express purpose of introducing rich +colour, the whole shot through with golden stain--the effect is +sometimes very beautiful. + +[Illustration: 158. SAINTS, CH. OF S. MARTIN, MONTMORENCY.] + +Admirable Flemish work, Renaissance in detail, but carrying on the +traditions of Gothic art, is to be found in plenty at Liège, both in +the cathedral (1530 to 1557) and at S. Martin. This is excellent in +drawing and composition, most highly finished in painting, fine in +colour, and silvery as to its white glass, which last is splendidly +stained. In the same city there is beautiful work also at S. Jacques, +with admirable treatment of the canopy on a large scale. It differs from +French work inasmuch as it is Flemish, just as the glass at the church +of Brou differs in that there is a characteristic Burgundian flavour +about it; but those are details of locality, which do not especially +affect the course of glass painting, and which it would be out of place +here to discuss. + +In England we are not rich in Renaissance glass. The best we have is +Flemish, from Herkenrode, now in the cathedral at Lichfield. The greater +part of this is collected in seven windows of the Lady Chapel--no need +to explain which; the miserable shields of arms in the remaining two +convict themselves of modernity. In the tracery, too, there is some old +glass, but it is lost in the glare of new glazing adjacent. Otherwise +this glass is not much hurt by restoration. Four of the windows are +treated much alike; that is, they have each three subjects, extending +each across the three lights of which they are composed, some with +enclosing canopy, and some without. A fifth three-light window is broken +up into six tiers of subjects, each of which appears at first sight as +if it were confined to the limits of a single light, but there is in +fact connection between the figures; for example, of three figures the +central one proves to be the Patron Saint of the Donor, himself +occupying one of the sidelights, and his wife the other. If the Saint is +seated the Donors stand. If he is represented standing they kneel before +him. The two larger six-light windows at Lichfield are divided each into +four; that is to say, the four quarters of the window have each a +separate subject which extends laterally through three lights, and in +depth occupies with its canopy about half the entire height of the +window. + +The Lichfield glass has very much the character of that at Liège. So has +the Flemish glass now at the east end of S. George's, Hanover Square, a +church famous for its fashionable weddings. This is some of the best +glass in London, well worthy the attention of the guests pending the +arrival of the bride. The design, however, is calculated to mystify the +student, until he becomes aware that the lights form part of a "Tree of +Jesse," adapted, not very intelligently, to their present position, and +marred by hideous restoration, such as the patch of excruciating blue in +the robe of the Virgin. The vine, executed in stain upon white, with +grapes in pot-metal purples, is not nearly strong enough to support the +figures; this may be in part due to the decay of the paint, which has +proceeded apace. + +Again, at Chantilly (page 218) may be seen how lead lines quarrel with +delicate painting. The more delicate the painting, the greater the +danger of that--a danger seldom altogether overcome. + +[Illustration: 159. S. GEORGE'S, HANOVER SQUARE, LONDON.] + +The most important series of Renaissance windows in this country is in +King's College Chapel, Cambridge. "Indentures" still remain to tell us +that these were contracted for in 1516 and 1526. Apart from some +strikingly English-looking figures in white and stain upon quarry +backgrounds in a side chapel, and other remains of similar character, +and from a very beautiful window almost opposite the door by which one +enters--differing in type, in scale, in colour, altogether from the +other windows--the glass throughout the huge chapel was obviously +planned at the time of the first contract, and there is a certain +symmetry of arrangement throughout which bespeaks the period of +transition. The windows consist each of two tiers of five lights. A +five-light window offers some difficulty to the designer if he desire +(as in the sixteenth century he naturally did) to introduce subjects +extending across more than one light. A subject in two lights does not +symmetrically balance with a subject in three. He might carry his +subject right across the window, but that might give him very likely a +larger space to fill than he wanted; and besides, the time was hardly +come for him to think of that. He might carry it across the central +group of three; but that would leave him a single light on each side to +dispose of. Remains the idea of a subject in two lights at each side of +the window, and a central composition occupying only one light. That was +not a very usual plan, although it was adopted, at Fairford for example, +where the side subjects in two lights under a canopy are effectually +separated by a central subject which has none. At King's the sidelights +have no canopies further than such as may be accepted as part of the +architecture proper to the subject, schemed more or less to frame the +picture (as in the case of the window at Montmorency, page 213); it is +only in the centre lights that the figures (two in each light, one above +the other) are enclosed in canopy work. These figures (described as +"messengers"), with elaborately flowing scrolls about them inscribed +with texts of Scripture, are many of them quite Gothic in character, +even though they have Renaissance canopies over them. The designs of +these mostly do duty many times over, as if this merely decorative or +descriptive work were not of much account; and the same figure occurs, +here well painted, there ill done, or painted perhaps in a late, loose +way, quite out of keeping with the drawing: there is no sort of sequence +in them. The notion of these intermediate figures, at once +distinguishing the subjects one from the other, and throwing light upon +their meaning, is good. But in effect it fails of its object, thanks to +the independent spirit of the later painters, who thought more of their +pictures than of architectural restraint. + +The subjects on each side of the window are very large in scale, very +pictorially and very freely treated, very finely designed at times, and +very splendid in effect; but they are most unequal, and they are all +more or less of a tangle. Their confusion is the greater inasmuch as +there is no attempt to balance one picture with another. A landscape +background on one side of the window answers to an architectural +background on the other. On one side the interest of the subject is +towards the top of the lights, on the other to the bottom, and so on. +Either subject or both may be so merged with the "messengers" that a +casual observer would hardly be aware of the existence of such +personages. + +[Illustration: 160. THE STORY OF PSYCHE, CHANTILLY.] + +All this makes it difficult to trace the subject; and yet the windows +are in a certain pictorial way the more effective. In fact the unity of +the _window_ has been preserved: the white landscape on one side, and +the white architecture on the other, make equally a setting for the +colour, and form, with the "messengers" and their little canopies, _one_ +framing, not several frames. Right or wrong, the artist has done what he +meant to do, and done it oftentimes very cleverly, though not with +uniform success. The inequality spoken of is not only in workmanship but +in design. Some of these pictures have characteristics, such as the +needless evasion of leading, which one associates rather with quite +the end of the century than with anything like the date of the second +contract: possibly the execution of the work extended over a longer +period of time than is generally supposed. However that may be, the +windows generally, remarkable as they are, are not markedly enough of a +period to serve as an object lesson in glass design. They are neither +quite late enough to illustrate the decline of art, nor workmanlike +enough to show the culmination of sixteenth century design--painter-like +and pictorial, but in which the designer knew how to make the most of +the glass in which it was to be wrought. + +That is best seen in some of the French and Flemish work above referred +to, in the work, for example, at Ecouen and Montmorency, so fully +illustrated in Monsieur Magne's most admirable monograph. The figure, +for example, of William of Montmorency (page 66), the father of the +great Anne, might serve for a votive picture of the period; but it is +designed, nevertheless, as only a man careful of the conditions under +which glass painting was done could design. Careful of conditions! That +is just what the designers of the King's College glass were not, or not +enough. And so begins the end. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +LATER RENAISSANCE WINDOWS. + + +The magnificent windows of Van Orley at S. Gudule, Brussels, mark in a +sense the summit of design, as well as of painting, in stained glass. +But it is design of a kind not strictly proper to the material, for +which reason the discussion of his work, though it was done well within +the first half of the sixteenth century, has been reserved by way of +introduction to the period which it inaugurated, the period when the +glass painter not merely put painting first of all, but sacrificed to it +qualities peculiar to glass. + +The heavy painting of this work and much that followed it has already +been discussed. But something of that was perhaps implied in the very +ideal of the painter; the execution only follows out the scheme of the +design. The scope as well as the power of the designer is better +illustrated in the two great transept windows, than in those of the +chapel of the Holy Sacrament. Even in the very inadequate rendering of +the one of them on page 71 may be seen how large and dignified the man's +conception was. The effect is gorgeous; but it is produced as simply, +for all the unsurpassed elaboration of ornamental detail, as a Goth +could wish. An unsophisticated designer of the thirteenth century could +scarcely have gone more directly to work. He would not have grouped his +figures with such art, but he would have separated each from the other +and from the ground in much such a straightforward way. Yet the _motif_ +of the design, the idea of making figures and architecture stand as it +were in strong and round relief against the light, went far to bring +about excessive use of paint; and the design is therefore in a measure +at fault, as was the later Netherlandish work, founded upon it, of which +it may be taken as the nobler type. + +It is a far cry from the slender Perpendicular canopy to this triumphal +arch. The architecture is here no frame to the picture, but the backbone +of the picture itself, and it is disposed in the most masterly way. It +takes the place of a magnificent high altar. Sometimes in compositions +of this kind the altar-like canopy enshrines a rich picture, just as +veritable stonework might frame a painted altar-piece, whilst in the +foreground kneel the Donors. In this case Charles the Fifth and his wife +Isabella and their attendant saints are the picture, the object of their +adoration, the Almighty, being relegated to one of the side arches. +Similarly in a three-light window (of much more glassy character, +however) at Montmorency, Guy de Laval has the central position, and the +crucifix before which he kneels is put on one side. This is rather +characteristic of the period. In the sixteenth century windows were +erected, not so much to the glory of God, as to the glorification of the +Donor, who claimed a foremost, if not the very central, place for +himself. + +The donor was no doubt always, as to this day, an important person in +connection with the putting up of a stained glass window. But in early +days he was content to efface himself, or if he appeared upon the scene +at all it was in miniature, modestly presenting the little image of his +gift in a lower corner of the window. In the fourteenth century he is +still content with the space of a small panel, bearing his effigy or his +arms, at the base of the window. Even in the fifteenth he is content at +times to be represented by his patron saint, as in the beautiful window +in the chapel of Jacques Coeur, at Bourges. In the sixteenth he is +very much in evidence. No scruple of modesty, or suspicion of +unworthiness, restrains him from putting in an appearance in the midst +of the most serious and sacred scenes, very much sometimes to the +confusion of the story. Eventually the donor, his wife, and perhaps his +family, with their patron saints, who literally back them up in their +obtrusiveness, claim, if they do not absorb, all our attention, and the +sacred subject takes quite a back place. In the foreground of the scene +of the Last Judgment which occupies the great west window at S. Gudule, +Brussels, kneels the donor, with attendant angels, on a scale much +larger than the rest of the world, competing in fact in importance with +the figure of Our Lord in Majesty above. + +However, the vain-glory of princes and seigneurs resulted in the +production of works of such consummate art that, as artists, we can but +be grateful to them. In the presence of the splendid achievement of Van +Orley, who shall say that the artist does not justify himself? Nothing +equal to it _in its way_ was ever done. + +[Illustration: 161. THE PARABLE OF THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN, +GOUDA.] + +It may not be according to the strict rules of the game: it is not; but +that it is magnificent, no fair-minded artist can deny. Our just cause +of quarrel is, not with that, but with what that led to, what that +became in less competent hands. It is the price we pay for strong men +that they induce weak ones to follow them in a direction where they are +bound to fail. Van Orley's triumphant answer to any carping of ours +would be, to point to the great west window of the cathedral, designed +on earlier and more orthodox lines, and say: "Compare!" We have no right +to limit art to what small folk can do. + +The further development of the Netherlandish canopy is shown in the +Gouda glass above. Here is still considerable skill in the way in which +the window is set out, and the patches of colour are introduced (for +example, in the two figures leaning on the balcony and the wreath of +leaves and fruit above them) amidst the predominant white,--if only the +white glass had been whiter in effect. But there is altogether too much +of this architectural work, even though it is used, in the pictured +parable at least, to dramatic purpose. The notion of the Pharisee +gesticulating away in the far distance, whilst the Publican modestly +fills the foreground, is cleverly conceived and skilfully carried out; +but the picture is overpowered by its ponderous frame. + +[Illustration: 162. GOUDA, 1596.] + +It is in the wonderful series of late sixteenth century windows at +Gouda, in Holland, that the fullest and furthest development of +pictorial design is shown. The period of their execution extends from +1555 to 1603; and, as they are admittedly the finest works of their day, +they may be taken to represent the best work of the latter half of the +sixteenth century. They are, in fact, typical of the period, only at its +best; it is not often that work of that date was designed with such +power or painted with such skill. The diagrams given here and on pages +79, 244, 258, do no manner of justice to the glass; but they will help +the reader better to understand what is said concerning it. They +indicate at least the lines on which these daring designers planned +their huge windows, the main lines which pictorial design on a large +scale is destined henceforth to take. + +In the clerestory of S. Eustache, Paris, are some large two-light +windows which somewhat recall the Gouda work; but the design is rather +original. One vast architectural composition in white, not very heavily +painted, fills the window, against which stand a series of giant +Apostles in colour, one in each light, occupying about one-third of the +height of the window. This much recognition of the separate openings is +something to be thankful for towards the middle of the seventeenth +century. + +[Illustration: 163. S. SEBALD'S, NUREMBERG.] + +A striking feature, we have seen, about the later Renaissance canopy as +shown at Gouda, and already at Brussels, is its vast dimensions. It no +longer frames the picture: it is a prominent, sometimes the most +prominent, feature in its design. + +Even earlier than that the canopy was already sometimes of very +considerable extent. At S. Sebald's, Nuremberg, there is a great +altar-like canopy ending in a pediment about two-thirds of the way up +the window, with plain white glass above, in which the shafting at the +side takes up practically the entire width of the two outer lights, as +here shown in the diagram of a portion of the glass. Yet this window is +as early as the year 1515, and before the period when masses of deep +shadow were represented by paint. Accordingly the canopy in this +instance is glazed in pot-metal of steely grey-blue, which, with the +little figures, mainly in steely grey armour against a white ground, and +the heraldic shields at the side, mainly in red and white, all very +slightly shaded, has a singularly fresh, bright, and delicate effect. + +Another instance of preponderating architectural work occurs also at +Nuremberg in the choir of the church of S. Lorenz, and though it belongs +to the beginning of the seventeenth century, that too is leaded up much +as it might have been in the fifteenth. But the great clumsy column, +opposite, with its clumsier figure of Fame, against a ruby background +extending right up to the stonework of the window, is not a satisfactory +filling to the outer light of a big window. + +The last thing to expect of late Renaissance work is modesty in the use +of architectural accessories, whether in the form of frame or +background. Frame and background they are not; they claim to be all or +nothing. Just as ornamental design was gradually pushed out of use by +figure work, so the picture was in time overpowered by its frame. And +the frame was in the end such that, when it came to be discarded, it was +not much loss. + +[Illustration: 164. S. LORENZ, NUREMBERG.] + +In the latter half of the sixteenth century and thenceforward design +continued to travel in the direction of what was meant for a sort of +realism. If the more or less altar-like canopy was retained, it was +meant to appear as if it stood bodily under the arch of the window; if +it was abandoned, you were supposed to see more or less _through_ the +window, perhaps into distant country, perhaps into receding aisles of +the church. + +It formed part of the canopy scheme, that the structure should end +before it reached the top of the window, so that you could see beyond it +into space. The designers would have been only too happy if they could +have done away with the glass above that. If they had had big sheets of +plate glass, they would certainly have used them to produce the effect +of out of doors--there was already a _plein air_ school in the +eighteenth century--as they had not, they were obliged to accept the +inevitable, and lead up their white glass; but they went as far as they +could to doing away with its effect, using thin, transparent material, +which was not meant to appear as though it formed part of the +composition. Occasionally they would use pale blue glass, or tint it in +a blue enamel, further to suggest the sky beyond. This (page 222) would +commonly be glazed in squares. The pure white glass also was often +glazed in square or, as at Brussels, diamond quarries (page 71). + +Subjects themselves, it has been explained, came to be glazed as much as +possible in rectangular panes; but it marks, it may here be mentioned, a +decline of design, as well as of technique, when these came to interfere +in any way, as they did, with the drawing. Having made up his mind that +his design is to be glazed in rigid square lines, the artist should +logically have designed accordingly. He had only to mark off the +glazing lines on his cartoon, and scheme his composition so that it was +not hurt by them. Towards the seventeenth century the plain glass, the +extra part beyond the canopy or beyond the picture, would often be +glazed in some simple pattern. That, you might imagine, stood for the +window _behind_ the picture or the monument. At the church of S. +Jacques, Antwerp, above a picture of the Circumcision, is a canopy +leaded in squares and painted to look like falsehood, beyond which clear +glass is glazed in a pattern. + +Occasionally an attempt is made to merge the picture into the plain +glazing above, as at S. Paul's, Antwerp, where the yellow sky, against +which is shown the distant city, and so on, is glazed in squares, which +further off become gradually white, and then at their interstices have +smaller diamond-shaped pieces of glass let in. + +Where a subject glazed in quarries is represented against a background +of plain glazing of more elaborate design, there is difficulty in +joining the two, except by means of a strong lead outline to the +figures, or whatever may come next to the plain glass, which outline the +seventeenth century designer was anxious before all things to avoid. +Accordingly, as the plain pattern work approached the margin of the +painted work, he replaced the leads by paint, which sham leads, of +course, could be made to disappear as seemed good to him. But these +little games of his, to judge by results, were hardly worth the candle. + +It will be seen how, in the French glass on page 200, the canopy came to +be backed and surrounded by unpainted glass, quarries in that case. +There the canopy sufficiently occupies the window space not to strike +one unpleasantly; but that is sixteenth century work; later, and +especially in Flanders, canopies are represented, as in the cathedral at +Antwerp (1615), adrift, as it were, in a sea of plain glazing. Even when +the glass has some quality of glass the effect of that is not happy. +When the glass is thin and transparent it is disastrous. + +At S. Jacques, Antwerp, again, coats of arms hover unsupported in +mid-air, the mere lines of the glazing being quite inadequate to their +apparent support. It is different, of course, where the heraldic device, +as opposite, is itself little more than plain glazing. That is a very +mild form of art; but, in its way, it is satisfactory enough. + +Perhaps least fortunate of all in effect are the landscapes at S. +Jacques, which float, without even a canopy to frame them, in an +atmosphere of leaded glass. Antwerp is rich in glass, much of it very +cleverly executed, which would serve very well to illustrate how _not_ +to design a window. + +[Illustration: 165. GOUDA, 1688.] + +The place of the canopy was supplied sometimes, especially in later +Netherlandish work, by the cartouche so dear to the Dutch. It fulfilled +very much the office of the canopy, framing the design; and, had it +been kept white, it would have framed it well, affording circular and +other shapes which form a welcome variation upon the usual arched +opening. But it was not white at all; very much the reverse. Indeed the +idea of the Dutch cartouche, with its interpenetration of parts, and +curling and projecting straps and bolts, tempts the painter to a heavy +method of painting, destructive of the very quality of white. The device +depends for its effect far too much upon force of shadow to be of any +great use in white glass. The comparatively early cartouche in the lower +half of the window at Gouda, given on page 223, is of the simplest kind, +and has none of that too-seductive bolt work; but it is dull and heavy +in effect, being painted in heavy brown, with the idea of giving +atmospheric effect to the picture supposed to be seen through it. + +[Illustration: 166. PLAIN GLAZING, S. GERVAIS, PARIS.] + +A great cartouche is often used as a kind of base to a canopy extending +across the whole width of a wide window, or the base of the canopy may +include a very important cartouche, occupied in either case by a long +inscription. Here again the oblong patch of white or yellow may have +value, in proportion as it is allowed to preserve the quality of glass. +There is, however, something poor and mean about large areas of small +lettering, and it is a pity to see the opportunity which bold +inscriptions give quite thrown away. Moreover, the inscriptions are +invariably too long. The framers of inscriptions do not realise the +multitude of readers they scare away by the volume of their wording. The +design of a window at S. Jacques, Antwerp, consists merely of an +inscription label, with a helmet above and mantling in black and white +(the black, of course, paint) set in plain glazing. + +Up to the very last whole windows were glazed very often in plain +patterns, usually all in clear white glass. A couple of designs, into +which a little colour is introduced, are given below and opposite. In +spite of the increased facility for cutting glass, afforded from the +beginning of the century by the use of the diamond, patterns were seldom +very elaborate; but, by way of illustrating what can be done by means of +the diamond, there is shown overleaf quite a conjuring feat of glazing. +The thick black lines in the drawing represent the leads; the white +spaces enclosed are plain white glass, rather poor in quality; the +thinner lines stand for cracks, possibly not, or not all of them, of the +glazier's doing, for it would be almost impossible to handle such work +without breaking it. It is well-nigh incredible that each of these +_fleurs-de-lys_ should have been cut out of a single piece of glass, the +marginal band to it out of a second, and so with the background spaces. +Glaziers may be inclined to question the possibility of such a _tour de +force_, even in poor thin glass. Certainly one would not have thought it +possible; but there it is, in the museum at Angers, close to the eye, +where you can see and examine it. This is glazing with a vengeance. It +is not the sort of thing that any one would undertake, except as a trial +piece, to show his skill; but if ever a glazier deserved his diploma of +mastership here is the man. + +[Illustration: 167. PLAIN GLAZING, LISIEUX.] + +[Illustration: 168. A TOUR DE FORCE IN GLAZING, ANGERS MUSEUM.] + +The composition of some of the windows belonging to the first half of +the seventeenth century at Troyes does not follow the general tendency +of the period. The better part of this, if not the greater, is +attributed to Linard Gontier (1606-1648). But the design of these +windows, and the style of them, is so varied, and sometimes so little of +the period, that one is disposed to think, either that he was a painter +only and did not design them at all, or that he borrowed his designs +freely from Italian and other sources. The panel on page 400, the Virgin +girt with clouds and cherubs, distinctly recalls the work of the Della +Robbia School; and again the figures opposite remind one of late +sixteenth century paintings. An unusual thing, however, about some of +these windows is the way they are set out. The disposition of the design +of the three-light window from S. Martin ès Vignes is as simple and +severe as though it had been Gothic. The glazing, too, is not in +squares, but follows the design. Except for the rather robustious +drawing of the figures, and the futile kind of detail which does duty +for canopy work, the glass might belong to the first half of the +sixteenth century. + +[Illustration: 169. THREE LIGHTS, S. MARTIN-ÈS-VIGNES, TROYES.] + +Again, in the subject of the marriage of SS. Joachim and Anna on page +234, it is rather by the types of feature and the cast of draperies, +than by the composition, that the date of the work proclaims itself. It +is proclaimed, of course, unmistakably by the use of enamel, not only in +the warm-coloured flesh, but throughout, to support, and sometimes to +supply the place of, pot-metal glass. Nevertheless, the effect of much +of this glass is brilliant to a degree almost unprecedented in the first +half of the seventeenth century. The painter had skill enough to get the +maximum of modelling with the minimum of paint. He could afford, +therefore, to use paint sparingly, leaving plenty of glass clear, and +seldom sacrificing its translucency, as was done in the group of donors +on page 81, whose black mantles are rendered in solid paint. Those +heavily painted figures recall a couple of Donors in a window at Antwerp +(1626), equally black robed, against a nearly black screen, all in +paint: they would have made a capital votive picture; but they are about +as unlike glass as anything one can conceive. + +Exceptionally good seventeenth century work is to be found also at Auch. +It seems that it was proposed (towards 1650) to complete the windows in +a way worthy of the splendid beginning in the choir; but the art was not +forthcoming; and the Chapter of that day was wise enough to fall back +upon comparatively unimportant quarry windows, with borders and tracery +in white and stain and blue enamel, which is at least brilliant in +colour, and pleasing in effect. That may be said also of the Western +Rose. In the Roses of the transepts, the artist goes further, and +produces, by means of arabesque in white and stain, upon a ground mainly +of blue and ruby, occasionally varied by green, each light defined by a +simple border of white and stain, a couple of flamboyant Rose windows +with glass which would do credit to the period of the stonework. They +might well (at the distance they are placed from the eye) be taken at +first sight for Early Renaissance work. In fact they are really mosaic +glass--so rare a thing by this time that the windows are probably of +their kind unique. + +Even at its best enamelled glass is less effective than the earlier +work. In proportion as the place of pot-metal is supplied by enamel, the +colour is inevitably diluted, and at times it is quite thin. Indeed, it +is pretty well proved, by the work of men who are masters in their way, +that, in painted as distinguished from mosaic glass, the choice lies +between weak colour and opacity. At Auch and at Troyes we have weak but +still often pure and brilliant colour. + +The opposite defect of opacity reaches probably its greatest depth in +the four great Rubens-like windows at S. Gudule in the chapel of Our +Lady immediately opposite that of the Holy Sacrament, where Van Orley's +windows are. The design is there absolutely regardless of any +consideration of glass or architecture. Each window is treated as a vast +oil picture, without so much as a frame. Here is no vista of distant +architecture, nor any such relief of lighter colour as you find at +Gouda. Force of colour is sought by masses of deep shadow, into which +the figures merge. This shadow being obtained by paint, and the glazing +being in the now usual squares, there are literally yards of painted +quarries, which, except when the sun is at its fiercest, are all but +black. And withal the effect is not rich as compared with even the +common Gothic glass, though it is not without a certain picturesqueness +when perchance the sun struggles through. A painter might find it an +admirable background to his picture; no architect would choose it for +his building. Three of these windows were designed, it seems, by a pupil +of Rubens, Van Thulden, who worked under him at the Luxembourg, and they +have all the character of his work--except that the colour is dull. + +At New College, Oxford, are some smaller windows with figures, also +recalling the manner of the master, and said to be by pupils of his. +They, too, are dull and heavy in effect. The canopies over the figures +are terrible caricatures of the Gothic shrines in the ante-chapel. +Better seventeenth century glass is to be found at Oxford in the work of +the Van Lingen, a family of Dutchmen settled in England, who executed +windows in Wadham and Balliol Colleges and elsewhere. Some of these are +rich in colour. Apart from the rather interesting use of enamel made in +them, they are not of great value; but they show as well as more +important examples the kind of thing which did duty for design. + +The windows in Lincoln's Inn Chapel, London, illustrate not unfairly the +dreary level of dulness as to colour and design to which seventeenth +century glass declined. That it could fall still lower was shown, for +example, by Peckitt, of York, who is responsible for the glass on the +north side of New College Chapel, Oxford, facing the work of the +Dutchmen. These date from 1765 to 1774. + +[Illustration: 170. ST. MARTIN ÈS VIGNES, TROYES.] + +The history of eighteenth century windows may, if one may plagiarise a +famous bull, be put into the fewest possible words: there were +none--worth looking at. To find pleasure even in Sir Joshua's design at +New College, you must consider it as anything but glass. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +PICTURE-WINDOWS. + + +The course of glass design was picture-ward. Picture design, however, +did not stand still, and hence arises some confusion in the use of the +word "pictorial." It is time to try and clear that up. Stained glass, it +may be truly said, has been from the very first pictorial. The earliest +glass, therefore, and the latest, the best and the worst, may alike be +termed pictorial. The difference is in the conception as to what +constituted a picture, say, in the thirteenth century and the +seventeenth. It all depends upon the kind of picture attempted. + +Archaic art aims already at nature. We probably do not give the early +painter credit enough for his intention of rendering natural things +naturally. In part at least the stiffness of his design comes from lack +of skill, and often where we find him quaint he meant no doubt to be +perfectly serious and matter-of-fact. But it was not alone incompetence +that held his hand. He was restrained always by a decorative purpose in +his work. Here again he was not conscious of sacrificing to any higher +rule of art; he bothered himself as little about that as a bee about the +way it shall fashion its cell; he worked in the way to which he was +born; but the idea had not yet developed itself that a picture could be +painted quite apart from the decoration of something, and it never +entered his mind to do anything but adapt himself to the decorative +situation. + +A picture, then, in mediæval times was a work of decorative art, +designed to fit a place, to fulfil part of a scheme of decoration, in +which it might more often than not take the first place, but no more; it +had no claim to independence. + +In glass the picture obeyed two conditions which more or less pulled +together: as art it subserved to decorative and architectural effect; as +craftsmanship it acknowledged and accepted the limitations of glass +painting. In the course of years the ideal of architectural fitness +underwent successive changes, and the limitations of the glass painter +grew less; his scope, that is to say, was widened, and his art took +what we call more pictorial shape. Still, so long as the pictorial ideal +itself was restrained within the limits of mediæval ambition, glass +painting might safely approach the pictorial. It was not until painting +broke loose from traditional decorative trammels and set up, so to +speak, on its own account, until pictorial came to mean something widely +different from decorative, that the term became in any way distinctive +of one kind of art or another. It is in that later sense that the word +pictorial is here used. + +Artists still differ, and will continue to differ, as to the precise use +of the term. There are artists still who contend that, since in old time +art was decorative, and since in their opinion all art should be +decorative, therefore the picture which is not decorative is not art. +Arguing thus in a circle, they would say (the pictorial including in +their estimation the perfection of decorative fitness, and all art which +overshot the mark ceasing to count with them) that art was always at its +best when it was most pictorial. But that is a species of quibbling +about words which not only leads us no further, but hinders mutual +understanding. It is wiser to accept words in the sense in which they +are generally understood, and to try and see where the real difference +of opinion is. + +Difficult it may be, impossible even, to draw the line between a picture +which is decorative and decoration which is pictorial; but there is no +difficulty in drawing a band on one side of which is decoration and on +the other picture. You have only to draw it wide enough. If we can +succeed in defining a picture as distinguished from a work of decorative +art, and can then show how a stained glass window, in attempting to +conform to conditions which we have agreed to call pictorial, fails of +its decorative function, it will then not be so difficult to see how, in +proportion as glass aims at the pictorial, it falls short of making good +windows. Granted, then, that a picture may fulfil all decorative +conditions, and that a decoration may sometimes rightly be pictorial, +that the two go, as historically they did, a long way hand in hand, it +is contended that there is a point at which decoration and picture part +company and take distinctly different ways; thenceforth, if either is +led away by the other, it is at the cost of possible success in the +direction more peculiarly its own. + +Now, the first point at which picture definitely parts company with +decoration is where the painter begins to consider his work apart from +its surroundings. The problems the artist may set himself to solve are +two. "How shall I adorn this church, this clerestory, this chancel, this +window, with stained glass?"--that is distinctly a problem of the +decorator; "How shall I realise, on canvas or what not, this thought of +mine, this fact in nature, this effect seen or imagined?"--that is +distinctly a problem of the painter. Each, it is granted, may be swayed +more or less by the other consideration also, but according as a man +starts with the one problem or the other, and seeks primarily to solve +that, he is painter or decorator. Suppose him seriously to endeavour to +combine pictorial and decorative qualities in his work, there will come +times when he has perforce to choose between the two. Upon the choice he +makes will hang the final character of his work, decorative or +pictorial. + +We are too much in the habit of laying down laws as to what a man may or +may not do in art. He may do what he can. He may introduce as much +decorative intention into his picture, as much pictorial effect into his +decoration, as it will stand; it is not till he overweights one with the +other, attempts more than his means or his power allow him, and fails to +do the thing that was to be done, that we can say he has gone wrong. + +When the two ideals of decoration and painting were more nearly one, and +in proportion as that was so, success in the two directions was +possible; when painting aimed at effects, of painting--in proportion, +that is, as it became pictorial--it was impossible. It is safe to say, +since masters attempted it and failed--since, for example, the finest +work in glass which aims at the pictorial and depends upon painting ends +always in being either thin or opaque in effect--that the happy medium +was not found. The fact is, the time came when a painter, in order to +design successfully for glass, was called upon to relinquish some of the +effects he had come greatly to value in painting: effects of light and +shade, atmosphere, reflected light, relief, perspective, violent +foreshortening. To seek these at the expense of qualities proper to +decoration and to glass, was to attempt picture; to sacrifice such +pictorial qualities to considerations of architectural fitness, to the +quality of the glass, its translucency, its colour, its consistent +treatment, was to attempt decoration; and in proportion as the sacrifice +is not made, the work of the glass painter may be characterised as +"pictorial." There should now be no possible misunderstanding as to what +is meant by the word. It implies something of reproach, but only as +applied to glass. Let the pictorial flourish, in its place--that is, in +picture. All it is here meant to assert is that, pictures being what +they are, what they were already by the end of the sixteenth century, +the pictorial element in stained glass is bound to spoil the window. + +There are two respects in which a stained glass window differs from a +picture: first, in that it is a window; second, in that it is glass. +Suppose we take these two points separately. It scarcely needs showing +that the designing of a window is a very different thing from the +painting of a picture. In the first place, the architectural frame of +the window is there, arbitrarily fixed, whereas the painter chooses his +frame to suit his picture. The designer of a window has not only to +accept the window-shape, but to respect both it and the architecture of +the building. The scale of his work, the main lines of its composition, +if not more, are practically determined for him by architectural +considerations, just as the depth of colour in his scheme is determined +by the position of his window and the amount of light he desires "or is +allowed" to shut out. Moreover, he has to accept the window plane, to +acknowledge it as part of the building, to let you feel, whatever he +does, that it is a window you see, and not something through the window +or standing in it. That was tried, as we have seen, at Gouda and S. +Gudule; but, even if the illusion had been achieved, it would have been +destructive of architectural effect. The idea of a picture seen through +the mullions of a window is one of the will-o'-the-wisps which led glass +painters astray. They did not succeed; and, had they done so, they would +have given a very false, and to some of us a very uncomfortable, +impression of not being protected from the outer air. + +Mullions are in any case a very serious consideration. It has been shown +already (page 197) how the artist sought continuity of subject through +the lights of his window, and gradually extended his picture across +them. And if he is at liberty to occupy a four-light window with the +Virgin and Child and the Three Kings, and if it is lawful to introduce +more than one figure into a light, why may not each king be accompanied +by an attendant, holding his horse or bearing gifts; why should not the +Kings kneel in adoration; why should not Joseph be there, the manger, +and the cattle; why should there not be one landscape stretching behind +the Magi, binding the whole into one picture? So with the Crucifixion. +If the Virgin and S. John may occupy sidelights, why not introduce as +well in a larger window the two thieves, the Magdalene at the foot of +the cross, the good centurion, the soldiers, the crowd? Obviously there +is no reason why the subject should not be carried across a window; and +from the time that windows were divided into lights it was done, at all +events in the case of certain subjects, such as the Tree of Jesse, which +spread throughout the window, or the Last Judgment, for which the +available space was yet never enough. + +But there is a wide difference between designing a subject which extends +through the whole width of a window and designing it so that it appears +to be seen through the window. In the one case the mullions are +seriously taken into account; in the other they are ignored. If you were +looking at a scene through a window, of course the mullions would +interfere. Why, therefore, consider them if you wish to produce the +effect of something seen through? Naturally you would not allow the +stonework to cut across the face of a principal personage, or anything +of that kind; but, apart from that, its intervention would only add to +the air of reality. The problem of dealing with the mullions is thus +rather shirked than solved. Its solution is not really so difficult as +would seem. Mullions count for much less in the window than one would +suppose. The eye, for example, follows naturally the branches of a Tree +of Jesse from one light into another, and it is not felt that the +stonework interferes with it at all seriously, whilst the scheming of +the figures, each within a single light, is a very distinct +acknowledgment of its individuality. So in the case of a subject. If the +design is so planned that the important figures are grouped in separate +lights, the landscape or other continuous background helps to hold the +picture together, and is not hurt by the mullions. + +The important thing is that mullions should be considered; only on that +condition do they cease to interfere with the design. There is no +reason always to put a border round each light, or even to keep every +figure within the bounds of a single light. A reclining figure, such as +that of Jesse at the base of the window (below), Jacob asleep and +dreaming, or the widow's son upon the bier, may safely cross two or +three lights, if it be designed with reference to the intervening +stonework. + +Further, it seems desirable that the shape of each separate window +opening should be acknowledged by at least a narrow fillet of white or +pale colour next the masonry, broken, it may be, here and there by some +feature designed to hold the lights together, but practically clearing +the colour from the stonework, and giving to the division of the window +the slight emphasis it deserves. It is not worth while dividing a window +into lights and then effacing the divisions in the glass. Given a window +of four or five lights, the decorator has no choice but to design a four +or five-light window. He must render his subject so that the +constructional divisions of the window keep their proper architectural +place; if his subject will not allow that, he must abandon his subject, +or give very good reason why not. The reason of mere pictorial ambition +will not hold good. The test of a good picture-window is, how the +mullions affect the design. If to take them away would make it look +foolish, then it has probably been designed as a window, decoratively; +if to take them away would improve it, then it has been designed +pictorially; and, however good a picture it might have been, it is a bad +window design. + +[Illustration: 171. S. MARY'S, SHREWSBURY.] + +It is quite possible, nay, probable, that in connection with any given +window, or series of windows, there will be architectural features +which deserve to be emphasised. It may be the springing of the arch +which calls for accentuation; it may be a string-course in the walls +that asks for recognition; it may be that the proportion of the window +wants correction. Whatever it be, it is the part of the decorator to +feel the want and to meet it, to grasp the situation and to accept it. +In not doing so, he shows perhaps pictorial, certainly not decorative, +instinct. So with regard to the plane of a glass picture. It is not +necessary to restrict one's design to silhouette, to make one's picture +as flat as the first glass painters or the Greek vase painters made +theirs. How much of distance and relief a man may indulge in is partly +his own affair. It depends upon what he can manage to do without +destroying the surface of his window. So long as he preserve that, he +may do as he pleases, and yet not lay himself open to the charge of +being unduly pictorial; only it is as well to remember that on the +simplest and severest lines grand work has been done, and may still be +done, without falling into archaism; whilst the Crabeths, and the rest +of the astoundingly clever glass painters of Gouda fail to reconcile us +to the attempt to render the sky beyond (page 258) or distant +architectural vistas in glass. + +It has sometimes been contended that all lines of perspective (which in +the sixteenth century begin to take a very important place in design) +are amiss in glass, inasmuch as they destroy its flatness. That is +surely to go too far. So long as no effect of relief is sought, no +effect of distance attempted, no illusion aimed at, one can hardly find +fault with lines indicating the perspective necessary perhaps to the +expression of the design--assuming, of course, that the lines of +perspective take their place in the decorative scheme, and help the +composition of the window. They do that very cleverly in Crabeth's +picture of "Christ Purifying the Temple" (page 244). Our complaint is +rather with the strong relief attempted, the abuse of shadow, and +especially of painted shadow. The case is far worse where, as at S. +Eustache, Paris, the architectural background is shown obliquely. In +that case, no uncommon one in the seventeenth century, when the painter +would just as likely as not choose his point of view as best suited his +picture, without any reference whatever to its architectural setting, +the painter shows himself, as glass painter, at his most pictorial and +worst. + +So much for the window as an architectural feature, now let us look at +it as glass. + +It becomes here very much a question of craftsmanship. To a workman it +seems so natural, and so obvious, that the material he is working in, +and the tools he is using, must from beginning to end affect the +treatment of his design, that it appears almost unnecessary to insist +upon such a truism. Experience, however, goes to show that only the +workman and here and there a man who ought, perhaps, to have been one, +have any appreciation of what artists call treatment. The rest of the +world have heard tell that there is such a thing as technique, to which +they think far too much importance is attached. That is so, indeed, when +artists think technique is enough; but not when they look upon it as +indispensable, the beginning of all performance, not when they insist +that a man shall know the grammar of his art before he breaks out into +poetry. + +Now the A, B, C, of workmanship is to treat each material after its +kind. It is a truism, therefore, to say that glass should be treated as +glass. Yet we find that a man may be enthusiastic to a degree about an +art, learned above most men in its history, and yet end in entirely +misconceiving its scope. "What is to be condemned on canvas," said +Winston, "ought not to be admitted on glass." As well might he have +said, that what would be condemned on glass should not be allowed on +canvas, or that language and behaviour which would be unbecoming in +church should not be tolerated on the platform, or at the dinner-table. + +The fallacy that one rule applies to all forms of art is responsible +alike for the muddiness of seventeenth and eighteenth century windows +and for the thin transparent tinting of nineteenth century Munich glass. + +That "art is one" is a fine saying, rightly understood. So is humanity +one, and it is well to remind ourselves of the fact; but race, climate, +country, count for something; and to speak with effect we must speak the +language of the land. Each separate craft included in the all-embracing +title of art, and making for its good and its glory, works under +conditions as definite as those of climate, has characteristics as +marked as those of nationality, and speaks also a language of its own. +And, to express itself to full purpose, it must speak in its own tongue. +The only pictures, then, which prove satisfactory in glass are the +pictures of the glass painter; and by glass painter is not meant any one +who may choose to try his hand at glass painting, but the man who has +learnt his trade and knows it from end to end, to whom use has become +second nature, who thinks in glass, as we say. Now and again, perhaps, +where a draughtsman and a glass painter are in unusual sympathy, it may +be possible for the one to translate the design of the other into the +language of his craft; but good translators are rare, and translation is +at best second-hand. Success in glass is achieved mainly by the man to +whom ideas come in the form of glass, who sees them first in his mind's +eye as windows. Even such a man may lack taste, insight, discretion; he +may be led away by a misplaced ambition--it is not merely on the stage +that the low comedian aspires to play Hamlet--but only the man who knows +so well the dangers ahead that he insensibly avoids them, who knows so +surely what can be got out of his material that he makes straight for +that, who does, in short, the best that can be done in glass, can dare +to be "pictorial" without danger of being false to his trade. + +A painter without experience of glass might, of course, be coached in +the technique of the material; but he would never get the most out of +it. Conditions which to the glass painter would be as easy as an old +coat, would be a restraint to him, and the greater his position the more +impatient he would be of such restraint, the more surely his will would +override the better judgment of the subordinate who happened to know. + +[Illustration: 172. CHRIST PURGING THE TEMPLE, GOUDA.] + +It was unfortunate that at a critical period in the history of glass, +just when great painters from the outside began to be called in to +design for it, knowledge was in rather an uncertain state. The use of +enamel had been discovered; it offered undoubted facilities to the +painter; it was believed in; it was the fashion. Any one who had +protested the superiority of the old method would possibly have been set +down as an old fogey, even by glass painters. At that moment, very +likely, a glass painter, anxious of course to conciliate the great man, +but flushed also with faith in his new-found method, would have said to +Van Orley, in reply to any question about technique:--"Never you mind +about glazing and all that; give us a design, and we will execute it in +glass." And he did execute it in a masterly and quite wonderful way. +Still the success of it is less than it would have been had the designer +known all about glass: in that case his artistic instinct would have led +him surely to trust more to qualities inherent in glass, and less to +painting upon it. Van Orley's picture scheme depended too much upon +relief to be really well adapted to glass, but it was splendidly +monumental in design, and to that extent admirably decorative. Something +of decorative restraint we find almost to the end in sixteenth century +work; the picture had not yet emancipated itself entirely, and the +pictorial ideal did not therefore necessarily go beyond what glass could +do; in any case, it did not take quite a different direction. + +It may be as well to define more precisely the ideal glass picture. The +ideal glass picture is, the picture which gives full scope for the +qualities of glass, and does not depend in any way upon effects which +cannot be obtained in glass, or which are to be attained only at the +sacrifice of qualities peculiar to it. + +And what are those qualities? The qualities of glass are light and +colour, a quality of light and a quality of colour to be obtained no +other way than by the transmission of light through pot-metal glass. + +Compare these qualities with those of oil painting, and see how far they +are compatible. Something depends upon the conception of oil painting. +The qualities of glass are compatible enough with the pictorial ideal of +the oil (or more likely tempera) painters whom we designate by the name +of "primitives"; and, indeed, fifteenth century Italian windows often +take the form of circular pictures which one of the masters might have +designed. A painting by Botticelli, Filippo Lippi, Mantegna, or +Crivelli, might almost be put into the hands of a glass painter to +translate. It is quite possible that some of the Florentine windows +were executed in Germany from paintings by Italian masters; the odd +thing is that they are attributed sometimes to sculptors. Ghiberti and +Donatello may, for all one knows, have been great colourists; but it is +so universal a foible to ascribe works of decorative art to famous +painters or sculptors who could never by any possibility have had a hand +in them, that one never has much faith in such reputed authorship. + +The severity of the "primitive" painters' design, the firm outline, the +comparatively flat treatment, the brilliant, not yet degraded, +colour--all these were qualities which the glass painter could turn to +account. Without firm and definite outline, of course, a design does not +lend itself to mosaic. But it is especially the early painter's ideal of +colour which was so sympathetic to the glass painter. A designer for +glass must be a colourist; but the colour he seeks is _sui generis_. Not +every colourist would make a glass designer. Van Thulden may not have +been a colourist of his master's stamp, but Peter Paul Rubens himself +could not have made a complete success of those windows in the Chapel of +Our Lady in S. Gudule. Reynolds was a colourist, but he came +conspicuously to grief in glass. Velasquez was a colourist, but one +fails to see how by any possibility the quality of his work could be +expressed in glass. + +On the other hand, colour in which the simple artist delighted, as in +light and sunshine, in the sparkle of the sea, in the purity of the sky, +in the brilliancy of flowers, in the flash of jewels, in the deep +verdure of moss, in the lusciousness of fruit or wine, colour as the +early Florentine painters saw it and sought it--this is what glass can +give, and gives better than oil, tempera, or fresco, on an opaque +surface. How far these early painters deliberately sacrificed to pure +bright colour qualities of light and shade, aerial perspective, and so +on, may be open to question. The certain thing is that, if we want the +quality of glass in all its purity and translucency, we have to +sacrifice to it something of the light and shade, the relief, the +atmospheric effect, the subtlety of realistic colour, which we are +accustomed nowadays to look for in a picture. Happy the men who could +contentedly pursue their work undisturbed by the thought that there were +effects to be obtained in art beyond what it was possible for them to +get. + +Even the Italian painters soon travelled beyond the limits of what could +possibly be done in glass. Flesh-painting, as Titian understood it, or +Correggio, or Bonifacio, is hopelessly beyond its range. But it was the +Dutch who formed for themselves the idea most widely and hopelessly +beyond realisation in glass. The Crabeths, like good glass painters, +struggled more or less against it; but they could not keep out of the +current altogether; and in proportion as their work aims at anything +like chiaroscuro it loses its quality of glass. Rembrandt, to have +realised his ideal in glass, would have had to paint out of it every +quality which distinguishes it and gives it value. In proportion, as the +painter's aim was light and shade rather than colour, and especially as +it was shade rather than light (or perhaps it would be fairer to say, as +it was light intensified by obscuring light around it) it was +diametrically opposed to that of the glass painter. His pursuit of it +was a sort of artistic suicide. It led by quick and sure degrees to what +was to all intents and purposes the collapse of glass painting. Realism +of a kind was inevitable when once the painter gained the strength to +realise what he saw, but when the glass painter, seeking the strength of +actual light and shade, began to rely upon painted shadow for his +effects, the case was hopeless. Glass asks to be translucent. + +The point of perfection in glass design is not easily to be fixed. Glass +painting, it must be confessed, as it approaches perfection of +technique, is always dangerously near the border line; the painter is so +often tempted to carry his handiwork a little further than is consistent +with the translucency of glass. It happens, therefore, that one expects +almost to find consummate drawing and painting marred by some +obscuration of the glass. If on the other hand we travel back to the +time when the evil does not exist, we find ourselves at a period when +neither drawing nor painting were at their best. It is by no means +surprising that this should be the outcome of the association of glazier +and painter. According as one cares more for glass or for painting one +will be disposed to shift, backwards or forwards, the date at which +glass painting began to decline. It may safely be said, however, that +pictorial glass painting was at its best during the first half of the +sixteenth century. That is the period during which you may expect to +find masterly drawing, consummate painting, and yet sufficient +recognition of the character of glass to satisfy all but the staunch +partisan of pure mosaic glass--who, by the way, stands upon very firm +ground. + +In Flanders, as has been said, and in France, are to be found exquisite +pictures in glass, admirably decorative in design, glowing with +jewel-like brilliancy of colour, not seriously obscured by paint, the +figures modelled with a delicacy reminding one rather of sculpture in +very low relief than of more realistic painting and carving, the colour +delicate and yet not thin, the effect strong without brutality. + +But it is in Italy that are to be seen probably the finest glass +pictures that have ever been painted; the work, nevertheless, of a +Frenchman--William of Marseilles--who established himself at Arezzo, and +painted, amongst other glass, five windows for the cathedral there, +which go about as far as glass can go in the direction of picture. The +man was a realist in his way--realist, that is, so far as suited his +artistic purpose. Not merely are his figures studied obviously from the +life, but they are conceived in the realistic spirit, as when, in the +scene of the Baptism, he draws a man getting into his clothes with the +difficulty we have all experienced after bathing, or when, in the +Raising of Lazarus (page 397), he makes more than one onlooker hold his +nose as the grave-clothes are unwrapped from the body. In design the +artist is quite up to the high level of his day (1525 or thereabouts); +but you see all through his work that it was colour, always colour, that +made his heart beat (we have here nothing to do with the religious +sentiment which may or may not be embodied in his work), colour that +prompted his design, as in the case of so many a great Italian master. + +This man possibly did in glass much what _he_ would have done on canvas; +but he could never have got such pure, intense, and at the same time +luminous, effects of colour in anything but glass, and he knew it, never +lost sight of it, and tried to get the most out of what it could best +give him--that is to say, purity of colour, and translucency and +brilliancy of glass. Whatever amount of pigment he employed (probably +more than it seems, the light is so strong in Italy) it seldom appears +to do more than just give the needful modelling. Now and again, in the +architectural parts of his composition, the white is lowered by means of +a matt of paint, where a tint of deeper-coloured glass had better have +been employed; but even there the effect is neither dirty nor in the +least heavy. And in the main, for all his pictorial bias, the system of +the artist is distinctly mosaic; his colour is pot-metal always or +purest stain. The sky and the landscape, for example, in which the scene +of the Baptism is laid, are leaded up in tints of blue and green. In the +scene where Christ purges the Temple the pavement is of clear +aquamarine-tinted glass, against which the scales, moneybags, overturned +bench, and so on, stand out in quite full enough relief of red and +yellow, without any aid of heavy shading, or cast shadow, such as a +Netherlander would have used. + +And, for all that, the difficulty even of foreshortening is boldly +faced. Not even in the most violently shaded Flemish glass would it be +easy to find a figure more successfully foreshortened than the kneeling +money-changer, scooping up his money into a bag. That a designer could +do this without strong shading, means that he was careful to choose the +pose or point of view which allowed itself to be expressed in lightly +painted glass. There is no riotous indulgence in perspective, but +distance is sufficiently indicated; and the personages in the +background, drawn to a smaller scale than the chief actors in the scene, +keep their place in the picture. Everywhere it is apparent that the +figures have been composed with a cunning eye to glazing. + +These are not pictures which have been done into glass; they are no +translations, but the creations of a glass painter--one who knew all +about glass, and instinctively designed only what could be done in it, +and best done. This man makes full use of all the resources of his art. +His window is constructed as only a glazier could do it. He does not +shirk his leads. He uses abrasion freely, not so much to save glazing, +as to get effects not otherwise possible. Thus the deep red skirt or +petticoat of the woman taken in adultery is dotted with white in a way +that bespeaks at a glance the woman of the people, whilst more sumptuous +draperies of red and green are, as it were, embroidered with gold, or +sewn with pearls. These are the effects he aims at, not the mere texture +of silk or velvet. He delights in delicate stain on white, and revels in +most gorgeous stain upon stain. In short, these are pictures indeed, but +the pictures of a glass painter. + +Work like this disarms criticism. One may have a strong personal bias +towards strictly mosaic glass, and yet acknowledge that success +justifies departure from what one thought the likelier way. Things of +beauty decline to be put away always in the nice little pigeon-holes we +have carefully provided for them. Shall we be such pedants as to reject +them because they do not fit in with our preconceived ideas of fitness? + +Alas!--or happily?--alas for what might have been, happily for our +wavering allegiance to sterner principles of design, it is seldom that +the glass painter so perfectly tunes his work to the key of glass. In +particular, he finds it difficult to harmonise his painting with the +glazing which goes with it. He is incapable in the early sixteenth +century of the brutalities of his successors, who carry harsh lines of +lead across flesh painting recklessly; but the very association of +ultra-delicate painting with lead lines at all demands infinite tact. An +idea of the point to which painting is eventually carried may be +gathered from the representation of little nude boys blowing bubbles in +which are reflected the windows of the room where they are supposed to +be playing. That is an extreme instance, and a late one. Short, however, +of such frivolity, and in work of the good period, painting is often so +delicate that bars and leads unquestionably hurt it. It is so even in +the very fine Jesse window at Beauvais (page 368). + +Occur where it may it is a false note which stops our admiration short; +and, after all our enthusiasm, we come back heart-whole to our delight +in the earlier, bolder, more monumental, and more workmanlike mosaic +glass. The beautiful sixteenth century work at Montmorency or at Conches +does not shake the conviction of the glass-lover, that the painter is +there a little too much in evidence, that something of simple, dignified +decoration is sacrificed to the display of his skill. The balance +between glass decoration and picture is perhaps never more nearly +adjusted than in some of the rather earlier Italian windows. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +LANDSCAPE IN GLASS. + + +At once a distinguishing feature of picture-glass, and a characteristic +of later work generally, is the _mise-en-scène_ of the subject. + +[Illustration: 173. FROM THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM, FAIRFORD.] + +In quite the earliest glass the figures, it was shown, were cut out +against a ground of plain colour (pages 33, 127), or diapered perhaps +with a painted pattern, or leaded up in squares, or broken by spots of +pot-metal (page 37), which, by the way, being usually of too strongly +contrasting colour, assert themselves instead of qualifying its tone. +Sometimes the ground was leaded up in the form of a more or less +elaborate geometric diaper (page 336). Occasionally it was broken by the +simplest possible conventional foliage. The figure stood on a cloud, an +inscribed label, a disc or band of earth. In the fourteenth century +spots breaking the ground took very often the form of badges, +_fleurs-de-lys_, heraldic animals, cyphers, and so on (page 156), and +even in the fifteenth it was quite common to find figures against a flat +ground, broken only by inscription, either on white or yellow labels +(pages 186, 339), or leaded in bold letters of white or yellow into the +background itself (page 196). But simultaneously with this the figure +was frequently represented against a screen of damask (page 191), above +which showed the further background, usually more or less architectural +in character. In the Fairford windows (page 187) is shown this +treatment together with the label which helps to break the formality of +the horizontal line. Sometimes the line is curved, as though the figure +stood in a semicircular niche, or broken, as though the recess were +three-sided. Sometimes the figure stood upon a pedestal (page 391), but +more usually, as time went on, upon a pavement. Certain subjects were +bound to include accessory architecture, but at first it was as simple +as the scenery in the immortal play of _Pyramus and Thisbe_. But even in +the fifteenth century it was rendered, one may judge how naïvely, from +the little Nativity on page 54, a subject hardly to be rendered without +the stable. Again, the quite conventional vinework, also from Malvern, +shown in the upper part of page 345 (a jumble of odds and ends), forms +really part of the scene depicting Noah in his vineyard--see the hand +holding the spade handle. The Fairford scenery (pages 251, 372), quaint +as it is, goes much nearer to realism than that; and towards the +sixteenth century, and during its first years, there was a good deal of +landscape in which trees were leaded in vivid green against blue, with +gleaming white stems suggestive of birch-bark, always effective, and +refreshingly cool in colour. There is something of that kind in the +window facing the entrance to King's College, Cambridge; but the more +usual English practice in the fifteenth century was to execute the +landscape in white and stain against a coloured ground. That is the +system adopted in the scene of the Creation at Malvern (page 252), where +trees, water, birds, fishes, are all very delicately painted and +stained. In the left-hand corner it will be seen that solid or nearly +solid brown is used for foliage in order to throw up the white and +yellow leafage in front of it. There is some considerably later work +very much in this manner at S. Nizier, Troyes. But that kind of thing +was not usual in French glass. + +[Illustration: 174. FROM THE CREATION, MALVERN ABBEY.] + +The sky had of course from the first been indicated by a blue +background; but, the blue ground being used, in alternation with ruby, +for all backgrounds, except a few in white, it was not distinctive +enough to suggest the heavens, without some indication of clouds, which +accordingly were leaded up upon it, sometimes in mere streaks of colour, +sometimes in fantastically ornamental shapes. It was a later thought, +which came with the use of paler glass, to paint the blue with clouds, +indicating them, that is to say, more or less in the form of diaper. As +with the sky so with the sea. It was at first glazed in wave pattern; +eventually the wave lines were painted on the blue. + +The blue background, which had gradually become paler and paler, became +soon in the sixteenth century pale enough to stand approximately for a +grey-blue sky, on which was painted, with marvellous delicacy, distant +landscape, architecture, or what not, always in the brown tint used +generally for shading, although a tint of green was given to grass and +trees by the use of yellow stain. This distant view painted upon blue +was a beautiful and most characteristic feature of sixteenth century +glass. The French painters adopted it, and made it peculiarly their own, +though it occurs also in German and Flemish glass. Backgrounds of this +kind, which in themselves suffice to mark the departure from Gothic use, +are shown on pages 207, 213, and on a larger scale opposite. The wintry +landscape there with the bare tree trunks against the cold grey sky, +forms the upper portion of the subject shown on page 207, in which Our +Lord gives His charge to Peter; the paler grey behind the heads of the +group stands for the sea. The wintry effect of the scene is not +suggestive of the Holy Land, but it brings the subject innocently home +to us. The leads, it will be seen, take the lines of the larger limbs of +the trees, whilst the lesser branches and small twigs are painted on the +glass. There is ingenuity in the glazing as well as delicacy in the +painting. This is a very different thing from the landscape painted in +enamel colours. The propriety, the beauty, the decorative quality of +such work as this, comes of the acceptance of the necessary convention +of treating the painted background, of rendering it, that is, always +more or less in monochrome, and not attempting anything like realism in +colour. + +The painted landscapes illustrated are of the simplest. The French +painters went much further than that, associating with their painting +broad masses of pot-metal colour, but still keeping distinctly within +the convention of deliberately simple colour. By the use of +silvery-white and shades of pot-metal blue and purple and green, they +produced the most pleasing and harmonious effects. There was no great +variety in the tune they played, but the variations upon it were +infinite. Let us picture here a few of them. + +1. _Ecouen._--A distant city, in white, and beyond that more distant +architecture, painted on the pale blue of the sky. + +2. _Conches._--Against a pale blue sky, broken by cumulous white clouds, +a grey-blue tower. + +3. _Conches._--A grey-blue sea and deeper sky beyond: from the waves +rises a castle, in white, breaking the sky-line, the pointed roofs of +its turrets painted in black upon the background. + +[Illustration: 175. BACKGROUND TO THE CHARGE OF S. PETER, S. VINCENT, +ROUEN. (COMP. 156.)] + +4. _Freiburg, 1528._--A smoke-grey sea, fading away towards the horizon +into pale silver, the sky beyond dark blue, its outline broken by a +range of deeper blue mountains. + +5. _Conches._--Beyond the foreground landscape in rich green, a pale +blue sea, with slightly deeper grey-blue sky beyond, a tower in darker +blue against it; a strip of deep blue shore divides the sky and sea, and +gives support to the dark tower; against that a smaller tower catches +the light, and stands out in glittering white. + +6. _Montmorency._--A canopied figure subject in gorgeous colour; the +foreground a landscape with rich green herbage, separated by a belt of +white cliffs from buildings of pale grey, amidst trees stained greenish, +backed by purple hills; further a pale blue sky; against the sky, +overshadowed beneath the canopy arch by a mass of purple cloud, the +stained and painted foliage of a tree, growing from this side the hill. + +7. _Montmorency._--S. Christopher crossing the stream; blue water +painted with waves and water plants, the foliage stained. + +8. _S. Nizier, Troyes._--A vineyard, very prettily managed; the vines +painted on the blue, their leaves stained to green, the grapes +grey-blue, whilst grey stakes are leaded in pot-metal. + +Sometimes, as at Ecouen, far-off architecture would be painted not upon +blue but upon a pale purple hill. At Laigle figures and animals are +painted upon green, but they do not hold their own. On the other hand, +at Alençon, some distant figures appearing in very pale grey against a +delicate greenish landscape (stained upon the grey), are charming in +effect. + +White backgrounds painted as delicately as the blue are not rare. At +Groslay, for example, steely-white architecture is separated from white +sky beyond by grey-blue hills, a church with blue steeple breaking the +sky. But white does not lend itself so readily to combination with +colour as blue; and, as a rule, such backgrounds are grisaille in +character, relieved, of course, with stain. + +The great sea-scape at Gouda (page 223), representing the taking of +Dalmatia in Egypt (a very Dutch Dalmatia), is nearly all in grisaille, +against quarries of clear white, with only a little stain in the flags +and costumes, and one single touch of poor ruby (about two inches +square), which looks as if it might be modern. The port in perspective, +the ships, the whole scene, in fact, is realistically rendered, and +comes as near to success as is possible in glass. + +Delightful peeps of landscape are sometimes seen through the columns and +arches of an architectural background. Whether the architecture be in +purple of divers shades, or in white with only shadows in purple, or +whether the nearer architecture be in white and the more distant in +purple, in any case a distance beyond is commonly painted upon the +grey-blue sky seen through it. Possibly, as at Conches, further vistas +of architecture may be stained greenish upon it--any colour almost, for +a change. But whatever it may be, and wherever it may be, in the best +work it is colour; and it is always more effective than where the shadow +is represented by paint, even though the brown be not laid on with a +heavy hand, infinitely more effective than when blue or other coloured +enamels are relied upon, as in some instances at Montmorency. Enamel +may, for all one can tell, have been used in some of the landscapes here +commended--it is impossible to say without minute examination of the +glass, which is rarely feasible--but it never asserts its presence; and +in any case it has not been used in sufficient quantity to damage the +effect. + +It will be gathered from the descriptions of early sixteenth century +glazed and painted distances, that they were as carefully schemed with a +view to glazing (though in a very different way) as a Gothic picture. +Sometimes, as at Conches, they are rather elaborately leaded; and where +that is the case there is not so much danger of incongruity between the +delicacy of the painting and the strength of the leads--which assert +themselves less than where they occur singly. It stands to reason also +that the more mosaic the glass the less fragile it is. Painting alone +upon the blue is best employed for small peeps of distance. It adapts +itself to smaller windows; and it must be done (as for a while it was +done) so well, that it seems as if the designer must himself have +painted it. Were the artist always the glass painter, and the glass +painter always an artist, who knows what case pictorial glass might not +make out for itself? + +It is a coarser kind of distance than the French that we find at King's +College, Cambridge. There the landscape backgrounds are in white and +stain, grey-blue being reserved for the sky beyond, broken more or less +by white clouds, or, occasionally, by the white trunks of trees, the +foliage of which is sometimes glazed in green glass, sometimes painted +upon the blue and stained. Here and there a distant tree is painted +entirely upon the blue. This treatment is not ill adapted to subjects on +the large scale of the work at King's College, but one does not feel +that the painters made anything like the most of their opportunity. The +inexperience of the designers is shown in their fear of using leads, a +most unnecessary fear, seeing that, at the distance the work is from the +eye, the bars themselves have only about the value of ordinary lead +lines. + +[Illustration: 176. THE RELIEF OF LEYDEN, GOUDA.] + +Stronger and more workmanlike, but not quite satisfactory, is the much +later landscape (1557) of Dirk Crabeth at Gouda. There the sky is blue, +leaded in quarries, on which are trees, painted and stained, and some +rather florid clouds. In the later work generally the lead lines are no +longer either frankly acknowledged or skilfully disguised. The outline +of a green hill against the sky will be feebly softened with trivial +little twigs and scraps of painted leafage. The decline of landscape is +amply illustrated at Troyes. At Antwerp again there is a window bearing +date 1626, in which the landscape background of a quite incomprehensible +subject extends to a distant horizon, above which the sky is glazed in +white quarries, with clouds painted upon it. This is an attempt to +repeat the famous feat of glass painting which had been done some twenty +years before at Gouda. The Relief of Leyden, of which a diagram is here +given, is in its way a most remarkable glass picture. In the foreground +is a crowd of soldiers and citizens, upon the quay, about lifesize. They +form a band of rich colour at the base of the composition; but the +design is confused by the introduction of shields of arms and their +supporters immediately in front of the scene. Beyond are the walls and +towers of the city of Delft, and the adjacent towns and villages, and +the river dwindling into the far distance where Leyden lies--in the +glass a really marvellous bird's-eye view over characteristically flat +country. The horizon extends almost to the springing line of the window +arch, and above that rises a sky of plain blue quarries, broken only +towards the top by a few bolster-like and rather dirty white clouds. +Absolute realism is of course not reached, but it is approached near +enough to startle us into admiration. It is astonishing what has here +been done. But the painter has not done what he meant to do. That was +not possible, even with the aid of enamel. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +ITALIAN GLASS. + + +In the course of the preceding chapters the reader has been rather +unceremoniously carried from country to country, in a way which may have +seemed to him erratic. But there was a reason in the zig-zag course +taken. The progress of the glass painter's art was not by any means a +straight line. Nor did it develop itself on parallel lines in the +various countries in which it throve. It advanced in one place whilst it +was almost at a standstill in another. + +That is easily understood. It was inevitable that glass painting, though +it arose in France, should languish there during the troublous times +when English troops overran it under Edward III. and throughout the +Hundred Years' War, that it should revive in all its glory under Francis +the First, and that during the disturbances of the Fronde it should +again decline. The extremity of France was England's opportunity; and +our greatest wealth of stained glass windows dates from the reign of the +later Plantagenets. The Wars of the Roses do not appear greatly to have +affected art; but after the Reformation we were more busy smashing glass +than painting it. + +In Germany the course of art ran smoother. Glass throve under the Holy +Roman Empire, and it was not until the Reformation that it suffered any +very severe check. Mediæval Swiss glass may be classed with German. + +In the Netherlands glass painting blossomed out suddenly under the +Imperial favour of Charles V. It continued to bear fruit under the Dutch +Republic, until it ran to seed at the end of the seventeenth century. + +So it happens that, in following the development of glass painting, it +has been necessary to seek the best and most characteristic +illustrations first in one country and then in another, to travel from +France to England, from England to Germany and back to France, thence to +Flanders, to France again, and finally once more to the Netherlands, to +say nothing of shorter excursions from one place to another, as occasion +might demand. In each separate locality there was naturally some sort of +progress, but we cannot take any one country as all-sufficient type of +the rest; and to have traversed each in turn would have been tedious. +There were everywhere differences of practice and design; in each +country, for that matter, there were local schools with marked +characteristics of their own. Some of the characteristic national +differences have been pointed out in passing. To describe them at length +would be to write a comparative history of glass, of which there is here +no thought. What concerns us is the broadly marked progress of glass +painting, not the minor local differences in style. + +Something more, however, remains to be said of Italian glass than was +possible in any general survey. The mere facts, that the Renaissance +arose in Italy so long before it reached this side the Alps, and that +glass painting was never really quite at home in Italy (any more than +the Gothic architecture which mothered it), sufficiently account for the +difficulty, nay, the impossibility, of classing it according to the +Gothic periods. Indeed, one is reminded in Italian glass less often of +other windows of the period, English, French, or German, than of +contemporary Italian painting. + +The comparative fitness of the works of the "Primitive" painters for +models of glass design has already been pointed out. It is so evident +that the Italian sense of colour could find more adequate expression +than ever in glass, that one is inclined to wonder, until it is +remembered that Italian churches were at the same time picture +galleries, that it did not more commonly find vent in that medium. Even +as it is, Italian painters did found a school of glass painting, +comparatively uninfluenced by the traditional Gothic types of design, +whilst observing the best traditions of glazier-like technique. Hence it +is that we find in Italy windows such as are nowhere else to be seen, +windows which at their best are of the very best. + +There are resemblances in Italian glass to German work; and some of it +is said to have been executed by Germans. It is none the less Italian. +Though it were executed in Germany, glazier and painter must have worked +under the direct influence of the Italian master, and in complete +accord with him, putting at his service all their experience in their +craft, and all their skill. So well did they work together, that it +seems more likely that the executant not only worked under the eye of +the master, but was at his elbow whilst he designed. That alone would +account satisfactorily for the absolutely harmonious co-operation of +designer and glass-worker. One thing is clear, that the artist, whatever +his experience in glass, great or little, had absolute sympathy with his +new material, felt what it could do, saw the opportunities it offered +him, and seized them. + +An Englishman, or a Frenchman, who found himself for the first time in +Italy, would be puzzled to give a date to the windows at Pisa or Milan, +or in either of the churches of S. Francis at Assisi. Even an expert in +the glass of other countries has to speak guardedly as to Italian work, +or he may have to retract his words. Italian Gothic is so Italian and so +little Gothic, it is of no use attempting to compare it with Northern +work. To those, moreover, who have been in the habit of associating the +Renaissance with the sixteenth century, the forms of Quattro-Cento +ornament will persist at first in suggesting the later date--just as the +first time one goes to Germany the survival of the old form of lettering +in inscriptions throws a suspicion of lingering Gothic influence over +even full-blown Renaissance design. It takes some time to get over the +perplexity arising from the unaccustomed association of an absolutely +mosaic treatment of glass (which with us would mean emphatically Gothic +work) with distinctly Renaissance detail, such as one finds at the +churches already mentioned, at the Certosa of Pavia, or at Florence. + +At Assisi the glass means, for the most part, to be Gothic. One is +reminded there sometimes of German work, both by the colour of the glass +and by the design of some of the medallion and other windows. The +ornament generally inclines to the naturalistic rather than to the +Quattro-Cento arabesque, or to the geometric kind shown on page 96; and +though it includes a fair amount of interlacing handwork of distinctly +Italian type, and is sometimes as deep in colour as quite Early glass, +it is approximately Decorated in character. That is so equally with the +brilliant remains in the tracery lights of Or San Michele at Florence. +But it is characteristic of Italian glass of the fourteenth and +fifteenth centuries that, both by the depth of its colour and the very +quality of the material, it should continually recall the thirteenth +century. Sometimes, as at Milan, for example, you find even sixteenth +century glass in which there is practically no white at all except what +is used for the flesh tint. + +In the cathedral at Pisa are some windows with little subjects, framed +in ornament, all in richest and most brilliant colour, which are at +first sight extremely perplexing. The leading is elaborately minute, and +there is no modelling in the figures, which yet have nothing of archaic +or very early character. It turns out that the paint upon the glass has +perished, and there is hardly a vestige of it left to show that this was +not intended for mere mosaic. The effect, nevertheless, is such as to +prove how much can be done in pot-metal glass, and how little it depends +upon the painting on it. + +[Illustration: 177. ASSISI.] + +Elsewhere, as at Arezzo (in work earlier than that of William of +Marseilles), the paint has often peeled off to a very considerable +extent, revealing sometimes patches of quite crude green and purple, +which go to show that the Italians habitually used glass of a raw +colour, where it suited their convenience, and just toned it down with +brown enamel. The result proves that it was a dangerous practice; but, +where the paint has held, the effect is not dull or dirty, as with us it +would be. The Italian sun accounts probably both for the use of this +scum of paint and for its not injuring the effect of colour. + +The same quality of deep rich pot-metal colour associated with +Renaissance design, is the first thing that strikes one in the windows +at Bologna, in the cathedral at Milan, and in Florence everywhere. At +Milan in particular there are compositions, in which blue and red +predominate, magnificently rich and deep, in spite of recent cleaning. +The cunning way in which green is occasionally used to prevent any +flowing together of red and blue into purple, is a lesson in colour. Two +schemes of design prevail in the nave windows (the old glass in the +choir is so mixed up with new that it does not count), both equally +simple. In the one the rectangular divisions formed by the mullions and +the stouter bars are accepted, without further framing, as separate +picture spaces; in the other the main form of the window is taken as +frame to a single picture, the mullions being only so far taken into +account that the prominent figures are designed within them. Some of +these windows are late enough in the century to show a falling off in +treatment. In the Apostle window (attributed to Michel Angelo?) the +white glass is all reduced to a granular tint of umber; and in the one +illustrating the Life of the Virgin there is a most aggressively +foreshortened figure, which may have been effective in the cartoon, but +is absurd in the glass. It is not, therefore, at Milan that typically +Italian glass is best to be studied, though there is enough of it to +startle the student of glass whose experience had not hitherto extended +so far as Italy. Neither is Italian glass at its best at Bologna, though +the city was noted for glass painting, which was practised there by no +less a person than the Blessed James of Ulm. But, truth to tell, the +best windows at Bologna (they are most of them fairly good) are not +those of the Saint but of Pellegrino Tibaldi and Lorenzo Costa. It is at +Florence that the distinctive quality of Italian glass is best +appreciated. There is a vast quantity of it, varying in date from the +early part of the fifteenth to the latter part of the sixteenth century, +but it is uniformly Italian, and, with few exceptions, it is extremely +good. + +Figures under canopies are of common occurrence in Florentine windows; +but the canopies differ in several respects, both from the ordinary +Gothic canopy and from the shrine-like structure of the later +Renaissance. In the first place, the canopy returns in Italy to its +primitive dimensions. It may or may not be architecturally interesting, +but there is in no case very much of it. The Italians never went +canopy-mad; and they kept the framework of their pictures within +moderate dimensions. The Italian canopy of the fifteenth and sixteenth +centuries, then, was just a niche, sometimes of Renaissance design, +sometimes affecting a more Gothic form with pointed or cusped arch and +so on, under which, or in front of which, the figures stood. It bore +definite relation to the figures, and it was neither impossible of +construction nor absurd in perspective. Occasionally, in later work, as +at the Certosa at Pavia, it was delicate in colour, but, as a rule, it +was strong and rich. It was not merely that the shadowed portions were +glazed in pot-metal, as when, at Santa Croce, the coffered soffits of +the arches are one mosaic of jewellery, but that the canopy throughout +was in colour. + +[Illustration: 178. S. MARIA NOVELLA, FLORENCE.] + +That is the most striking characteristic of Italian canopy work, and +indeed of other ornamental setting--that it is as rich as the picture, a +part of it, not a frame to it. Constructionally, of course, it is a +frame; but the colour does away with the effect of framework. It serves +rather to connect the patches of contrasting colour in the figures, than +to separate one picture from another. Occasionally this results in too +much all-overishness, more commonly it results in breadth, making you +feel that the window is one. It was explained what use was made of white +canopy work in Gothic glass, judiciously to break up the surface of the +window. In Italy the surface is judiciously left unbroken, and in that +case also the result is most admirable. + +With the exception of an occasional brassy yellow canopy, recalling +German colour, the same system of connecting canopy and subject together +by colour is adopted alike at S. Croce, at S. Maria Novella, and at the +Duomo at Florence. The composition of the windows is simple: within a +border of foliage or other ornament, two or three tiers of figures, +under modest canopies, separated perhaps by little medallions containing +busts or demi-figures. That occurs at S. Domenico, Perugia, as well as +at Florence. + +[Illustration: 179. FLORENCE.] + +A modification of the canopy occurs in the nave windows of the Duomo. +The space within a narrow border which frames the broad lancet, is +divided into two by a strong upright bar, and the divisions thus formed +are treated as separate trefoil-arched lancets, each with another border +of its own, the space above being treated much as though it were +tracery. (Something like this occurs, it will be remembered, already in +the thirteenth century, at Bourges.) In the tall spaces within the +borders are the usual tiers of figures under canopies. Again, in the +chapel of the Certosa in Val d'Ema, near Florence, there is a window +with double-niched canopies and pronounced central shaft dividing the +broad lancet into two narrow ones. + +[Illustration: 180. S. GIOVANNI IN MONTE, BOLOGNA.] + +The Italian canopy is not of so stereotyped a character as in Decorated +or Perpendicular design; and generally it may be said that there is, +both in the design and colour of Italian glass, more variety than one +finds out of Italy. The plan is less obvious, the scheme less cut and +dried; you know much less what to expect than in Northern Gothic, and +enjoy more often the pleasure of surprise. + +Elaborately pictorial schemes of design are less common in Italian glass +than might have been expected. There is a famous window in the church of +SS. Giovanni e Paolo, at Venice (1473), in which the four lights below +the bands of tracery which here takes the place of transom are given +over to subject. There green trees and pale blue water against a deep +blue sky and deeper blue hills, anticipate a favourite sixteenth century +colour scheme; but the glass is a mere wreck of what was once probably a +fine window. + +Figure groups on a considerable scale are chiefly to be found in the +great "bull's-eye" windows, which are a striking feature in Italian +Gothic churches, occupying a position where in France would have been a +rose--over the West door, for example. + +[Illustration: 181. AREZZO.] + +These great circular windows, which occur at Arezzo, at Bologna, at +Siena, and especially at Florence, are usually surrounded by an +arabesque border. Occasionally the border consists of a medley of +cherubic wings and faces; occasionally, as at Siena, it is in white, +more in the form of mouldings; in one case, at least, it disappears, as +it were, behind the figure group in the lower part of the window; but, +as a rule, it consists of Renaissance pattern, such as are shown here +and on page 70, large in scale, simple in design, and as mosaic in +execution as though it had been twelfth century work. The centre of +these circular lights may have, as at the Duomo at Florence, a single +upright figure, enthroned, occupying a sort of tall central panel, +supported by angels in the spandrils at the sides; or it may have a +subject running across it, as in the case of Perino del Vaga's "Last +Supper" (1549) at the West end of the cathedral at Siena. But very often +it enclosed one big figure subject, such as the "Descent from the Cross" +at Santa Croce, attributed to Ghiberti. An earlier manner of occupying a +bull's-eye is shown in the East window at Siena, dating probably from +about the beginning of the fourteenth century. This is subdivided by +four huge cross bars (two horizontal and two vertical) into nine +compartments, or a cross consisting of one central square, four squarish +arms, and four triangular spandrils. Each of these divisions is taken as +though it were a separate light, and has its own border, enclosing a +separate subject. The bars, it is true, are of great size, wide enough +almost to have been of stone; but the scheme rather suggests that the +designer was not quite aware, when he designed it, how much less +significant they would appear in the glass than they did in his drawing. + +Unquestionably the finest windows in Florence are the great lancets in +the apse and south apsidal transept of the Duomo, finer than the three +lights at the East end of S. Maria Novella, which are so much more often +spoken of, possibly because they are seen to so much more advantage in +the dark-walled Lady Chapel. It is difficult to trace in these Duomo +windows the hand of Ghiberti or Donatello (1434), their reputed +designers. They are planned on the simplest lines. In the upper series, +the space within a narrowish border is divided, by a band of ornament or +inscription, into two fairly equal parts, in each of which stand two +figures facing one another (opposite) under the simplest form of canopy, +if canopy it can be called. It is a mere frame, at the back of which is +a two-arched arcade, with shafts disappearing behind the figures. They +stand, that is to say, not under but in front of it. + +In the lower series the arrangement is the same, except that the upper +compartment contains a single figure, larger in scale, and seated, under +a canopy of rather more architectural pretensions. Some of the canopies +have cusped arches, and some of the borders are foliated in a more or +less Gothic way; but obviously the Gothicism throughout is only in +deference to prevailing fashion. In feeling and effect the work is +Renaissance. + +The design here given shows about one half of a window; but it gives, +unfortunately, no hint of the colour. The depth of it may be imagined +when it is told that the only approach to white in it is in the beaded +line round the nimbus of the figure to the right, and that is of the +horniest character. The flesh is of a rich brownish tint. + +The head on page 270 goes nearer to suggesting colour. There again the +face is brown, the hair and beard dark and bluish; against it the band +round the head, which is ruby, tells light. The orange-yellow nimbus, +rayed, is rather lighter still, the beaded fillet edging it bone-white. +The drapery is of brightest yellow diapered with occasional blue +trefoils, each of which has in its centre a touch of red. The background +is of very dark blue, the architecture nearest it bright green, beyond +that it is dark red. + +[Illustration: 182. FIGURES, DUOMO, FLORENCE.] + +This short explanation will serve to indicate the key in which the +colour is pitched. The glass itself, it has been said, is as rich as +French work of the twelfth century, as deep as German of the fourteenth, +but more vivid than either; there are no low-toned greens or inky blues. +The blue is sapphire, the green has the quality of an emerald. In +this palette of pure colour the artist revelled. Nowhere as in the Duomo +at Florence is one so impressed with the feeling that the designer was +dealing deliberately always with colour. Plainly that, and no other, was +his impulse, colour--broad, large, beautiful, impressive, solemn colour +masses. Elsewhere the story-teller speaks, or the draughtsman, here the +colourist confesses himself. The grand scale of his figures allows him +to treat his colour largely, and its breadth is no less notable than its +brilliancy. There is infinite variety in it; but the general impression +is of great masses of red, blue, yellow, green, purple, brown, and so +on, held together by the same colours distributed in smaller threads and +spots, as in diapers on drapery. The broad mass of any one colour is +itself made up of many various tints of glass. The accidental fusion of +colour, as of red and blue into purple, is guarded against by framing, +say, the blue with green, or the ruby with brownish-yellow. At other +times neutral tones are deliberately produced by the combination of, for +example, red and green lines. + +[Illustration: 183. FLORENCE.] + +The event proves that in this way, and by the choice of deep rather than +low tones, not only mellowness but sobriety of colour is to be obtained. +The artist would certainly have chosen rather to be crude than dull; but +it is very rarely that a false note occurs, and then most likely it is +due to the decay of the brown paint upon which he relied to bring it +into tone. + +At Arezzo one was disposed to think nothing could be finer than the +glass of William of Marseilles; at Florence one is quite certain that +nothing could be more beautiful than the glass in the Duomo. Each is, +after its kind, perfect. But at Florence, at all events (_les absents +ont toujours tort_), one finds that this is not only the more decorative +kind, but the more dignified. One is disposed to ask, whether it is not +better that in glass there should be no deceptive pictures, no +perspective to speak of, only simple and severely disposed figures, +which never in any way disturb the architectural effect, which give to +the least attractive interior--the Duomo is as bare as a barn and as +drab as a meeting-house--something of architectural dignity. + +[Illustration: 184. PRATO.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +TRACERY LIGHTS AND ROSE WINDOWS. + + +Glass in tracery lights and Rose windows cannot consistently be planned +on the lines suitable to lancets or other upright shapes; and it is +interesting to observe the modifications of design necessitated by its +adaptation to circumstances so different. This applies not only to +Gothic glass but to Renaissance, the best of which, as it happens, is in +Gothic windows. Happily it never occurred to sixteenth century artists +to hamper themselves by any affectation of archaism, and their work is +deliberately in the new manner. One can understand, too, a certain +"up-to-date" contempt on their part for the "old-fashioned" stonework; +but it is rather surprising that so few of them seem to have realised +how greatly their own work would have gained by a little more +consideration of (if not for) the stonework. + +Where, as at Gouda, by way of exception, Gothic windows were built to +receive later glass, tracery is to all intents and purposes abandoned: +the builders would have done away with mullions had they known how +otherwise to support such huge glass pictures. It has been explained +already, in reference to the influence of the window-shape, and +especially of the mullions, upon glass design, how much more formidable +these divisions appear upon paper than in the window. That is very +plainly seen in many a window where the designer has relied upon them to +frame his subjects. The pictures have a way of running together in the +most perplexing way, and one has to pick them out for oneself again. The +practical conclusion from that is, that the designer is under no +obligation to confine himself too strictly within the separate lights of +a large window. What he is bound to do is to take care that the mullions +never hurt his picture; if they do, it is his picture which is to blame. +He may urge with reason that the upright shafts of stone are there +merely for the support of the window, and that it is not his business +to emphasise them, enough if he acknowledge them. In tracery, however, +it is his bounden duty to take much more heed of the stonework. It was +designed, in intricate and often very beautiful lines, with deliberately +ornamental intent; it was meant to be seen, and it is his function to +show it off. The question he has to put to himself is now no longer: +does the stonework hurt my design? but: does my design hurt the +stonework? And he should not be satisfied unless it helps it. The artist +who, at Bourges, having _fleur-de-lys_-shaped tracery to deal with, +carried across it a design quite contrary to the lines of the stonework, +was guilty of a blank absurdity. + +The Early Rose windows, which were habitually filled with rich coloured +glass, consisted either of simple piercings, as at Lincoln, or they were +made up of piercings very definitely divided by massive stonework. In +proportion as mullions become narrow, and form in themselves a design, +it seems doubtful how far deep-coloured glass can do them justice. Only +strong tracery lines will stand strong colour. At Châlons-sur-Marne, for +example, the foils of certain cusped lights surrounding a central +circular picture are successfully ornamented with arabesque of deep +yellow upon paler yellow ground; and again at Or San Michele, Florence, +certain gorgeous wheels of ruby and yellow, or of blue, green, and +yellow, and so on, are unusually satisfactory. In such cases not only +breadth of effect but definition of the tracery forms is gained by +keeping them (more especially in their outer circumference) much of one +tone, whilst contrast of colour between one light and another helps +still further to assist definition. But this applies only to stonework +strong enough to take care of itself. There is a sort of perverse +brutality in putting into delicate and graceful tracery deep rich glass +which hides its lines. Such lines want sharply defining against the +light. + +Early windows had, of course, no tracery properly so called. The great +Rose windows, and the smaller Roses surmounting a pair of lancets, were +rather piercings than tracery; and it was not difficult to adapt the +design of a medallion window to suit them. A small piercing was ready +designed for a medallion subject; nothing was wanted but a border round +it, narrower, of course, than would have been used for a broad lancet +light, but of the same foliated character. The individual quatrefoils +or other principal openings, which went to make up a great Rose window, +were filled in the same way. If the opening were wedge-shaped, as it +often was, the obvious thing to do was to introduce into it a medallion +(probably circular) of the full width of the opening, at about its +widest, and to fill up the space about it with foliated ornament or +geometric mosaic, with which also the smaller and less important +piercings would naturally be filled. Sometimes the recurring figure +medallions were set alternately in foliated ornament and geometric +diaper; or the lights might be grouped in pairs, two with foliage and +two with diaper. Similar alternation of the two common kinds of Early +filling, naturally occurred in minor openings which contained no +medallion. Something of this kind occurs at Reims. + +When the shape of the great Rose permitted it--if, that is to say, the +circular outline was strongly pronounced--it was possibly further +acknowledged by a fairly broad border, following it and disappearing, as +it were, behind the stonework; otherwise, except in the case of smaller +medallion-shaped openings, it was not usual to mark them by even so much +as a border line. Small Roses had sometimes, as at Auxerre, a central +figure medallion round which were secondary foliage medallions set in +diaper. A certain waywardness of design, already remarked in medallion +windows, was sometimes shown by filling the central medallion with +ornament and grouping the pictures round it. + +As the lights of a Rose window radiated from the centre, features which +recurred throughout the series arranged themselves inevitably in rings; +and according to the disposition of the emphatic features of the design, +the rays or the rings pronounced themselves. This is partly the affair +of the architect who sets out the stonework, but it lies with the +glazier whether he choose to subdue or to emphasise either feature. It +is hard to say why one or other of these schemes of glass design, in +rays or in rings, should be preferred; but, as a matter of experience, +the sun and star patterns are not among the most happy. Perhaps the +stone spokes of a wheel window assert themselves quite enough any way, +and the eye wants leading, not vaguely away from the centre, but +definitely round the window. + +The circular belts of pattern formed by medallions or other features +answer to, and fulfil the part of, the horizontal bands in upright +windows (page 153), and bind the lights together. The band has it all +its own way in a mere "bull's-eye," such as you find in Italy, where +there are no radiating lines of masonry. It is strongly pronounced in +some circular medallion windows at Assisi, in which an extraordinarily +wide border (a quarter of their diameter in width) is divided into eight +equal panels, each enclosed in its own series of border lines, within +which is a medallion set in foliated ornament. This is fourteenth +century work; but, as in thirteenth century Roses, the bars follow and +accentuate the main divisions of the window. + +Even when it came to the glazing of a Rose window in a later Gothic +style, it is not uncommon to find a series or two of medallions running +round the window, as occurs at Angers. They hold the design together; +but in the nature of the case they are on too small a scale for the +pictures to count for more than broken colour. Indeed you may see here +the relative value in such a position of small figure subjects and bold +ornament. The scrollwork is as effective as the medallions are +insignificant. In fact, compared to them, the illegible medallion +subjects in the lancet lights below are readable by him who runs. It has +to be confessed that quite some of the most beautiful and impressive +Rose windows are perfectly unintelligible, even with a good field-glass. +This is so with the West Rose at Reims. In the centre it is ablaze with +red and orange, towards the rim it shades off into deliciously cool +greens and greenish-yellows. It may mean what it may; the colour is +enough. + +Room for figure work on an intelligible scale is only to be found by a +device which verges on the ridiculous. In the beautiful North Rose at S. +Ouen, Rouen, figures which should be upright are arranged in a circle +like herrings in a barrel. Similar figures on a smaller scale occur in +certain tracery lights at Lincoln, two of which are here given. Again in +the North Rose at Le Mans there are twenty-four radiating figures. In +fact, they were customarily so arranged, even down to the sixteenth +century, a period at which one does not credit the designer with +mediæval artlessness. + +It is obvious that out of a series of twenty or more figures, radiating +like the spokes of a wheel, only a very few can stand anything like +upright. The designer of the South Rose at S. Ouen has endeavoured to +get over the difficulty, as well as to accommodate his design to the +exceeding narrowness of the lights as they approach their axis, by +giving his personages no legs, and making them issue from a kind of +sheath or bouquet-holder. A number of the figures pretending to stand in +the radiating lights by a Rose or wheel window must be ridiculously +placed. And then there occurs the question as to whether they shall all +stand with their feet towards the hub. Where the figures have space to +float, it is different. The angels in the Late Gothic Rose window at +Angers, with swirling drapery which hides their feet, and makes them by +so much the less obviously human, if not more actually angelic, solve +the difficulty of full-length figures (on any appreciable scale) in the +only possible way. + +[Illustration: 185. TWO LIGHTS OF A ROSE WINDOW, LINCOLN.] + +A portion of a simple and rather striking wheel window of the Decorated +period, in which concentric bands of ornament form a conspicuous +feature, is shown overleaf. In the small Rose from Assisi (page 278) the +glazier has very successfully supplemented the design of the architect, +completing the four circles, and accentuating them further by glazing +the central spandrils in much darker colour than the rest of the glass, +which is mainly white. + +In the elaborate tracery of the Decorated or geometric period the +mullions, as was said, ask to be pronounced. This was usually done in +the Second Gothic period by framing each light with a border, separated +from the stonework always by a fillet of white glass. The exception to +this was in the case of trefoiled or other many-foiled openings, in +which a central medallion or boss, usually circular, extended to the +points of the cusps, and the border round the cuspings stopped short +against the border to that. Or again in triangular openings a central +boss would sometimes extend to its margin, and the borders would stop +against that, or pass seemingly behind it. + +A typical form of Decorated tracery occurs in the West window at York +Minster, by far the most beautiful part of it. There, every important +opening has within its white marginal line a broader band of ruby or +green, broken at intervals by yellow spots, within which border is +foliage of white and yellow on a green or ruby ground. Some of the +smaller openings show white and yellow foliage only, without any +coloured ground. A plan equally characteristic of the period is +illustrated at Tewkesbury. There again occurs similar white foliage, its +stem encircling a central spot of yellow. This also is on green and ruby +backgrounds, the former reserved for the more prominent openings; but +the border is in white, painted with a pattern. This broader white +border more effectively relieves the dark lines of the masonry than the +border of colour, which sometimes confuses the shapes of the smaller +tracery openings: it does so, for example, in the Late glass on page +200. + +[Illustration: 186. PART OF A ROSE WINDOW, GERMAN 14TH CENTURY.] + +For what was said of the difficulty of carrying a broad border round the +heads of Decorated lights applies more forcibly still to tracery. The +merest fillet of colour is often as much as can safely be carried round +the opening, if even that. On the other hand, a broad border of white +and stain, even though it contain a fair amount of black in it, may +safely be used--as at Châlons, where it frames small subjects in rich +colour. Some admirable Decorated tracery occurs at Wells, much on the +usual lines, and containing a good deal of pleasant green; but there the +white and yellow foliage in the centre part of the lights is sometimes +so closely designed that very little of the coloured ground shows +through it, and it looks at first as if what little ground there is had +all been painted-out. At S. Denis Walmgate, York, the background to the +foliage in white and yellow (which last predominates) is painted solid: +the only pot-metal colour (except in the central medallion head) is in a +rosette or two of colour leaded into it; the border is white. Another +expedient there employed is to introduce figures in white and stain upon +a ground of green or ruby, diapered. At Wells there occur little figures +of saints in pot-metal colour, planted upon the white foliated filling +of the tracery lights. Decorated circular medallions occupying the +centre of ornamental tracery lights are usually framed in coloured +lines; occasionally the inner margin of the medallion is cusped, in +imitation of stonework. + +[Illustration: 187. ASSISI.] + +An effective plan, adopted at Evreux, is to gather the lights into +groups, by means of the colour introduced into them, which grouping may +or may not be indicated by the stonework. In any case, it is a means of +obtaining at once variety and breadth of colour. + +Perpendicular tracery lights are themselves, in most cases, only copies +in miniature of the larger lights below, and the glass is designed on +the same plan. A good illustration of this is at Great Malvern, where +the design consists of the orthodox canopy work in white and stain, with +little figures also nearly all in white, colour occurring only in the +lower skirts of their drapery, in the background about their heads, and +behind the pinnacles above. The effect is beautifully silvery. Often +such figures under the canopies are angels, all in white and stain. +Sometimes seraphim, in stain upon a white ground, quarried perhaps, fill +the lights, without canopies. These are all typical ways of filling the +tracery of a Perpendicular window. + +It was quite a common thing to fill it with glass wholly of white and +stain. In the centre there might be a medallion head in grisaille, or an +inscribed label, the rest of the space being occupied by conventional +foliage having just a line of clear white next the stonework. Beautiful +examples of this treatment occur at Great Malvern; occasionally the +foliage is all in yellow with white flowers. Small openings are thus +often glazed in a single piece of glass, or in any case with the fewest +possible leads. At S. Serge, Angers, there is larger work of a similar +kind, a bold scroll in white and stain on a ground of solid pigment, out +of which is scratched a smaller pattern, not so bold as in the least to +interfere with the scroll, but enough to prevent anything like heaviness +in the painted ground. Similar treatment is adopted in the cathedral at +Beauvais. Once in a while one comes, in English work, upon figures in +white and stain on a solid black ground extending to the stonework, +without any line of white to show where the glass ends and the stonework +begins. It would be impossible more emphatically than that to show one's +contempt for the architecture. + +Some disregard, if not actually contempt, is shown for architecture in +the practice, common no less in Late Gothic than in Renaissance design, +of carrying a coloured ground right up to the stone, without so much as +a line of light to separate the two. Comparatively light though the +colour may be, it is usually dark enough, unless it be yellow, to +confuse the forms of any but the boldest tracery. Something of the kind +occurred by way of exception even in fourteenth century glass, as at S. +Radegonde, Poitiers, and at Toulouse, where the tracery of the windows +is one field of blue, irregularly sprinkled with white stars. The lines +of the tracery are lost, and one sees only spots of white. + +The Later Gothic plan was to keep tracery light, even though the window +below it were altogether in rich colour, and the effect was good; as at +Alençon, where a distinctly blue window has in the tracery only angels +in white and yellow on a white ground; or, again, at Conches, where +white-robed angels, on a ground of rich stain, contrast pleasantly with +the cool blue of the lights below. + +Unusual treatment of the tracery occurs at Auch (1513). In the main the +tracery lights contain figures in colour upon a ruby or paler-coloured +ground, which, as in so many a Renaissance window, runs out to the +stonework; but occasionally here and there a light is distinguished by a +border of white. Moreover, the ground is, as a rule, not of one colour +throughout, nor even throughout a single light, but varied; and that not +symmetrically or pattern-wise, but so as artfully to carry the colour +through. In fact, the artist has taken his tracery much more seriously +than usual, and has carefully studied how best he could balance by the +colour in it the not quite so easily-to-be-controlled colour of his +figure composition below. The result is that the windows are all of one +piece--each a complete and well-considered colour composition: the +tracery is not merely the top part of the frame to the coloured picture +below. + +[Illustration: 188. LYONS.] + +In Renaissance glass the tracery was more often in comparatively full +colour, even though the lights below were pale. A grisaille window at +Evreux, with practically blue tracery, has a very pleasant effect. + +It was not often that the Renaissance glass painters gave very serious +attention to the tracery which they had to fill. They were, for the most +part, content to conceive each separate opening as a blue field upon +which to place an angel (as above), a crown, a _fleur-de-lys_, or other +emblem, as best might fit. In very many sixteenth century windows the +design consists merely of angels, emblems, labels, or even clouds, +dotted about, as suited the convenience of the designer. Sometimes, as +at S. Alpin, at Troyes, there occurs in a tracery light a tablet bearing +a date,--presumably, but not always positively, that of the window. Such +devices were very often in white upon a ground of blue, purple, or ruby. +Angels of course adapted themselves to irregular shapes in the most +angelic way; and they are introduced in every conceivable +attitude--standing, kneeling, flying, swinging censers, singing, playing +on musical instruments, bearing scrolls or shields; angels all in white, +angels in white with coloured wings, angels in gorgeous array of colour: +and more accommodating, still, is the bodiless cherub, beloved of Luca +della Robbia. + +There is a quite charming effect of colour in a Jesse window at S. +Maclou, Rouen, where the tracery lights are inhabited by little cherubs, +in ruby on a grey-blue ground, in grey on deeper grey-blue, and in +emerald-like green upon the same. + +The scroll without the angel was a very convenient filling for smaller +openings. Some elaborately twisted scrolls, in white and stain on +purple, occur at Moulins. + +Larger and more prominent lights often contain a separate picture, or +one picture runs through several lights, or perhaps all through the +tracery. Worse than that is, where the picture runs through from the +lights below; as at Alençon, where the trees grow up into the blue of +the tracery, broken otherwise only by white clouds; or at Conches, where +the architecture from the subject below aspires so high. It is almost +worse still where, as at Alençon again, and at the chapel at Vincennes, +it is the canopy which so encroaches. In the exceptional case of a Jesse +window there seems less objection to accepting the whole window as a +field through which the tree may grow; yet the tracery is not the +happiest part of the Beauvais window (page 368). Sometimes the heads of +the lower lights are made to appear as though they were part of the +tracery. + +A happier form of Renaissance tracery design is where medallion heads in +white and stain are introduced upon a ground of plain colour--blue at +Châlons, purple-brown at Montmorency. These are sometimes most +beautifully painted, as are the Raffaellesque little cherubs amidst +white clouds, also at Montmorency; but they are much more delicately +done than they need have been, and less effective than they might. Very +delicate painting upon white does produce an effect even at a distance; +at least it gives quality; but there should be some relation between +effort and effect; and here the effect is weak as compared with the +expenditure of art. In the tracery on page 213, fairly effective though +monotonous, the birds are glazed in with such unnecessary avoidance of +lead, that the cutting of the ground must have been a work of great +difficulty. In glass of every period it has been the custom to put too +much into tracery; in Early work too much detail, in Later too much +finish. What is wanted is breadth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +QUARRY WINDOWS. + + +The very simplest form of window glazing, the easiest and the thriftiest +thing for the cutter to do, and the most straightforward for the +glazier, is to frame together parallel-sided pieces of glass in the form +of a lead lattice. + +Quarries, as all such little square or rhomboid shaped panes of glass +came to be called, were used from the first. Ordinarily they were set on +end, so as to form diamonds; which as time went on, were generally not +rectangular, but long in proportion to their breadth. + +For the most part they were painted with patterns traced in brown; and, +on the discovery of silver stain, they were in parts tinted yellow. From +the fourteenth century onwards, quarry lights, framed in borders, and +enlivened with colour, form a very important variety of grisaille. + +Many a grisaille pattern was not far removed from quarry glazing, as may +be seen opposite. It was natural that, for clerestory and triforium +windows in particular, the glazier should do all he could to simplify +his work. Clerestory windows are placed too high to be fairly seen in a +narrow church, and triforium lights are often half shut off from view by +projecting shafts of open arcading in front of them. It is only when, by +rare chance, they happen to front you squarely at the end of an aisle or +transept, that they are properly seen. There is no occasion, therefore, +to indulge in subtleties of design; the one thing needful is that the +effect of the windows as a whole, should be pleasant, since all study of +detail is out of the question, except from the triforium galleries +opposite, or by the aid of a field-glass; and light arrangements of +grisaille and colour are in most cases all that is wanted. The colour +may be more or less, according as it is desired to exclude light or to +admit it; but some very simple, unpretending, and perhaps even rude +treatment, is indicated by the conditions of the case, which to +contradict, is wasteful and unworkmanlike. The effect, for example, of +the band of figures across the grisaille in the triforium of the +transepts at Evreux is admirable; but the way in which seven saints out +of the eight are cut vertically in two by the pillars of the +architectural screen in front of them, is nothing less than +exasperating. These figures tell only as the patches of colour; and that +could so easily have been obtained by much simpler means. In such a +position, quarries may well take the place, not only of figures, but of +more interesting grisaille; and, even though they be not painted at all +(as is again the case at Evreux), but merely broken by occasional +sun-discs in white and stain crossing them, and framed in a simple block +border of white and colour, the effect may be entirely adequate. It is +not meant to deny that figures in rich colour embedded in carefully +designed grisaille are more attractive; but, for its purpose, quarry +work, with borders and bosses of colour, is in the majority of such +cases, enough. + +[Illustration: 189. LINCOLN.] + +[Illustration: 190. EVREUX.] + +Figures or figure subjects in formal bands across tall quarry lights are +always effective; so are figures planted more casually upon the +quarries--kneeling donors, flying angels, or whatever they may be. So +again, are figure panels alternating with bosses of ornament; but, if +the window occupy a position where the figures can be appreciated, a +surrounding of quarries seems hardly of interest enough, and if not, the +figures seem rather thrown away. One is tempted to make exception in +favour of figures in grisaille, which, if very delicately painted (as +for example at S. Martin-cum-Gregory, York), show to advantage on a +quarry ground, which has the modesty not to compete with them in +interest. The quarries keep their place perfectly as a background; and +the slight painting upon them is just enough to give the glass quality, +and to indicate that, however subordinate, it is yet part of the +picture. + +A quarry window, no less than any other, wants a border, if only to +prevent the strongly marked straight lines of lead from appearing to run +into the stonework. A simple line of colour with another of white next +the mullions is enough for that. Even this is occasionally omitted, more +especially in tracery lights, but in that case the glass seems to lack +finish. The most satisfactory border to quarry lights into which +otherwise no colour is introduced, is a broadish border of white, +painted with pattern and in part stained. A coloured border seems to +imply other colour breaking the field of quarries. By itself it is too +much or not enough. Its proportion is a thing to be determined in each +case on the spot; but even in narrow lights, if they contain bosses of +colour (as do those in the transepts at Le Mans) a broad border about +one fifth the width of the window, with a broad white line next the +stone, is very effective. + +The monotony of any great surface of quarry work, has led to the +introduction of medallions and the like, even where it is not desired to +introduce pot-metal colour. In the window from Evreux, illustrated +opposite, the effect of the delicately painted little angel medallions, +in white on a ground of stain, is all that could be wished. Any little +surprise of that kind is always welcome; but, should it occur too +frequently, it becomes itself monotonous. + +There is no end to the variety of forms in which colour may be +introduced into quarry work. It is best in the form of patches, and not +in the form of lines between the quarries as occurs occasionally, at +Poitiers, for example, at Rouen cathedral, and at Châlons (page 167). + +[Illustration: 191. QUARRY WINDOW, EVREUX.] + +Big rosettes, discs, wreaths, rings of colour, and the like, are more +effective than small spots. They need not be heavy, there may be any +amount of white in them. In narrow lights, they may sometimes with +advantage come in front of the border; that admits of the biggest +possible medallion, and it is best to have such features large and few. +Mean little rosettes are too suggestive of the contractor; in the church +of S. Ouen, at Rouen, one is uncomfortably reminded of him--it would be +so easy to estimate for glass of that kind at so much the foot! Heraldic +shields form often peculiarly effective colour-patches in quarry +windows, more especially because of the accidental arrangement of colour +they compel. There is a point at which symmetry of colour palls upon the +eye. + +[Illustration: 192. LINCOLN.] + +The even surface of quarry lights all in white and stain is broken +sometimes by an occasional band of inscription, which may either take +the line of the quarries, or cross them in the form of a label. At +Evreux some quarry lights are most pleasingly interrupted by square +patches of inscription in yellow, or, which is still more satisfactory, +in white. In the same cathedral there is a very interesting instance of +inscription, in letters some five or six inches high, leaded in blue +upon a quarry ground. + +[Illustration: 193. GERMAN QUARRY BORDER.] + +[Illustration: 194. EARLY ENGLISH QUARRY.] + +The patterns with which quarries are painted naturally followed the +ordinary course of grisaille. In the thirteenth century the designs were +strongly outlined, and showed clear against a cross-hatched ground; +which, however, did not, as a rule, extend to the lead, but a margin of +clear glass was left next to it, in acknowledgment of the quarry shape. +The combination of quarries and strap ornament in the example at Lincoln +(page 287) is unusual, but the quarries themselves are, but for the +absence of a clear line next the leads, characteristically of the +thirteenth century. The quarry border from Nuremberg (above) is rather +later in character. In that case also, as it happens, there is no +marginal line of clear glass. The typical treatment is shown below. +Later, as in other grisaille, the cross-hatched ground was omitted; and +the foliage took, of course, more natural form. It was presently more +delicately traced (page 290), and more often than not tinted in yellow +stain. Consistently with the more natural form of leafage the design in +fourteenth century work was often one continuous growth trailing through +the window, and passing behind the marginal band of stain which now +usually emphasised the top sides of the quarries. Often a futile attempt +was made (page 286) to give the appearance of interlacing to these +bands, but that was nullified by the stronger lead lines. True, +interlacing was only possible where, as in some earlier work, the bands +were continued on all four sides of the quarry, so that the lead fell +into its place as interspace between two interlacing bands. It was +better when there was no pretence of interlacing (below). Additional +importance was sometimes given to the marginal band by tracing a pattern +upon it, or, as on page 291, painting it in brown, and then picking out +geometric tracery upon it. There came a time when marginal lines were +omitted altogether. That was the usual, though not invariable, practice +in the fifteenth century, by which time the draughtsman had apparently +learnt to husband his inventive faculty. The continuous growth of the +pattern, as well as the marginal acknowledgment of the lead lines, died +out of fashion, and quarries were mostly painted sprig fashion. The +character of these sprigs will be best judged from the specimens on page +289, some of the most interesting given in "Shaw's Book of Quarries." +Quarry patterns do not, of course, occur in that profuse variety; it is +seldom that more than two patterns are found in a single window, often +there is only one. The range of design in quarries of this kind is +limited only by the invention of the artist. It includes both floral and +conventional ornament, animal and grotesque figures, emblems and +heraldic badges, cyphers, monograms, mottoes, and so on. There is scope +not only for meaning in design, but for the artist's humour; but, when +all is said, the Late Gothic pattern windows, now given over entirely to +quarry work, are of no great account as concerns their detail. The later +quarry patterns are often pretty enough, sometimes amusing, but they go +for very little in the decoration of a church. Plentiful as quarry work +is everywhere, and characteristic as it is of Perpendicular glass, there +is not much that shows an attempt to do anything serious with the quarry +window. All that was done was to paint more or less delicate and dainty +patterns upon the little lozenge panes. However, they were traced with a +light hand and a sure one, and with a kind of spontaneity which gives +them really what artistic charm they have. + +[Illustration: 195. QUARRY PATTERNS (SHAW).] + +[Illustration: 196. 14TH CENTURY QUARRY.] + +[Illustration: 197. 14TH CENTURY QUARRIES.] + +The occasional endeavours to get stronger and bolder effects in quarry +work were not very successful. At Evreux and at Rouen there are some +late quarries painted more after the fashion of bold mosaic diaper; but +the effect, though satisfactory enough, is not such as to convince one +that that is the better way. + +[Illustration: 198. 14TH CENTURY QUARRY.] + +To heraldry, and especially to shields of arms surrounded by mantling +(page 293), quarries form an excellent background, but only in the event +of there being enough of them left free to show that it is a quarry +window upon which the heraldry is imposed, or rather into which it is +inlaid. Odds and ends of quarries want to be accounted for, as forming +the continuation of the glass above and below. In the case of a window +not a quarry window, it is a mistake to break up the background, as was +sometimes done, into quarries, or rather into fragments of quarries. The +object of the square or diamond shape is to break up a plain surface. If +the ground is naturally broken up by figures, foliage, mantling, or what +not, why introduce further quarry lines? They are not in themselves +interesting. Their great value is in that they give scale to a window; +but that is only on condition that they are seen in their entirety. + +[Illustration: 199. ROUND GLASS, ROUNDELS, OR BULL'S-EYES.] + +[Illustration: 200. HERALDIC GLASS.] + +In Germany the place of quarries was supplied by roundels (page 292) +unpainted. What applies to quarries applies in many respects to them; +and they have a brilliancy which flat glass has not. They were +usually enclosed in painted borders of white and stain, and have a very +delicate and pearly effect; but where (as at S. Peter's, at Cologne) +they occur in great quantity as compared with coloured subjects, these +appear to be floating rather uncomfortably in their midst. The Italians, +who also used roundels in place of quarries, often let colour into the +interstices between them, and also little painted squares or pateræ of +white and stain. In the sham windows decorating the Sistine Chapel at +Rome, separating Botticelli's series of Popes, the pointed spaces +between the rounds are coloured diagonally in successive rows of red, +yellow, and green; but the result is most pleasing where, as at Verona +and elsewhere, the little triangular spaces are neither of one tint nor +yet symmetrically arranged, but distributed in a quasi-accidental and +unexpected way. Sometimes it was the little pateræ that was in colour +and the rest white. In any case, the effect is refined, as it is at +Arezzo also, where the monotony of roundels, in sundry clerestory +windows, is broken by figure medallions and other features in white and +colour. The adaptation of roundels to the circular shape is shown in the +portion of a round window from Santa Maria Novella. What more remains to +be said about roundels and quarry windows is reserved for the chapter on +"Domestic Glass." + +[Illustration: 201. QUARRY FROM CHETWODE CHURCH.] + +[Illustration: 202. WINDOW IN THE CERTOSA IN VAL D'EMA, FLORENCE.] + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +DOMESTIC GLASS. + + +It is customary to draw a distinction between "Ecclesiastical" and +"Domestic" glass. + +In mediæval days the Church was the patron of art; and, when kings and +corporations commissioned stained glass windows, it was usually to +present them to Mother Church. It is in churches, then, that the greater +part of the old glass remains to us, iconoclastic mania notwithstanding; +and it is only there that the course of glass painting can be traced. +Once in a while, as at S. Mary's Hall, Coventry, one comes upon a great +window designed to decorate a civic building; but the whiles are few and +far between. When such windows do occur they prove not to differ widely +from more familiar church work. + +What, then, is the difference between the two kinds of glass? It is not +that the one is ecclesiastical the other secular, the one religious the +other profane art. "Sacred Art" is a term consecrated by use; but, +strictly speaking, it is a meaningless combination of words, signifying, +if it signify anything, that the speaker confounds the art of telling +with the thing told. Art has no more a religion than it has a country. +No doubt there clings always to the art of the devout believer some +fervour of faith, as there may hang about the sceptic's doing a chill of +doubt. The historian will enrich his glass with story, the preacher will +convey in it a dogma. Poet or proser, philosopher or fool, may each in +turn peep out of the window. Youth will everywhere betray its ardour, +manhood its vigour, age its experience. A live man cannot help but put +himself into his work. But none of that is art. His art is in the way he +expresses himself, not in what he says; and there is no more religion in +his glass painting than in his handwriting, though the graphologist may +read in it his character. + +The difference between church glass and domestic arises, speaking from +the point of view of art, solely from architectural conditions. In so +far as they are both glass, the same methods of glazing and painting +apply to both. It is only in so far as the position and purpose of the +two are different, that they call for different treatment in design. The +treatment suitable to a great hall does not materially differ from that +adapted to a church; the same breadth of design, the same largeness of +execution, are required; what suits a cloister would suit a passage. +When, however, it comes to the windows of dwelling-rooms, the scheme and +execution appropriate even to the smallest chapels of a church, would +most likely be out of place. The distinction is very much as that +between wall decoration in fresco and cabinet paintings in oil- or +water-colour. + +In the house there is less need than in the church for severity, and +more for liveliness, less occasion for breadth, and more for delicacy. +The scale of the dwelling-room itself justifies, perhaps demands, a +smaller treatment. Here, if anywhere, is opportunity for that +preciousness of execution which, in work of more monumental character, +it seems a pity to expend upon so frail a substance as glass--frailer +than ever when it was the thin white glass employed for window panes. +For, so far from the glazier of the sixteenth or seventeenth century +imagining, as we mostly do, that it was any part of the purpose of +domestic glass to shut out the view--less need in those days!--he +employed in most cases a material which was not merely translucent but +absolutely transparent. + +This use of transparent glass marks a distinction, and forms something +of a new departure. It was employed to some extent in Renaissance church +work; but there it was more as a background to the stained glass window +than as a part of it. Here the transparent glass is the window; and the +design, whether in pot-metal or in enamel, shows more or less against +the clear. + +The relationship of certain seventeenth century windows at Antwerp to +the Italian windows on pages 295, 299, 352, is obvious. They may be +quite possibly founded upon them. There is the same arrangement of +subjects in cartouches, set in geometric glazing of clear glass. But in +the Italian windows one kind of glass is used throughout (the little +pieces of thin pot-metal colour in the cartouches, and so on, scarcely +count); and the proportion of the painted work to clear glass is so +schemed that, although you may feel that the plain work wants just a +touch of enrichment to bring it all together, you are not asked +deliberately to imagine yourself to be looking through, beyond the +painting, into space. + +[Illustration: 203. ITALIAN GRISAILLE, FLORENCE.] + +The detail in these windows from the Certosa in Val d'Ema, near +Florence, is all outlined and painted in brown upon clear white glass, +the flesh warmer in tint than the rest; the high lights are brushed out +of a matt tint, and some pale stain is washed in. The artful thing about +the design is, the cunning way in which the borders are planned, so as +to avoid the absolute parallelism of marginal lines. For the rest the +design is rather characteristically Late Renaissance, though the +relation of border to cartouche, and of both together to clear glass, is +better than usual. It will be noted that these are not strictly domestic +windows; but they are designed to be seen about on a level with the eye, +and from a distance of not more than ten feet, which is as far as the +width of the cloister allows one to get away from them. + +[Illustration: 204. CERTOSA IN VAL D'EMA.] + +They fulfil, therefore, altogether very much the conditions which apply +generally to domestic glass, and may be taken, if not as types of +domestic work, at least as something on the way from the church to the +house. This, though the common type of Italian Renaissance grisaille, +was not invariable. At S. Frediano, Lucca, for example, there is a white +window, which, except for a little medallion in its centre, might at a +glance almost pass for thirteenth century work: the Cinque-Cento scroll +is so rendered, with cross-hatched ground and all, as to suggest the +early mediæval craftsman; it is centuries away from Da Udine in style. + +The domestic quarry window differed, in mediæval work, in no respect +from church work. In the sixteenth century it took rather a new form. It +consisted no longer of a more or less diaper-like all-over pattern, but +of a panel, designed to be glazed in quarries. Here, again, is an +approximation to the seventeenth century practice of leading up +pictures in rectangular panes, but only an approximation. There is this +important difference, that the quarry window starts from the lead lines, +and is religiously designed within them. + +Thus to accept, the simple square and obviously fit lines of quarry +glazing, and to expend his art in painting upon them, simplifies the +task of the glass painter; and he very frequently fell back upon that +plan, more readily perhaps when he happened to know more about painting +than about glazing. That was Da Udine's case, who is credited with the +design of the windows in the Laurentian library at Florence, as of those +at the Certosa in Val d'Ema. They bear a date some few years after his +death; but they are so like what he certainly would have done that, +directly or indirectly, the design is clearly due to him. The one +illustrated on page 298 is quite one of the best of these windows; in +the others the ornament is even less coherent. The characteristic +arabesque is painted in brown enamel, with redder enamel for the flesh +tints, some yellow stain, and a little blue enamel in the heraldic +lozenge, all upon clear white glass. The effect is delicate and silvery +and no appreciable amount of light is excluded (a point usually of some +importance in domestic work); but, though the main forms are designed +within the lead lines, one feels that these have not been considered +enough, that the leads compete with the painting, and that the bars, in +particular, which are far thicker than need be, and occur with +unnecessary frequency (in fact, at every horizontal quarry joint but +one), very seriously mar the effect of delicate painting. That is as +much as to say that the design, graceful and fanciful as it is, does not +fulfil the conditions of quarry glass. + +It is not enough for complete success in this form of window that the +quarry lines shall be the basis of the design; the painting also must be +strong enough to hold its own against leads and bars. That is hardly the +case with the exceptionally delicate ornament in the Dutch glass +opposite. But here, notwithstanding that the scroll is slighter than the +Italian work and more delicately painted, the central patch of enamel +colour in the shield and mantling does, to some extent, focus the +attention there, and so withdraw the eye from the lead lines. The window +is not merely cleverly designed; it is a frank, straightforward, manly +piece of work, marred only by the comparative heaviness of the leads. +The truth is that a glass painter becomes so used to lead lines, and +gets to take them so much for granted, that they do not offend him; and +he is apt to forget how obtrusive they may appear in the eyes of the +unaccustomed. Hence his sometimes seemingly brutal treatment of tenderly +painted ornament. + +[Illustration: 205. DUTCH QUARRY WINDOW, S. K. MUSEUM.] + +Other good examples of Dutch domestic glass, not quite so good as this, +but painted with admirable directness, are to be found at the _Musée des +Antiquités_ at Brussels. At the Louvre also the Dutch work is good. +There are two lights there in which cartouches enclosing small oval +subjects (fables) spread over the greater part of the quarry glazing, +leaving only the lowermost of them comparatively empty. On these are +painted butterflies, a dragon-fly, even a gad-fly, almost to the life. +These flies upon the window pane, like the little miniature figures in +the bottom corner quarries on page 301, are trivial enough in idea; but +the idea is cleverly and daintily expressed; and one does not expect +much else than triviality in seventeenth century design. Moreover, in +the privacy of domestic life it is permitted to be trivial. + +For dignity of treatment it would be difficult to match the specimen of +Flemish glass shown on page 304, now at Warwick Castle. Like the Dutch +and Italian work, it is painted on clear glass but without the +prettiness of flesh tint, and the background to the ornament (it shows +dull grey in the print) is brilliant yellow stain. This little light and +its companion on page 98 are as large in style as they are beautiful in +effect. + +There is a gayer touch in the less seriously decorative panel of French +work in the Louvre given on page 307. In that pot-metal is used for the +dark ruby of the outer dress, and for the little bits of blue rather +cunningly let into the spandrils of the arch. The fancifully designed +canopy, the arabesque, and a portion of the drapery are in stain, all +delicately painted upon clear glass, and glazed mainly on quarry +lines--from which, however, the designer saw fit to depart. What he +meant by the unfortunate circular lead line about the head is difficult +to imagine. It can hardly be, like other erratic leading, the result of +mending. No fracture could possibly have steered so carefully between +the figure and the ornament. It looks almost as if at the last he had +lost confidence in his technique, and, in trying vainly to avoid lead +lines, had ended in giving them extraordinary emphasis. + +In ultra-delicate domestic work the leads are more than ever the +difficulty. One is uncomfortably conscious of them in the wonderful +series of windows--formerly at Ecouen, and now in the Château de +Chantilly--in which is set forth in forty pictures the story of Cupid +and Psyche. A specimen of these is given on page 218, thanks to the +friendly permission of Monsieur Magne, who illustrates the whole of them +in his admirable monograph of the Montmorency glass. The legend to the +effect that Raffaelle designed and Palissy painted them, is past all +possible belief; but they are very remarkable specimens of sixteenth +century work, restored about the period of the First Empire, and mark +somewhere about the high-water mark of French domestic picture glass. + +A glance at these windows is enough to show that they were never schemed +with any definite view to glazing. Rather it would appear that the +pictures were first designed and then the leads introduced where best +they could be disguised. But the disguise is everywhere transparent. +Such gauzy painting is inadequate; it hides nothing. You see always the +thick black lines of lead, cruel enough, but clinging in a cowardly way +to the edges of weak forms, sneaking into shadows, and foolishly +pretending to pass themselves off as the continuation of painted +outlines not one-twentieth part so strong as they. The sparing use of +glazing lines makes them all the more conspicuous. They must originally +have asserted themselves even more than they do now; for the accidental +lead lines introduced in reparation, however much they damage the +pictures, do in a measure support the original glazing lines, and pull +the windows together. The Chantilly glass goes to prove the +impossibility of satisfactorily disposing of the leads in very small +figure subjects in grisaille. In work on a larger scale it wants only a +man who knows his trade to manage it. Witness what was done in church +work. + +[Illustration: 206. GRISAILLE, WARWICK CASTLE.] + +The propriety of executing figures in grisaille at all has been called +in question by Viollet le Duc. "Every bit of white glass," he said, +"should be diapered with pattern traced with a brush; and, since this +treatment is not possible in flesh painting, flesh ought not to be +painted." Moreover, he says that grisaille has always the appearance of +vibrating, and the vibration fatigues the eye; therefore, he argues, it +is labour lost to paint white figures. Far be it from an ornamentist to +deny that a great deal too much importance is attached to figure work in +decoration. But the amount of tracing necessary on white glass is +relative. In grisaille it is quite safe to leave some glass clear; and, +if it is not worth while to paint figures, is it worth while to paint +anything worth looking at, or worth painting? + +[Illustration: 207. LOUIS XIII. AND ANNE OF AUSTRIA.] + +The truth is, it wearies the sight to look at any glass for long at a +stretch, and for a mere _coup d'oeil_ the most brutal workmanship +would often do. But, if work is ever to be seen from near, the charm is +gone when once you know how coarse it is. One tires of crude work, and +delights more and more in what is delicate. Whoever has taken pleasure +in such work as the windows at S. Alpin at Troyes would find it hard to +renounce the figure in grisaille. + +To return to the leading of grisaille. Of the two extremes, the bold, +even the too bold, acknowledgment of the constructional lines of a +window, is far preferable to the timid attempt to conceal them. The +glaziers of the Renaissance eventually got over the difficulty by the +simple plan of inserting into quarry windows (usually unpainted) or into +pattern work of plain glass only, little panes of painted glass. In this +way there are introduced into some windows at the Château de Chaumont +some very beautiful little portrait medallions, outlined with a firmness +and modelled with a delicacy which remind one of the drawings of Clouet. +At the Germanic Museum at Nuremberg are some similar medallion heads, +quite Holbein-ish in character. A later portrait panel, lacking the +style and draughtsmanship of these, but very cleverly painted (by Linard +Gontier they say), is reproduced on page 305. It represents, as the +inscription and cypher go to show, Louis Treize and Anne of Austria, as +bride and bridegroom. Its date, therefore, speaks for itself. Another +little pane by Gontier, from the Hôtel des Arquebusiers at Troyes, now +in the library there, is given on page 310. The characteristic +ornamental work surrounding this, though not forming a consecutive frame +to the picture, is of about the same period with it (1621). Its design +consists of that modified form of Arab foliation (compare it with the +detail on page 352), which was very much used in damascening and niello +work; indeed, the French still call that kind of pattern "_nielle_." +Here it is traced in a fine brown outline, and filled in partly with +yellow stain and partly with blue enamel. The effect is pleasing. + +[Illustration: 208. DOMESTIC GLASS, THE LOUVRE.] + +It was in Switzerland that glass painting other than for churches was +most extensively practised. The Council Chambers of Swiss towns, and the +halls of trade and other guilds, were enriched with bands of armorial +glass across the windows; and throughout the sixteenth century it was +the custom to present to neighbouring towns or friendly Corporations a +painted window panel. Great part of these have been dispersed, and in +Switzerland they are now perhaps rarer than in the museums of other +countries. The Germanic Museum at Nuremberg and the Hôtel Clûny, at +Paris, are rich in Swiss glass; and we have some at South Kensington. +Superb examples, however, still remain in Switzerland--for example, in +the Rath-haus at Lucerne--though they belong to a period as late as the +first ten years of the seventeenth century. + +[Illustration: 209. PIERCED QUARRIES, WARWICK.] + +The usual form of design consisted of a sort of florid canopy frame of +moderate dimensions, enclosing a shield or shields of arms, supported by +fantastically dressed men-at-arms. There was often great spirit in the +swagger of these melodramatic swashbucklers, admirably expressive of the +idea which underlies all heraldry: "I am somebody," they seem to say, +"pray who are you?" It is a comparatively modest specimen of this class +that is presented on page 90. In the windows of a private house it was +frequently the master and mistress who supported the armorial shield, +all in their Sunday best, and very proud of themselves too. Little Bible +subjects were also painted, mainly in grisaille. It was for window panes +that Holbein drew the Stations of the Cross, now among the chief +treasures of the museum at Bâle. These also must be classed with +domestic work. They may in some cases have been destined for a church; +but they would much more appropriately decorate a private oratory. + +These heraldic or pictorial panes go even beyond the delicacy of cabinet +pictures, and are sometimes more on the scale of miniatures; but of such +miniature painting the Swiss were masters. They carried craftmanship to +its very furthest point, and among them traditions of good work lingered +long after they were quite dead in France. Of English work there was not +much; and of that the less said the better. + +Far into the eighteenth century the Swiss still had a care for their +window panes, and, when painting went out of fashion, engraved them with +armorial or other devices. Precisely that kind of engraving was employed +also upon polished mirrors, of which one finds examples in Italy. + +Unpainted quarry windows in English houses were sometimes relieved, at +the same time that ventilation was secured, by the occasional +introduction (in the place of glass) of little fretted panels of pierced +lead, as shown on page 308. Below is a diamond-shaped piercing of the +Jacobean period. + +[Illustration: 210. QUARRY OF FRETTED LEAD.] + +[Illustration: 211. DOMESTIC WINDOW PANE, TROYES.] + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE USE OF THE CANOPY. + + +No one can have paid much attention to stained glass without observing +the conspicuous part played in its design by the quasi-architectural +canopy. + +Inasmuch as it, in a sense, enshrines the figure, there exists some sort +of symbolic reason for its use. But that is not enough to account for +its all but universal employment. A more obvious excuse for it is, the +purpose it fulfils in the construction of design. It is a means of +accounting for the position of figures midway up the window, perhaps one +above the other, and not standing upon the sill. It is at once framework +and support to them, preventing them from seeming to float there in +space. + +Where the designer of the church designed also the glass for it, it was +almost inevitable that he should plan it more or less upon architectural +lines; and so we find that in windows known to have been designed by +architects the canopy is very often the most conspicuous part of the +design. But at all times the master-builder must have been a power, and +at all times also even glaziers and glass painters must have been so +intimately acquainted with forms of architecture, that it is not +surprising they should have introduced them into their work. + +The fact is, the designer happens upon something like a canopy almost +without intending it, and, having arrived so far, perfects the +resemblance to it. Suppose a window of four long lights, in each of +which it is desired to introduce three figures. That means dividing it +horizontally into three, which may be done by the use of bands of +inscription, as at _a_ in the diagram overleaf: there is no suggestion +of architecture there. Supposing you wish to frame the window at the +sides, so as to stop the picture, as at _b_, to the left of the diagram; +you have still no very distinct suggestion of architecture. But if, the +better to frame the picture, you add an extra band of colour, as shown +at _c_, you arrive at once at something so like perspective as to +indicate an architectural elevation. Indeed, that is precisely the form +the canopy takes sometimes in Italian glass. Even when the +cinque-centist framed his picture merely in lines he could hardly help +giving them the appearance of mouldings, painting upon (as at Arezzo) +egg-and-tongue or other familiar architectural enrichment in white and +stain. + +[Illustration: 212. DIAGRAM.] + +In the clerestory at Freiburg is a window in which the serried saints +appear at first sight to be simply framed by lines of pale purple; but +on examination these resolve themselves into a simple architectural +elevation, with even a hint of unsuspected shadow in it. The date of +that example is 1512; and canopies, not to go back to Græco-Roman +decoration, begin with the beginning of Gothic. It is adduced, +therefore, to show, not the origin of canopy work, but how inevitably +something of the sort occurred. Its immediate source is clearly +imitation. The thing is borrowed straight from architecture, and +indicates, it may justly be said, if not a certain lack of inventive +faculty on the part of the designer, at least some disinclination to +take the pains to invent. + +So in the thirteenth century we have funny little glass penthouses over +the figures of saints, architectural in form but not in colour; in the +fourteenth windows are crossed by rows of tall brassy disproportioned +tabernacles, as yet flat fronted; in the fifteenth, white ghosts of +masonry pretend to stand out over the figures; in the sixteenth, +altar-like, or other more or less monumental, structures, are pictured +with something like the solidity of stonework; and eventually the canopy +is merged in painted glass architecture, which joins itself on as best +it can to the actual masonry. + +The forms of canopy typical of each period of architecture have been +discussed in the several chapters on design, but something remains to be +said upon canopy work in general, and upon particular instances of it. + +The Early canopy goes for nothing as design. Its one merit is that it is +inconspicuous. One could wish that the Decorated were equally so. There +is, as a rule, no shutting your eyes to its mass of overpowering +shrinework. When, by way of exception, it chances to be modest it is +sometimes more interesting--as where it is scarcely more than a cusped +arch, or where, as at Strassburg, it takes the form of an arcaded band +across the window, in which are series of little demi-figures. At +Cologne Cathedral also sundry saints are pigeon-holed in this way. +_Apropos_ of this, it should be mentioned that it invariably adds to the +interest of a canopy, when; for example, the broad shaft of a Decorated +canopy enniches angels and other figures, or when they are introduced +among its pinnacles or in its base. The wide-spreading German canopy +affords scope for variety of design not possible so long as the +structure is confined within a single light. In some four-light windows +at Erfurt (1349-1372) the broad shafts of the canopies, with saints in +separate niches, occupy the whole width of the outer lights, leaving +only two lights for the central picture. In a five-light window at +Strassburg the canopy is five-arched, allowing separate arches in the +outer lights for figures of saints, whilst the three central ones cover +a single subject. + +In canopies which include niches with separate subsidiary subjects, +these are sometimes by way of prelude to the main story. In the +cathedral at Berne is something of the kind. There, among the pinnacles +of the canopy which crowns the subject of the Adoration, are seen the +Kings setting out on their pilgrimage, journeying by night, having +audience of Herod, and arriving finally at the city of Bethlehem. + +In the great altar-like canopies of the Renaissance there is sometimes a +gallery above, with angels or other figures, which give points of colour +amidst the white. In any case, the canopy is usually more interesting +when it is peopled. + +The Perpendicular canopy is in effect much more pleasing than what had +gone before, but it sins in its simulation of stonework. There also +little figures in white and stain are very effectively introduced into +the shafts and other parts of the construction, but more in the form of +architectural sculpture. There are some very interesting instances of +this at Fairford, though the canopies themselves are not otherwise +peculiarly interesting. + +The useful device of low, flat-topped canopies, adopted in the nave +windows at Cologne Cathedral, seldom occurs out of Germany. It is there +most successful. Indeed, these particular canopies are interesting +examples of the interpenetration of architectural tracery as well as of +its moderate and modest use. + +Late German canopies are often much more leafy than French or English; +they are less architectural--or rather, the architecture breaks out into +more free and flowing growth. The charm of Late Gothic canopy work, as +was said, lies in its colour, or in the absence of colour--in its +silvery effect, that is to say. And one may safely add that quite the +most satisfactory canopies, in whatever style, are those in which white +largely prevails, modified by stain, but preserving its greyish +character. In later Renaissance work white is still largely used; but it +is made less brilliant by painted shadow, and so has less to excuse its +architectural pretensions. At Milan there is a window in which what +should be white is in various granular tints of brown. + +The coloured canopy, to which the Italians adhered (as well as to the +border enclosing it), does not frame them as the white glass does. The +idea appears to be, on the contrary, that it should form part of the +picture. Elsewhere than in Italy coloured canopies, other than yellow, +are rare; but they occur. There are, for example, the hideous +flesh-coloured constructions peculiar to Germany. At Troyes are some not +unsatisfactory little canopies in green, and others in purple (1499). At +Châlons-sur-Marne is an effective canopy (1526-1537) of golden arabesque +on purple. At Freiburg (1525) is a steely-blue Renaissance canopy, from +which depend festoons of white and greenish-yellow, against the ruby +ground of the subject. And there are others satisfactory enough. But so +invariably effective is the framework of white and stain, that to depart +from it seems almost like giving up the very excuse for canopies. + +The Late Gothic canopy work does most effectually frame the pictures, +and gives light, of course, at the same time. It goes admirably with the +colour scheme, which includes always a fair quantity of white, even in +comparatively rich figure subjects. There is no denying, nor any desire +to deny, its altogether admirable effect. If the effect were not +otherwise to be obtained, the end would justify the means. But the +effect is due simply to the setting of the subjects in a framework of +white, not to the architectural character of the design. All that those +Perpendicular canopies do could be done equally without architectural +forms at all. Canopies make no more beautiful screens of silvery-white +than, say, the Five Sisters at York. Intrinsically they are less +interesting than pattern work. They give less scope for arranging +subjects variously, just as one will; and they allow less range for the +fancy of the artist. The most interesting canopies, and among the most +effective, are those Early Renaissance picture frames (French, German, +or Italian) which, whilst just sufficiently suggesting something near +enough to architecture to be called canopies, are really little more +than arabesque. One might almost say they are pleasing in proportion as +they depart from the quasi-architectural formula. + +The enormous value of the mass of white afforded by the canopy, as a +setting for colour, has reconciled us too readily to its use. Why not +this mass of white without pretended forms of masonry, without this +paraphernalia of pinnacles? The architect alone, perhaps, in his heart +likes canopy work, and would prefer it to any other kind of ornamental +device. When he plans a window, or directs its planning, forms of +architectural construction occur to him naturally. Supposing him to be +an artist (as we have perhaps a right to expect him to be) he produces a +fine thing; but were he to work upon more workmanlike lines, or, to +speak quite precisely, more upon the lines of the worker in glass, how +much better he would do--being an artist! In his reliance upon +inappropriate structural forms, he makes the obvious mistake of +depending upon the kind of thing with which he is most familiar, not the +thing especially called for. Each particular craft has a technique of +its own. + +One other class of person also loves canopy work--the tradesman; but his +affection for it is less disinterested, and more easily accounted for. +The stock canopy (as every one knows who has been, as it were, behind +the counter) is a famous device for cheapening production. The examples +chosen for illustration throughout these pages do, on the whole, much +more than justice to the periods which they were chosen to represent; +but, taken altogether, they do not, even so, form a very effective plea +for canopy work. + +Were the canopy more defensible than it is in glass, it would still have +monopolised far too large a place in the scheme of mediæval and +Renaissance design. We owe largely to it, in connection with the +gradually increasing claims of figure work, the all but extinction of +pattern glass. Figure work is practically implied by the canopy. +Occasionally, indeed, architecture has formed the whole _motif_ of a +window; but the case is so rare that it does not count. Once in a while +there may be excuse, and even occasion, for almost any device. + +There is no valid reason of art why figures and figure subjects should +not be framed in ornament, designed indeed with reference to the +architecture of the building, but not in the least in the likeness of +architecture. This ornament might perfectly well be in white and stain. +Ornamental setting in colour does occur in thirteenth century medallion +windows, and again (though only by exception) in certain Early +Renaissance glass; but by that time pictures, as a rule, absorbed all +the interest of design. The instinct which makes us want to give even +pictured personages some sort of roof above their heads is more natural +than logical. Anyway, to make windows to look like niches in the wall, +is an absurd ideal of design, and the nearer the glass painter gets to +it the further he has gone off the track. If anything in the nature of a +canopy be desirable, clearly it should be constructed on the lines, not +of masonry, but of glazing. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +A PLEA FOR ORNAMENT. + + +There is a direction in which glass has never been fully developed, that +of purely ornamental design. This is the more to be deplored because +that direction is the one in which was most scope for the peculiar depth +and brilliancy of colour characteristic of mosaic glass. Ornament was +used in the thirteenth century not only as a setting for figure +medallions, but as of sufficient interest to form of itself most +beautiful windows in grisaille. Presently the attractions of figure work +put an end to that; and, furthermore, the preference for picture +naturally led to the development of design in the direction of glass +painting, which lent itself so much more readily than mosaic to +pictorial expression. We owe to that, not only the perfection of glass +painting, and its ultimate degradation, but the neglect of latent +possibilities in more thoroughly mosaic glass, aye, in pure glazing. + +Even in figure work, much might be done for clerestory and other distant +work, at all events, in pure mosaic glass. Those who have not closely +observed old glass have no conception of the amount of leadwork there is +in the windows they admire, at the very moment that they deprecate +leading, so little do these interfere with the design, when disposed +with the cunning of a craftsman. One can imagine figures on a large +scale boldly blocked out, with broad shadows, in which not only the +shadows, but even the reflected lights in them, might be glazed in +pot-metal, and from the floor of a big church the leads would be +inappreciable. But, except in work upon an absolutely heroic scale, +there would always be the difficulty of the flesh; the features would +have to be painted; and glass pictures of this kind would needs be +designed with a severe simplicity not calculated to satisfy the modern +pictorial sense. + +The advocates of painting complain that due consideration of the +qualities of glass would limit the artist to the baldest kind of +pictorial effect. Something certainly must be sacrificed to fit +treatment of the material, or glass suffers, whatever picture may gain. +That is what has happened. But if so much sacrifice is necessary to +figure, why always adopt that form of design? Why not sometimes at least +abandon subject, and seek what can best be done in glass, even though +that be barbaric? It is not quite certain but that glass really lends +itself only to a rather barbaric kind of design, or what we are +barbarous enough to call barbaric. This is certain: the interest of +figure work has put an end to ornamental glass. It has become almost an +article of faith with us that, to the making of a window worth looking +at, figure design is indispensable. That should not be so. And, seeing +that picture does not afford full scope for the qualities which +glass-lovers most dearly love in glass, it seems rather cruel that +picture should so largely preponderate in its design as to suppress the +possibilities in the way of ornament. Why should it be so? + +There are two very important reasons for the introduction of figure into +glass, the one literary, the other artistic. In the first place, we love +a story, that is no more than human; we want to know what it is all +about, that is no more than rational; and figure subjects afford the +most obvious means of satisfying those cravings of ours. But artists +want these cravings satisfied by means of art. Some of them, perhaps, +think more of the means employed than of the end achieved, and would +have "art for art's sake." Theirs is a doctrine of very limited +application. Sanity insists upon subordination of the means to end; and +art is not an end in itself, nor is craftsmanship. It is not, therefore, +for one moment suggested that story, sentiment, meaning, in windows, +should be ruthlessly sacrificed to craftsmanship, even though expression +implied the use of figure, which it does not. What is claimed, is merely +this: that when you employ a material or a process some consideration is +due to it. + +Before undertaking to express an idea, it is always as well for the +artist to consider how far its expression is consistent with art. If it +can be expressed only at the cost of all that is best in art, it were +better to adopt some other means of expression. If a particular craft is +your one means of expression, and that particular thing cannot well be +said in it, then say what can be said; it will be to much more purpose +than saying even a better thing and saying it ill. The better the +thought, the greater the crime of saying it inadequately. + +After all, the sentiment, or what not, which people ask for in glass, +and which compels figure work, is not, in the majority of instances, by +any means so important, even in their eyes, but that they would +sacrifice it readily enough if they knew the price in art at which they +would have to pay for it. Let patrons of stained glass, if they care for +art, ponder this statement; it is not spoken in haste, but in +conviction. + +There is one reason of sentiment which would argue against great part of +the use that is made of figure work, at all events in church glass, the +doubt, namely, as to how far it is possible, in these days, to reconcile +the devout with the decorative treatment of sacred subjects. We are all +admiration when we gaze up at the splendid figure of Moses in the great +transept window at Chartres. But it is the artist in us that is +entranced, the lover of glass, and especially of colour; the artless +worshipper might feel that the dignity of the Lawgiver would perhaps +have been better expressed with less attention to decorative effect. We +are not shocked at the archaic effigy, because we realize that reverence +underlies its simplicity. In modern work it is otherwise. Artistic +intention, admirable or not from the æsthetic point of view, is +responsible for the introduction into our churches of delineations of +all that Christians hold sacred so ridiculous, it is a wonder devout +worshippers allow them to be there. The excuse for glass is its +decorative effect. Its value is in its colour. A Saint in stained glass +(to mention no higher Person) stands in a window for just so much +colour: is not that rather a degradation of the saint? + +In the second place, apart altogether from what has been called the +literary interest (which no one will dispute) there is in figure work a +charm, altogether artistic, in the very unexpectedness of the +colour-patches you get in it, not accidental quite, but in many +instances at least, inspired by accident. The besetting sin of ornament +is obviousness; it has a way of distributing itself too symmetrically +and evenly, of laying its secret bare to the most casual glance. We see +at once there is nothing to find out in it, and our interest drops to +zero. + +In figure design, on the contrary, there are breaks even in the very +best balanced scheme; there is always something unexpected, unforeseen, +something to kindle interest; in fact, the difficulty is, there, to +distribute the composition evenly enough. The question arises whether +this sameness, and consequent tameness, of ornament, the way the points +of intended interest recur with irritating frequency and regularity, +resolving themselves into mere spots--whether this defect is inherent in +ornament, and inseparable from it. + +Proof that it is not is afforded by heraldry, distinctly a branch of +ornamental design, in which, for precisely the same reasons as in figure +work, we get just that inevitable deviation from system, and more +especially from symmetry, which seems necessary to the salvation of +ornament. Where by happy chance an ornamental window has been patched +with glass not belonging to it, or where portions of it have been +misplaced, we get similar relief from monotony. Here the unexpectedness +of contrast, colour, and so on, is accidental; in heraldry it is, in the +nature of things, unforeseen of the artist, and unavoidable. May not +similar results be obtained of set purpose and design? Surely they may. +Were it otherwise, it would be worth falling back now and then upon +haphazard, and letting colour come as it might. + +Happily there is no occasion for that feeble sort of fatalism. Given a +colourist and a man with that sense of distribution (whether of line, +mass, or colour) which makes the artist, what is to hinder him from +deliberately planning so much of surprise as may be necessary to tickle +the appetite for the ornamental? The ogre in the path is what we call +economy. Because ornament can without doubt be more cheaply executed +than figure work, it is taken for granted that it must be reserved by +rights for cheap work. What else is there to recommend it? And, that +being so, ornament being but padding, by all means, it is argued, let it +be not only cheap but of the cheapest! + +Design, moreover, if it be worth having at all, is costly, and there is +clearly thrift in repeating the same pattern, and even one unit of it, +over and over again. The practice of saving design in this way has +become at last so much a matter of course, that no one thinks of +designing an ornamental window, as a whole, without repetition of +pattern--except the artist; and with him it is a fond desire which he +hopes perhaps some day to fulfil--at his own expense. + +Under circumstances such as these, what wonder ornament is monotonous? +It could not well be otherwise. But these conditions are not in the +nature of things. Ornamental design has subsided because no one asks +for, cares for, or encourages, ornament. It needs only to be in the +hands of an artist--not necessarily a Holbein, but just a Rhodian +potter, a Persian carpet weaver, a mediæval carver, or a nameless +glazier--to be worthy of its modest place in art. + +Considering the costliness of good figure work and the absolute +worthlessness of bad, considering the way in which glass lends itself +especially to ornament, considering how in ornament the qualities most +necessary to decorative effect and most characteristic of the material +can be obtained, surely the wiser policy would be to do what can so +readily be done. When glass lends itself so kindly to ornament it seems +a sin to neglect it. Is it quite past praying for, that there may still +be a future for windows merely ornamental, which shall yet satisfy the +sense of beauty? + + + + +BOOK III. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE CHARACTERISTICS OF STYLE. + + +What are the characteristics of the various styles in glass? How does +one tell the period of a window? These are not questions that can be +fully answered in the short space of a chapter, which is all that can +here be devoted to it; but it may help those to whom a window tells +nothing of its date, briefly to mention the characteristics according to +which we class it as belonging to this period or that. With a view to +conciseness and to convenience of reference it will be best to catalogue +these characteristics rather than to describe them. + +Any subdivision of glass into "styles" must be more or less arbitrary. +One style merges into the other, and the characteristics of each +overlap, so to speak. The most convenient lines of demarcation are the +centuries; for, as it happens, the changes in manner do take place more +or less towards the century end. The one broad distinction is between +Gothic and Renaissance. + +Gothic may best be divided into three periods--viz., Thirteenth century +and before, Fourteenth century, and Fifteenth century and after. + +_Thirteenth century glass_, commonly called "Early English," or, as the +case may be, "Early French," may as well be taken to include, for our +purpose, what little remains of twelfth century or Norman work. It +includes naturally Early German work, which is Romanesque and not Gothic +in character. + +_Fourteenth century glass_ belongs to the Middle or Transitional Gothic +period. We call it "Decorated," for the inadequate reason that its +detail is naturalistic. + +_Fifteenth century glass_, with us "Perpendicular," in France +"Flamboyant," in Germany "Interpenetrated," may, for convenience' sake, +be taken to include so much of Gothic as may be found lingering in the +sixteenth century. + +The _Sixteenth century_ is more properly the period of the Renaissance. +It is better not to apply to it the Italian term "cinque-cento," since +the greater part of it is not of the purely Italian character which that +would imply. + +_Seventeenth century glass_ is to be distinguished from that of the +sixteenth mainly inasmuch as it shows more markedly that decadence which +had already begun to set in before the year 1600. It may be conveniently +described as Late Renaissance. + +[Illustration: 213. ST. REMI, REIMS.] + +_Eighteenth century glass_ is not of sufficient account to be classed. + +It will be seen that the dates above given do not quite coincide with +those of Winston, who gives Early English to 1280, Decorated to 1380, +and Perpendicular to 1530. There is here no thought of impugning his +accuracy; but it seems more convenient not to distinguish a new style +until the work begins markedly to differ from what had gone before, +especially when the marked difference happens conveniently to coincide +with the beginning of a new century; and Winston himself says of +Perpendicular work (and implies as much of Decorated) that the style +"can hardly be said to have become thoroughly established" until the +beginning of the new century. + +We have thus a century of Middle Gothic, the fourteenth century. What +goes before is Early Gothic or Romanesque, as the case may be; what +comes after is Late Gothic, cooeval for a quarter of a century or more +with the Renaissance. + +[Illustration: 214. DETAIL FROM MEDALLION WINDOWS AT CANTERBURY.] + + +EARLY GLASS. + +The first thing which strikes one in Early Glass is either its deep +rich, jewelled colour (Canterbury, Chartres), or its sober, silvery, +greyness (Salisbury; Five Sisters, York). Exception to this alternative +occurs mainly in very early ornamental glass (_circa._ 1300--S. Denis; +S. Remi, Reims; Angers), in which white and colour are somewhat evenly +mixed. Early figure work occurs also occasionally in colour on a white +ground. The design of the richer class of windows consists largely of +figure work. The design of "grisaille" windows consists mainly of +ornamental pattern. + +_Composition._--Rich windows are of three kinds: medallion windows, rose +windows, figure and canopy windows. Jesse windows form an exception. +(Chapter XXIX.) + +1. _Medallion Windows_ are the most characteristic of the period +(Chapter XII.). These contain figure subjects, on a quite small scale, +within medallion shapes set in ornament (Canterbury, Chartres, etc.). + +[Illustration: 215. MOSAIC DIAPER.] + +In the very earliest medallion windows (Angers, Poitiers) the ordered +scheme of the medallioned window is sometimes interrupted by subjects +not strictly enclosed in medallions. Or else, perhaps (Chartres), the +subjects take the form of panels one above the other--they can scarcely +be called medallions--with little or no ornament between. + +After the first few years of the thirteenth century, however, the figure +medallions (circles, quatrefoils, etc.) occur, as a rule, one above the +other throughout the length of the light, with perhaps a boss of +ornament between; the interstices being filled, in English glass with +ornamental scrollwork, in French with geometric diaper (opposite). + +[Illustration: 216. DETAIL OF MEDALLION WINDOW, CHARTRES.] + +In the broad windows of Norman churches (pages 123, 124) the medallions +are proportionately large, and are subdivided into four or five +divisions, each of which is devoted to a separate picture. In our +narrower lancet lights there is no occasion for that. + +[Illustration: 217. BARS IN MEDALLION WINDOWS.] + +The figures in medallion subjects are few and far apart, standing +comparatively clear-cut against a plain background (page 325); compacter +groups indicate a later period. Landscape is symbolised rather than +represented by a conventional tree or so; a town by an arch or two, a +battlemented wall, or the like. + +Medallions are framed by lines of colour and beaded bands of white, but +they do not, as a rule, separate themselves very markedly from their +ornamental surroundings. The effect is one rather indeterminate glory of +intense colour. + +Except in quite the earliest medallion windows, the strong iron bars +supporting the glass are, as a rule, bent (above), to follow the outline +of the medallions. That was done in no other period. + +2. _Rose Windows_ occur mainly in French churches. They are a variation +upon the medallion window. A great Rose window (Chartres, Bourges, etc.) +may be regarded as a series of radiating medallion lights, with subjects +relatively fewer in number, and a greater proportion of pattern work. +Occasionally they consist of pattern work altogether. Smaller Roses (the +only form of tracery met with in quite Early work) contain very often a +central circular medallion subject, the cusps or foils round it being +occupied with ornament, all in rich colour, even though the lights below +it be in grisaille. + +3. _Figure and Canopy Windows_ (page 40) are more proper to the +clerestory and triforium of a church, but they are not entirely confined +to a far-off position. + +With regard to them it should be mentioned that figures under canopies, +sitting, or more often standing--one above the other in long, narrow +lights--occur throughout the Gothic periods, and even in Renaissance +glass. The characteristic thing about the Early ones is the stiffness +and comparative grotesqueness of the figures and the modesty of the +canopy. This last is of small dimensions. It may be merely a trefoiled +arch (page 40). Usually it is more architectural (page 46), gabled, with +a little roofing, and perhaps a small tower or two rising above, not +beautiful. It is in fairly strong colours. It is so little conspicuous +that it is not at first sight always distinguishable from the background +to the figure. Occasionally the figure has no canopy at all. The saint +stands front face, straight up in his niche, in a constrained and +cramped position, occupying its full width, which is obviously +insufficient. His feet rest in an impossible manner upon a label bearing +his name; or, if that be inscribed upon a label in his hand, or on the +background behind him, then he stands upon a little mound of green to +represent the earth (page 40). + +Figure and canopy alike are archaic in design, and rudely drawn. It is +seldom that a figure subject on a smaller scale is introduced below the +standing figure, as was frequently the case in later work. Groups of +figures are characteristically confined to medallion windows. + +_The Border_ is a feature in Early glass. It is broad. In medallion +windows it measures sometimes as much as one-fourth the width of the +light. It takes up, that is to say, perhaps half the area of the window. +It consists of foliated ornament similar in character to that between +the medallions. Very broad borders occasionally include smaller figure +medallions. In figure and canopy windows the borders are less, and +simpler. Sometimes they consist merely of broad bands of colour +interrupted by rosettes of other colours. Circumstances of proportion, +and so on, influence the width of the border; but a broad border is +characteristic of the Early period. + +[Illustration: 218. LE MANS.] + +In Rose windows the border is of less account, and is confined, as a +rule, to the outer ring of lights, or, it may be, to their outer edge. + +_Detail._--Ornamental detail is severely conventional. In very Early +work (page 327) it has rather the character of Romanesque ornament, with +straplike stalks interlacing, often enriched by a beaded, zig-zag, or +other pattern, which may be either painted upon it or picked out of +solid brown. + +Early in the thirteenth century foliage assumes the simpler Gothic form, +with cinquefoiled, or more often trefoiled, leafage (as here shown). + +[Illustration: 219. CHARTRES.] + +When it begins to be more naturalistic it is a sign of transition to the +Decorated period. In Germany something of Romanesque flavour lingered +far into the thirteenth century (page 330). There is properly no Early +Gothic period there. Heraldry is modestly introduced into Early glass. +The Donor is occasionally represented on quite a small scale in the +lower part of a window, his offering in his hand; or he is content to be +represented by a small shield of arms. + +_Colour._--The glass in Early windows is uneven in substance, and, +consequently, in colour. This is very plainly seen in the "white" glass, +which shades off, according to its thickness, from greenish or +yellowish-white to bottle colour. The colour lies also sometimes in +streaks of lighter and darker. This is especially so in red glass. The +shades of colour most usually employed for backgrounds are blue and +ruby. White occurs, but only occasionally. + +[Illustration: 220. AUXERRE.] + +[Illustration: 221. PATCHWORK OF GRISAILLE, SALISBURY.] + +The Early palette consists of:-- + +White, greenish, and rather clouded; red, rubylike, often streaky; blue, +deep sapphire to palest grey-blue, oftenest deep; turquoise-blue, of +quite different quality, inclining to green; yellow, fairly strong, but +never hot; green, pure and emerald-like, or deep and even low in tone, +but only occasionally inclining to olive; purple-brown, reddish or +brownish, not violet; flesh tint, actually lighter and more pinkish +shades of this same purple-brown. In very early work the flesh is +inclined to be browner. + +[Illustration: 222. S. KUNIBERT, COLOGNE.] + +It must be remembered that, though the palette of the first glaziers was +restricted, the proceeding of the glass-makers was so little scientific +that they had no very great control over their manufacture. No two pots +of glass, therefore, came out alike. Hence a great variety of shades of +glass, though produced from a few simple recipes. They might by accident +produce, once in a way, almost any colour. A pot of ruby sometimes +turned out greenish-black. Still, the colours above mentioned +predominate in Early work, and are clearly those aimed at. + +_Workmanship._--The glazing of an Early window is strictly a mosaic of +small pieces of glass. Each separate colour in it is represented by a +separate piece of glass, or several pieces. + +The great white eyes, for example, of big clerestory figures are +separate pieces of white glass, rimmed with lead, and held in place by +connecting strips of lead, which give them often very much the +appearance of spectacles (page 40). In work on a sufficiently large +scale the hair of the head and beard are also glazed in white, or +perhaps in some dark colour, distinct from the brownish-pink flesh tint +peculiar to the period (same page). No large pieces of glass occur. + +[Illustration: 223. S. KUNIBERT, COLOGNE.] + +Upon examination the window proves to be netted over with lines of lead +jointing, much of which is lost in the outlines of the design. + +In large clerestory figures and the like, masses of one colour occur, +but they are made up of innumerable little bits of glass, by no means +all of one shade of colour; whence the richness in tone. + +[Illustration: 224. S. JEAN-AUX-BOIS.] + +_Painting._--In Early glass painting plays a very subordinate part. Only +one pigment is used, and that not by way of colour, but to paint out the +light and define form. + +Details of figure and ornament are traced in firm strong brush lines. + +Lines mark the exaggerated expression of the face, the close folds of +the spare drapery wrapped tightly round the figure, the serration of +foliage, and so on (pages 33, 37, 324). Lines, in the form of sweeping +brush strokes or cross-hatching, are used also to emphasise such shading +(not very much) as may be indicated in thirteenth century work, or +perhaps it should rather be said that the lines of shading are +supplemented very often by a coat of thin brown paint, not always very +easily detected on the deep-coloured glass of the period. + +_White Windows, or "Grisaille."_--Grisaille assumes in France the +character of interlacing strapwork all in white. Sometimes this is quite +without paint (page 25). Plain work of the kind occurs also with us; but +it is dangerous to give a date to simple glazing. That at Salisbury +(page 26) is probably not of the very earliest. + +In France, as with us, such strapwork is associated with foliated +detail, traced in strong outline upon the white glass and defined by a +background of cross-hatched lines which go for a greyer tint (above). + +After the beginning of the thirteenth century, this strapwork is +sometimes in colour, or points of colour are introduced in the shape of +rosettes, etc., and in the border (pages 137, 138). + +In England there is from the first usually a certain amount of coloured +glass in grisaille windows (pages 141, 332). Sometimes there is a +considerable quantity of it (Five Sisters, York); but it never appears +to be much. The effect is always characteristically grey and silvery. + +[Illustration: 225. GRISAILLE, SALISBURY.] + +So long as the painted foliage keeps closely within the formal lines +of strapwork, etc., it is, at all events in English glass, a sign of +comparatively early thirteenth century work. + +Later in the century the scroll winds rather more freely about the +window (page 143). + +The omission of the cross-hatched background and the more natural +rendering of the foliation (page 386) announce the approach to the +Decorated period. + +Figure subjects in colour, planted, as it were, upon grisaille or quarry +lights (Poitiers, Amiens), and grisaille borders to windows with figures +in rich colour (Auxerre), are of exceptional occurrence. + +Winston gives the year 1280 as the limit of the Early period, but there +seems no absolute reason for drawing the line at that date. The use of +stain, which was the beginning of a new departure in glass, does not +pronounce itself before the fourteenth century. It seems, therefore, +more convenient to include the last twenty years of the century in the +first period, and to call it thirteenth century, accepting the more +naturalistic type of foliage, when it occurs, as sign of transition; +for, apart from that, the later thirteenth century work is not very +markedly different from what was done before 1280. + + +FOURTEENTH CENTURY. + +[Illustration: 226. S. URBAIN, TROYES.] + +_Decorated or Intermediate Gothic._--Decorated glass grows +characteristically livelier in colour than Early glass; at first it +becomes warmer, owing to the use of more yellow, then lighter, owing to +the use of white. It does not divide itself so obviously into coloured +and grisaille. + +The figure subjects include, as time goes on, more and more white glass. +The grisaille contains more colour. + +Figures and figure subjects are now very commonly used in combination +with grisaille ornament in the same window. That is a new and +characteristic departure (page 159). + +_Composition._--Figure windows occur, indeed, with little or no +ornament, in which case the subjects are piled one above the other, in +panels rather than medallions, or under canopies. When the canopies are +insignificant the result is one apparently compact mass of small figure +work, as deep and rich perhaps in colour (S. Sebald's, Nuremberg) as an +Early medallion window; but the colour is not so equally distributed; it +occurs more in patches. + +Decorated canopies, however, are usually, after the first few years, of +sufficient size to assert themselves as very conspicuous patches of +rather brassy yellow, which in a window of several lights (and windows +now almost invariably consist of two or more lights) form a band (or if +there are two or more tiers of canopies, a series of bands) across the +window. + +In the case of grisaille windows also, figures or figure subjects are +introduced either in the form of shaped panels or under little canopies, +and take the form of a band or bands of comparatively rich colour across +a comparatively light window. + +When these canopies are themselves pronounced, the window shows +alternate bands of figures (rich), canopies (yellowish), and ornamental +pattern (whitish). In any case these horizontal bands across the window +mark departure from the earlier style. + +_Canopies._--Canopies occur now over subjects as well as single figures. + +The canopy is designed in flat elevation. Any indication of perspective +betokens the end of the period. It has broadish shafts, usually for the +most part white, which terminate in pinnacles (page 155). It has seldom +any architectural base: the figures stand upon grass or pavement. It has +usually a three-cusped arch, and above that a pointed gable decorated +with crockets and ending in a finial. Crockets and finial are usually in +strong, brassy yellow. Above are pinnacles and shrinework in white and +colour, including as a rule a fair amount of yellow. + +It may rise to a great height, dwarfing the figure beneath it. This +occurs very especially in German work. + +Sometimes the most conspicuous thing in the window is this +disproportionate canopy. Its very disproportion is characteristic of the +period. + +In German work one great brassy canopy will frequently be found +stretching right across the several lights of the window, over-arching a +single subject. This triptich-like composition will occupy, perhaps, +two-thirds of the height of the window. The background behind the +pinnacles of this canopy may be either of one colour or of geometric +diaper in mosaic (elsewhere characteristic of the Early period), +finished off by a more or less arbitrary line--a cusped arch, for +instance--above which is white glass. This kind of canopy has, by way of +exception, an architectural base. + +[Illustration: 227. CHÂLONS.] + +Another German practice is to fill the window with huge circular subject +medallions, occupying the entire width of the window, and intersected by +the mullions. + +Single-light windows have sometimes a central elongated medallion or +panel subject (without canopy), above and below which is ornamental +grisaille. + +_Borders._--All windows have, as a rule, borders; but they are narrower +than in Early work. + +Tracery lights, which now form a conspicuous part of the window, are, as +a rule, also each separately bordered, often with a still narrower +border in colour, or it may be only a line of colour. + +Grisaille windows have usually coloured borders, foliaged or heraldic +(as above). The border does not necessarily frame the light at its base; +very often there is an inscription there. Between the coloured border +and the stonework is still invariably a marginal line of white glass. + +[Illustration: 228. EARLY DECORATED FIGURE, TROYES.] + +Sometimes, more especially in tracery, this white line is broad enough +to have a pattern painted upon it, in which case there is no coloured +border. Or this white border line may be enriched at intervals by +rosettes or blocks of colour upon it. Or, again, it may be in part +tinted with pale yellow stain. + +Some such border is usually carried round each separate tracery light, +with the result that Decorated tracery may usually be distinguished at a +glance from later work by a certain lack of breadth about it. + +There is no need to say more about Decorated tracery, seeing that the +idea of this epitome is to enable the amateur to form some opinion as to +the period of a window, and not to prompt the designer. The geometric +character of the stonework proclaims the period, and, unless there is +something in the design of the glass to indicate a later date, it may be +taken to belong to it. It cannot well be earlier if it fits. + +_Stain._--Yellow stain is proof positive that the glass is not much +earlier than the fourteenth century, for it is only about that time that +the process of staining white glass yellow was discovered. The +occurrence therefore of white and colour upon the same piece of +glass--_i.e._, not glazed up with it, but stained upon it, is indicative +of Middle or Late Gothic. + +Stained yellow is always purer and clearer than pot-metal; when pale it +inclines to lemon, when dark to orange. It is best described as golden. +In comparison with it pot-metal yellow is brownish or brassy. + +This yellow stain warms and brightens Decorated windows, especially +those in grisaille. It naturally does away with a certain amount of +glazing, for colour is now not entirely mosaic. Bands of yellow ornament +in white windows, if stained, have lead on one side of them at most. + +The hair of angels comes to be stained yellow upon white glass, which +towards the fifteenth century takes the place of the flesh tint. + +_Figures._--Figures are still rather rudely drawn. They do not always +fill out their niches, which, indeed, frequently overpower them. In +attitude they pose and would be graceful. There is some swing about +their posture, but it is often exaggerated. Drapery becomes more +voluminous, fuller and freer, as shown opposite. + +At the back of the figure hangs commonly a screen diapered +damask-fashion--the diaper often picked out of solid paint. + +_Grisaille._--The distinguishing characteristics of Decorated grisaille +are fully described in the chapter dealing with it. It has usually a +coloured border. The foliated pattern no longer follows the lines of the +white or coloured strapwork, but it does not interlace with the straps +(pages 163, 333). + +Coloured bosses adorn the centre of the grisaille panels. Frequently +these take the form of heraldic shields, planted, as it were, upon the +grisaille. + +[Illustration: 229. S. OUEN, ROUEN.] + +The practice of cross-hatching the background to grisaille foliage dies +out in France and England. In Germany it survives throughout the period; +or, it may be, the background is coated with solid paint, and the +cross-hatching is in white lines scratched out of that. + +_Naturalism._--The foliation of the ornament is now everywhere +naturalistic. That is the surest sign of the period, at first the only +sign of change. In grisaille patterns and in coloured borders you can +identify the rose, the vine, the oak, the ivy, the maple, and so on +(pages 162, 166, 168). + +In Germany, the design of ornamental windows consists often of +naturalistic foliage in white and colour upon a coloured ground, the +whole rich, but not so rich as Early glass (pages 171 _et seq._). There +also occur windows stronger in colour than ordinary grisaille, designed +on lines more geometric than those of French or English glass of the +period (page 170). + +[Illustration: 230. 14TH CENTURY GERMAN.] + +_Colour._--Glass gets less streaky, evener, and sometimes lighter in +tint, as time goes on. Flesh tint gets paler and pinker, and at last +white; "white" glass gets more nearly white. + +Much blue and ruby continue to be used; but more green is introduced, +and more yellow, often the two in combination. In fact, there is a +leaning towards combinations of green and yellow, rather than the red +and blue so characteristic of Early glass. Green is frequently used for +backgrounds. The pure bright emerald-like green gives way to greens +inclining more to olive. In some German windows, green, yellow, and +purple-brown predominate. Occasionally, in the latter part of the +century, pale blue is modified by yellow stain upon it, which gives a +greenish tint. + +_Painting._--Outline is still used; but it becomes more delicate. +Shading is still smeared on with a brush. But in the latter half of the +century it was the practice to stipple it, so as to soften the edges and +give it a granular texture. This is not quite the same thing as the +"stipple or matt shading" described on page 64, where the glass was +entirely coated with a stippled tint and the lights brushed out. + +[Illustration: 231. WELLS.] + +Decorated glass is plentiful in England and Germany, not so abundant in +France. + + +FIFTEENTH CENTURY. + +_Perpendicular Glass._--By the fifteenth century the glass painter had +quite made up his mind in favour of more light. He makes use of glass in +larger sheets, and of lighter and brighter colour. His white is +especially purer than before, and he uses it in much greater +quantities. + +[Illustration: 232. FIGURES, S. MARY'S, ROSS.] + +So decidedly is this so, that a typical fifteenth century window strikes +you as a screen of silvery-white glass in which are set pictures or +patches of more or less brilliant, rather than intensely deep, colour. + +_Design._--Design takes, for the most part, the form of figure and +canopy windows, schemed somewhat on the same lines as in the Decorated +period--the subjects, that is to say, cross the window in horizontal +bands. + +But there is so much white glass in the canopy work--it is practically +all in white (as stone) touched with stain (as gilding)--and it so +entirely surrounds the figure subjects, that you do not so much notice +the horizontal bands (into which the subjects really fall when you begin +to dissect the design) as the mass of white in which they are embedded. + +[Illustration: 233. PERPENDICULAR CANOPY.] + +_Canopies._--The larger Perpendicular windows are now crossed by stone +transoms, so that very long lights do not, as a rule, occur. + +Each light has a canopy, without any enclosing border (233). The canopy +stands, as it were, in the window opening, almost filling it, except +that, above, behind the topmost pinnacles, are glimpses of red or blue +background, not separated from the stonework by so much as a line of +white, heretofore of almost invariable occurrence. The hood and base of +canopy are shown in misunderstood perspective, indicating usually a +three-sided projection (page 342). + +Its shafts and base rest upon the ground, on which are painted grass and +foliage, all in white and stain. When standing figures occupy the place +of honour, the base may very likely include a small subject, +illustrative of a scene in the life of the personage depicted above. Or +the base may be a sort of pedestal (page 179). + +The figures usually stand upon a chequered mosaic pavement in black and +white, or white and stain, not very convincingly foreshortened (page +185). + +In the canopy may be little windows of pot-metal colour, and in the base +perhaps a spot or two of colour; but, whatever the amount of pot-metal +(never much) or of stain (often a good deal), the effect is always +silvery-white; and as time goes on the canopy becomes more solidly and +massively white. The groining at the back of the niche just above the +figures is a feature of the full-blown style. The vault is usually +stained, less often glazed in pot-metal. There is more scope for this +coloured groining in windows where the canopy runs through several +lights. That is more common in France and Germany than with us. In +English work each light has, as a rule, its own canopy. + +In France, and more especially in Germany, the canopies are not seldom +in yellow instead of white, golden in effect instead of silvery. +Sometimes white and yellow canopies alternate (Nuremberg, Munich). The +German canopy is often more florid, and less distinctly architectural +than the English. + +Perpendicular canopies are more in proportion to the figures under them +than Decorated. Usually they are important enough to be a feature in the +window, if not the feature. Sometimes, however, they are quite small and +insignificant (East window, York), in which event the subjects appear +more like a series of small panels, one above the other. In that case +there is likely to be a large amount of white glass in the subjects +themselves (pages 252, 339). Possibly the background is white. In any +case, there is usually a fair share of white glass in the drapery of +figures. The faces also are almost invariably white, often with stained +hair; and this white flesh is characteristic of the period. + +Until the turn of the century, landscape or architectural accessories +are, to a large extent, in white and stain, against a blue or ruby +ground. + +Variety of colour in the background (or a further amount of white) is +introduced by means of a screen of damask behind the figure, shoulder +high, above which alone appears the usual blue or ruby background, +diapered. The screen may be of any colour: purple-brown is not uncommon. +When scale permits, the damask pattern is often glazed in colours, or in +white and stain upon pot-metal yellow. + +[Illustration: 234. FIGURE AND CANOPY WINDOWS, BOURGES.] + +[Illustration: 235. FAIRFORD.] + +Heraldic shields are more conspicuous than ever in the design. Donors +and their patron saints are often important personages in the foreground +of the picture. + +_Tracery._--Tracery lights being now more of the same shape as the +lights below, the glass is designed on much the same plan. That is to +say, they also contain little figures under canopies. These are often +entirely, or almost entirely, in white and stain, only here and there a +point of colour showing in the background, more especially about their +heads. + +Trefoiled, quatrefoiled, three-sided, or other openings not adapted to +canopy work, have usually foliated ornament in white and stain, with +border line of white and stain, the background painted in solid brown. +Inscribed scrolls and emblematical devices in white and stain also occur +in the smaller tracery lights. + +_Grisaille._--Grisaille takes almost invariably the form of quarries. +The pattern of the quarries consists ordinarily of just a rosette or +some such spot in the centre of the glass, delicately outlined and +filled in with stain. A band of canopied figures sometimes crosses +quarry windows, the pinnacles of the canopies breaking into the quarries +above. Figures occur also often in white and stain, against a quarry +ground, without canopy, standing perhaps on a bracket, or on a mere +label or inscription band (York Minster). Occasionally we get subjects +altogether in white and stain, without quarry glazing. In Germany +unpainted roundels, or circular discs of white glass, take the place of +quarries (page 292). + +_Detail of Ornament._--The detail of Perpendicular foliage is no longer +very naturalistic; it has often the appearance of being embossed or +otherwise elaborated. It is most commonly in white with yellow stalks. + +_Borders._--The border is no longer the rule, except in quarry windows. +It is now very rarely used to frame canopies. Where it occurs it is +usually in the form of a "block" border, differing only from that of +the Decorated period by the character of the painted detail. Borders all +in white and stain also occur. + +The border does not follow the deeply cut foils of the window head. +These are occupied each by its separate round of glass painted with a +crown, star, lion's head, or other such device, in white and stain, +against which the coloured border stops. + +_Stain._--Abundant use of beautiful golden stain is typical of the +period. Stain is always varied, sometimes shading off by subtle degrees +from palest lemon to deep orange. The deliberate use of two distinct +tones of stain, as separate tints, say of a damask pattern, argues a +near approach to the sixteenth century. So does the use of stain upon +pot-metal yellow. + +Other signs of the mature style are:-- + +1. The very careful choice of varied and unevenly coloured glass to +suggest shading or local colour. + +2. The use of curious pieces of accidentally varied ruby to represent +marble, and the like. + +3. The abrasion of white spots or other pattern on flashed blue (the +abrasion of white from ruby begins with the second half of the century). + +4. The introduction of distant landscape in perspective, and especially +the representation of clouds in the sky, and other indications of +attempted atmospheric effect. + +5. The treatment of several lights as one picture space, without canopy. + +_Colour._--White glass is cooler and more silvery, more purely white. +Red glass is less crimson, often approaching more to a scarlet colour. +Blue glass becomes lighter, greyer; sometimes it is of steely quality, +sometimes it approaches to pale purple. More varieties of purple-brown +and purple are used. Purer pink occurs. + +_Drawing._--In the fifteenth century the archaic period of drawing is +outgrown. Figures are often admirably drawn, more especially towards the +end of the period, at which time the folds of drapery are made much of. + +_Painting._--Painting is much more delicate. The method adopted is that +of stippling (page 64). + +Figure and ornament alike are carefully shaded, quarry patterns and +narrow painted borders excepted. + +[Illustration: 236. SCRAPS OF LATE GOTHIC DETAIL.] + +For a long while painters hesitated to obscure the glass much; they +shaded very delicately, and used hatchings, and a sort of scribble of +lines, to deepen the shadows. As a result the shading appears sometimes +weak, but the glass is always brilliant. + +[Illustration: 237. FAIRFORD.] + +With the progress of the century stronger stipple shading was used; more +roundness and greater depth of shadow was thus achieved, at +proportionate cost of silvery whiteness and brilliancy in the glass. + +The characteristic of the later technique was that it depended less upon +mosaic, and more upon paint. + +Leads were not used unless they were constructionally unavoidable; and +it was sought to avoid them. The nimbus, for example, was glazed in one +piece with the head (page 189), stained perhaps, or with a pattern in +stain upon it, to distinguish it from the face; or it showed white +against the yellow hair. + +From the lead lines alone of an Early window, and of many a Decorated +one, you could read the design quite plainly. The later the period the +less that is so. By the end of the fifteenth century the lead lines +convey very often little or no idea of the picture, which they hold +together but no longer outline. Canopies, for example, are sometimes +leaded in square quarries, without regard to the drawing, except where +that must be (page 342). + +A pretty sure sign of period is afforded by the way the leads give, or +do not give, the design. Exceptions are mentioned on page 73. Where +leads seem to occur more or less as it happens, as though they might +have been an after-thought, that is most positive proof of Late work. + + +SIXTEENTH CENTURY. + +Renaissance glass does not, like Gothic, divide itself into periods. It +was at its best when it was still in touch with mediæval tradition. + +[Illustration: 238. FRENCH RENAISSANCE, MOSAIC.] + +The finest work in the new manner must be ascribed therefore to the +first half of the sixteenth century. After that its merits belong more +to picture than to glass. + +Apart from details of architecture, ornament (as above), costume and so +on, which at once proclaim the style, it is difficult to distinguish +between Gothic and Renaissance glass of the very early sixteenth +century. The distinction does not in fact exist; for Gothic traditions +survive even in work belonging, according to the evidence of its detail, +to the Renaissance. + +_Design._--Design takes now mainly the pictorial direction. It spreads +itself more invariably over the whole face of the window. The canopy, +for example, is seldom confined to a single light. + +_Canopies._--The canopy scheme is at first not widely removed from +Gothic precedent, although the detail may be pronouncedly Renaissance. +It frames the subject as before; but it is less positively white. It is +enriched with much more yellow stain; and the mass of white and stain is +broken by festoons and wreaths of foliage, fruit, and flowers, +medallions with coloured ground, ribbons, or other such features, in +pot-metal colour. A simple François Ier canopy is given on page 349. + +Sometimes these canopies consist rather of arabesque ornament than of +anything that can properly be called architectural, in white and yellow +(page 350), or perhaps all in yellow, upon a ground of pot-metal colour +(page 205); that is to say, the setting out of the window and the +technique employed are absolutely Gothic, and perhaps not even very late +Gothic, whilst the detail is altogether Renaissance in design. This +mosaic manner (as at Auch) bespeaks, of course, the early years of the +Renaissance. + +Another sure sign of lingering Gothic influence is where the round arch +is fringed with cusping. + +The more typically Renaissance form of design is where a huge monumental +structure fills the greater part of the window, not canopying a +subject, but having in front of it a figure group (Transept of S. +Gudule, page 71). The foreground figures stand out in dark relief +against the architecture and the sky beyond, seen through the central +arch. Into this grey-blue merges very often a distant landscape, painted +in great part upon the blue, and really seeming to recede into the +distance. The effect of distance is largely obtained by contrast with +the strong shadow of the soffits and sides of the arch seen in +perspective. + +We have here four characteristics of Renaissance glass:-- + +1. The monumental canopy with figures in front of it. + +2. Strong contrast of light and shade. + +3. Fairly accurate perspective in the architecture. + +4. Something like atmospheric effect in the landscape, which is painted +more or less upon the sky. + +When in a canopy the shadowed portions of the architecture are glazed in +deep-coloured glass (purple, as a rule), and not darkened by painting, +it indicates the early part of the century. The canopy, instead of being +arched, ends sometimes in a rich frieze and cornice (Church of Brou). +When it is in two stages, enclosing two subjects, the lower one has +naturally this horizontal entablature (Chapel of the Holy Sacrament, S. +Gudule). + +A less usual treatment is where the figures do not occupy the +foreground, but are seen through the arch. The subject occupies, in +fact, very much the position of a painted altar-piece in a carved stone +altar. + +Foreground figures prove often to be donors and their patron saints. The +head of the window above the great architectural canopy, as it is +convenient to call it, is usually of plain white glass, glazed in +rectangular or diamond quarries (page 71). + +A coloured ground above a Renaissance canopy indicates Gothic tradition, +and an Early period therefore (S. Jacques, Liège). + +More to the latter half of the century belong the pictorial compositions +in which architecture, more or less proper to the subject, fills great +part of the window, the foremost arches adapting themselves, sometimes, +to the stonework. In this case the architecture is in white glass, more +or less obscured by painted shadow; and pot-metal colour occurs only in +the figures, where it is perhaps quite rich, in occasional columns of +coloured marble, and in a peep of pale blue distance seen through some +window or other opening (page 213). + +[Illustration: 239. FRANÇOIS IER CANOPY, LYONS.] + +The grey-blue distance has often figures as well as landscape and +architecture painted upon it; to represent verdure it is stained green. +Blue is more usual than white as a ground; but that also occurs, +similarly painted. The not very usual landscape in white, with a blue +sky above, in the windows of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, belongs +to the early part of the century. + +_Tracery._--In small windows the subject, or its canopy, is often +carried up into the tracery lights (page 368), or the architecture ends +abruptly and horizontally at the springing of the arch, and the heads of +the lights are treated as part of the tracery. + +Tracery lights often contain figure subjects. Very commonly they are +occupied by figures of angels robed in white and stain, or in rich +colour, or with colour only in their wings, playing upon musical +instruments, bearing emblems, scrolls, and so on, all on a coloured +ground (page 280). There occur also, but less frequently, cherubic +heads, portrait medallions, badges, twisted labels, or other devices, +upon a ground of ruby, pale blue, purple, or purple-brown. A purple or +purplish background is of the period. + +Coloured grounds are used without borders. White grounds are usually +diapered with clouds. + +There is no very distinctive treatment of rose windows. They are filled +as pictorially as they well can be. They contain, perhaps, a central +subject and in the outer lights angels, cherubs, and the like, much as +in other tracery lights. + +_Ornament._--The detail of their ornament is a ready means of +distinguishing Renaissance windows. In place of Gothic leafage we have +scrollwork of the marked arabesque or grotesque character derived from +Italy. It needs no description. + +Screens and draperies have often patterns in white and stain on ruby and +other coloured grounds, produced by abrading the red and painting and +staining the white thus exposed. The process may be detected by the +absence of intervening lead between the white or yellow and the deep +ground. + +Other damask patterns are stained on the coloured glass without +abrasion, yellow on blue giving green, on purple olive, and so on. + +Ornamental windows scarcely go beyond quarry work, with a border of +white and stain. Except in quarry windows, borders are seldom used. + +Grisaille windows scarcely occur. The little subjects in white and stain +painted upon a single piece of glass, usually circular and framed in +quarries or in a cartouche set in plain glazing (page 352), belong to a +class by themselves. + +[Illustration: 240. CHURCH OF S. PETER, COLOGNE.] + +_Technique._--In many respects the technique of the Renaissance glass +painter is only a carrying further of the later Gothic means. He uses +more and more white glass, employing it also as a background; he uses +more shades of coloured glass, especially pale blues, greens, and +purples; he chooses his glass more carefully for specific purposes; he +uses more coated glass, and abrades it; he makes greater use of stain, +staining upon all manner of colours--ruby, blue, purple, green--and even +painting in stain, and picking out high lights upon it in white. He +paints delicate work more delicately. Flesh-painting he carries to a +very high point of perfection, more especially in the portraits of +Donors. In strengthening his shadows he eventually gets them muddy. At +first he used to hatch them to get additional strength; eventually he +was not careful always so much as to stipple them. He uses often a +warmer brown pigment for flesh painting, and by-and-by resorts to a +quite reddish tint by way of local colour; he uses large pieces of +glass when he can, and glazes his backgrounds and other large surfaces +in rectangular panes. Above canopies he comes to use pure white glass, +as if to suggest that the canopy is solid, and beyond only atmosphere. + +The one quite new departure in sixteenth century technique was the use +of enamel colour (see Chapter VIII.). That began to come into use +towards the middle of the century. When you detect the least touch of +enamel colour in a window, other than the pinkish flesh tint, you may +suspect that it belongs to the second half of the century; when it +seriously affects the design and colour of the window, you may be sure +it does. But it is not until quite the end of the century that mosaic +anywhere practically gives way to enamel painting. + +[Illustration: 241. S. JEAN, TROYES, 1678.] + +The sixteenth century, therefore, includes, broadly speaking, all that +is best in Renaissance glass and much that is already on the decline. +There is a tide in the affairs of art; and after the full flood of the +Renaissance, sweeping all before it, glazing and glass painting sank to +the very lowest ebb, out of sight in fact of craftsmanship. Only here +and there, by way of rare exception, was good or interesting work any +longer done,--as for example at Troyes, where good traditions, piously +preserved in a family of exceptionally skilful glass painters, were +followed long after they were elsewhere extinct. + + +SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. + +You may recognise seventeenth century work not so much by any new +departure in design (except that it aims more and more at the effect of +an oil picture, and that the portrait of the Donor and his family +constitutes the picture) as by its departure from the old methods, the +methods above described; by the introduction of pure white glass, glazed +in geometric pattern, in the upper half of the window or, it may be, as +a background; by the use of enamel paint instead of coloured glass; by +the abuse of heavy shading (in the vain attempt to get chiaroscuro), and +by a loss, consequently, of the old translucency and brilliancy; by the +aggressiveness of the lead lines (now that it is sought to do as much as +possible without them); by the adoption of thin-coloured glass, toned by +paint, instead of deep pot-metal; by the occurrence of whole panes of +glass coated with solid paint; by the decay of the enamel; and by the +general dilapidation of the window. + +[Illustration: 242. CERTOSA IN VAL D'EMA.] + +The unlearned must not be misled by the shabbiness of a window, by the +breakages, the disfiguring leads which represent repair, the peeling off +of the paint, and so on, into the supposition that these are signs of +antiquity. On the contrary, the very method of its making was the saving +of Early glass, and Late work owes its vicissitudes largely to the +mistaken process adopted in its execution,--by which you may know it. + +It would be beyond the scope of a book about glass to go more thoroughly +into the characteristics of style generally. Enough to indicate what +more especially concerns the subject in hand. + +Without some slight acquaintance with the course of art, it will perhaps +be difficult to trace the development of glass design. Historical or +antiquarian knowledge of any kind will make it more easy. Not merely the +character of ornament or architecture, but the details of lettering, +costume, heraldry, give evidence in abundance to those who can read it; +but it is with art and craftsmanship that we have here to do. + +The data given in this chapter and throughout are derived from the study +of old work. Winston and other authorities have been referred to only to +corroborate impressions gained by personal experience,--the experience +only of a designer, a workman, a lover of glass, professing to no more +learning than a student must in the course of study acquire. +Nevertheless these few notes on what is characteristic in design and +workmanship, may, it is hoped, be helpful to artists, craftsmen, +students, and lovers of art, and perhaps sufficient for their guidance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +STYLE IN MODERN GLASS (A POSTSCRIPT). + + +It is easy, and it is only too common a thing, for the designer to +depend for inspiration over much upon old work; but until he knows what +has been done he is not fully equipped for his trade. + +Moreover, a workman skilled only in his craft may be prolific in good +work: one, on the other hand, learned only in archæology, is, in the +nature of things, sterile. He may know as much about old glass as +Winston, and fail as utterly even to direct design a-right as he did at +Glasgow. The Munich windows there are glaring evidence as to what a +learned antiquary and devoted glass-lover can countenance. Too surely +the fire of archæological zeal warps a man's artistic judgment. + +What, then, about historic style? Are we to disregard it in our work? +That question may be answered by another: What about old work? Old work, +it is argued, should be our guide. Well, old work preaches no adherence +to past styles. It went its own way, in delightful unconsciousness that +the notion could ever occur to any one deliberately to go back to a +manner long since out of vogue; and when the idea of a Renaissance did +occur to the artist, he very soon made it something quite different from +the thing he set out to revive--if ever that was his deliberate +intention. + +It is too lightly assumed that "the styles" are there, ready made for +us, and that all we have to do is to make our choice between them, and +take the nearest to a fit we can find. So many of us only learn to copy, +whereas the whole use of copying is to learn. Artists study style for +information, not authority. + +The truth is, no style of old glass is fashioned to our use. Early +Gothic glass has most to teach us with regard to the mosaic treatment of +the material, and perhaps also about breadth and simplicity of design; +but when it comes to figure drawing and painting, here is surely no +model for a nineteenth century draughtsman. Renaissance work has most to +teach in the way of painting and pictorial treatment; but it is not an +exemplar of workmanlike and considerate handling of glass. + +Because Early work was badly drawn, because Decorated was +ill-proportioned, because Perpendicular was enshrined in +stone-suggesting canopy work, because Renaissance was apt to depend too +much upon finish, because seventeenth century work was overburdened with +paint; must a man, therefore, according to the style of the building for +which his work is destined, make it rude, misproportioned, stonelike, +ultra-finished, or over-painted? + +It happens that Early figure work in glass was mostly in deep rich +colour. Are we to have no figures, therefore, in grisaille? It happens +that later glass was, at its best, delicate and silvery in effect. Are +we, therefore, to have no rich windows any more? Thirteenth century +pictures were diminutive in scale. Are we to have no larger pictures +ever? Sixteenth century subjects spread themselves over the whole +window. Are we never to frame our glass pictures? And as to that frame, +are we to choose once and for all the ornamental details of this period +or that, or the formula of design adopted at a given time? + +Whether in the matter of technique or treatment, of colour or design, no +one style of old glass is enough for us. What does an historic style +mean? Partly it means that during such and such years such and such +forms were in fashion; partly it means that by that time technique had +reached such and such a point, and no further. Must we rest there? If at +a certain period in the history of design the scope of the glass painter +was limited, his art rude, shall we limit ourselves in a like manner? If +at another it was debased, ought we to degrade our design, just because +the building into which our work is to go is of that date, or pretends +to be? It was the merest accident that in the thirteenth century drawing +was stiff and design more downright than refined, that the appliances of +the glazier were simple, and the technique of the painter imperfect. It +was an accident that silver stain was not discovered until towards the +middle of the fourteenth century, that the idea of abrading +colour-coated glass did not occur to any one until nearly a century +later, that the use of the glass-cutter's diamond is a comparatively +modern invention, and so on. + +Out of the very scarcity of the craftsman's means good came; and there +is a very necessary lesson to us in that; but to throw away what newer +and more perfect means we have (all his knowledge is ours, if we will) +is sheer perversity. + +To affect a style is practically to adopt the faults and follies of the +period. If you are bent upon making your glass look like sixteenth +century work, you glaze it in squares, and introduce enamel. To treat it +mosaically would be not to make it characteristic enough of the period +for your pedant, notwithstanding that sixteenth century glass was, by +exception, treated in a glazier-like fashion. + +Should one, then, it may be asked, take the exception for model? The +answer to that is: take the best, and only the best. It is no concern of +the artist whether it be exceptional or of every-day occurrence; some +kinds of excellence can never be common. Is it good? That is the +question he has to ask himself. + +With regard to the use of the forms peculiar to a style--Gothic Tracery +or Renaissance Arabesque--that is very much a question of a man's +temperament. Has he any sympathy with them? Does that seem to him the +thing worth doing? If his personal bias be that way, who shall say him +nay? Assume even that the conditions of the case demand Decorated or +Italian detail, it does not follow that they demand precisely the +treatment of such detail found in the fourteenth or the sixteenth +century. + +The style of a building is not to be ignored. To put, nowadays, in a +thirteenth or fourteenth century church windows in the style of the +fifteenth or sixteenth would be absurd; to put in a fifteenth or +sixteenth century church windows in the style of the thirteenth or +fourteenth, more foolish still. But it does not follow that in a church +of any given century, the modern windows should be as nearly as possible +what would have been done in that century. + +No man in his senses, no artist at all events, ever denied that the +designer of a stained glass window must take into consideration the +architecture of the building of which his work is to form part. The only +possible question is as to what consideration may be due to it. + +The archæologist (and perhaps sometimes the architect) claims too much. +Certainly he claims too much when he pretends that the designer of a +window should confine himself to the imitation of what has already been +done in glass belonging to the period of the building, or of the period +which the building affects. Why should the modern designer submit to be +shackled by obsolete traditions? What is his sin against art, that he +should do this dreary penance, imposed by architectural or +ecclesiastical authority? And what good is to come of it? + +The unfortunate designer of modern glass is asked to conform both to the +technique and to the design of glass such as was executed at the period +to which belongs the building where his glass is to go, no matter how +inadequate the one or the other, or both, may be. So far as technique is +concerned, it can scarcely be questioned that the only rational thing to +do, is to do the best that can be done under the circumstances. + +That is equally the thing to aim at in design, simply one's level best. +It seems strange that there should be two opinions on the subject. A +building of some centuries past (or in that style) is to be filled with +nineteenth century glass. Choose your artist: a man whose work has +something in common with the sentiment of the period of the building, a +man with education enough to appreciate the architecture and what it +implies, with modesty enough to think of the decorative purpose of his +work and not only of his cleverness; let such a man express himself in +his own way, controlled only by the conditions of the case; and there +would be little likelihood that his work would, in the result, shock +either the feelings or the taste of any but a pedant--and if art is to +conform to the taste of the pedant, well, it is time the artist shut up +shop. Why will men of learning and research discount, nay, wipe out, the +debt art owes to them, by claiming what is not their due? + +Even though it were necessary or desirable that we should restrict +ourselves to what might have been done in the thirteenth century or in +the sixteenth, that would not argue that we must do only what was done. +Surely we may be allowed to do what the men of those days might +conceivably have done had they possessed our experience. Surely we need +not go for inspiration to the glass of a period when glass was +admittedly ill-understood, inadequate, poor, bad. It is quite certain +that the thirteenth century workmen did not realise all that might be +done in painted glass, quite certain that those of the seventeenth did +not appreciate what might be done in mosaic glass. It would be sheer +folly to paint no better than a thirteenth century glazier, because our +window was destined for Salisbury Cathedral, to make no more use of the +quality inherent in glass than was made by a painter of the seventeenth +century, because it was designed for St. Paul's. Those who are really +familiar with old work know that, even in periods of decline, work was +sometimes done which showed no falling away from good tradition. You may +find Renaissance glass almost as mosaic in treatment as thirteenth +century work. But because that was comparatively rare, because the +average work of the period was much less satisfactorily treated, modern +Renaissance must, it is absurdly assumed, be on the same unsatisfactory +lines. + +Suppose we want modern Italian Renaissance, and, further, that we wish +not only to retain the character of Renaissance detail but to get good +glass, suppose also that we do not want forgery,--the thing to do would +be, to inspire oneself at the very best sources of Italian +ornament--carving, inlay, goldsmith's work, embroidery, no matter what +(ornament is specifically mentioned because it is in ornament that the +tyranny of style is most severely exercised), and to translate the forms +thence borrowed into the best glass we can do. That, of course, is not +quite so easy as appropriation, wholesale; it implies research, +judgment, a thorough knowledge of glass; but it would certainly lead, in +capable hands, to nobler work, and work which might yet be in the +Italian spirit. The danger is that it would clash, not with Renaissance +feeling, but with preconceived ideas as to what should be. + +Our affectations of old style would be much more really like old work if +they pretended less to be like it. Had the old men lived nowadays they +would certainly have done differently from what they did. + +An artist in glass cannot safely neglect to study old work, more +especially in so far as it bears upon modern practice. It is for him to +realise, for example, what artistic good there was in early archaic +design, what qualities of colour and so on came of mosaic treatment, +what delicacy is due to the liberty of the later Gothic glass painter, +what fresh charm there was in the more pictorial manner of the +Cinque-Cento, and at what cost was this bought. Questions such as these +are much more to the point than considerations of the date at which some +new departure may have been made. + +The several systems on which a window design was set out, the various +methods of execution--mosaic and paint, pot-metal and enamel, +smear-shading and stipple, cross-hatching and needle point, matting and +diapering, staining and abrading--all these things he has to study, not +as indices of period, but that he may realise the intrinsic use and +value of each, that he may deduce from ancient practice and personal +experience a method of his own. + +Doubtful and curious points concern the antiquary not the artist. He had +best keep to the broad highway of craftsmanship, not wander off into the +byeways of archæology. Typical examples concern him more than rare +specimens--examples which mark a stage in the progress of art, and about +which there is no possibility of learned dispute. He wants to know what +has been done in order to judge what may be done, and especially he +wants to know the best that has been done. + +The problem is how to produce the best glass we can in harmony with the +architecture to which it belongs, but without especial regard to what +happens to have been done during the period to which the architecture of +the building belongs. We may even inspire ourselves at the sources of +sixteenth century Italian art, and yet in no wise follow in the +footsteps of the glass painters of the period, who were more or less off +the track; we may set ourselves to do, not what they did (glass was not +their strong point), but what they might have done. There, if you like, +is an ideal worthy of the best of us. + +If we pretend to be craftsmen we must do our work in the best way we +know. If we are men, let us at least be ourselves. Let us work in the +manner natural to us. If we undertake to decorate a building with a +style of its own, let us acknowledge our obligation to it; let us be +influenced by it so far as to make our work harmonious with +it--harmonious, that is to say, in the eyes of an artist, not +necessarily of a savant. Evidence of modernity is no sin, but a merit, +in modern work. To see how a man adapted his design to circumstances not +those of his own day, gives interest to work. We never wander so wide of +the old mediæval spirit as when we pretend to be mediæval or play at +Gothic. True style, as craftsmen know, consists in the character which +comes of accepting quite frankly the conditions inherent in our work. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +JESSE WINDOWS. + + +The subjects depicted in stained glass tell the story of the Church, or +preach its doctrine. Scenes from the Old Testament, from the Life of +Christ, from the legends of the Saints, and so on, recur from the +earliest Gothic times, and throughout the period of the Renaissance. +These pictures accommodate themselves to the current plans of design, or +the plan of design is chosen to suit them, as the case may be. + +There is one subject, however, occurring from the first in glass, which +does not fall into any of the usual schemes of design, and which, in +fact, differs so entirely from any of them, that it forms a class of +design apart. The subject, in fact, by way of exception to the rule, not +merely affects but determines the decorative form of the window. This +subject is the Descent of Christ--in short, the genealogical tree of the +Saviour; and the window devoted to its delineation is called a Jesse +window. Much freer and more varied scope for composition was offered by +this piece of church heraldry than the ordinary medallion or figure and +canopy window afforded, and the glazier turned it early to exceedingly +decorative use. The tree is shown issuing, as it were, from the loins of +Jesse. It bears his descendants, or rather a very arbitrary selection of +them (it is as well not to inquire too strictly as to their legitimate +right to be there), ending in the Virgin and the Saviour. + +The earliest arrangement of a Jesse window is as follows: at the base is +the recumbent figure of Jesse; the straight stem of the tree, proceeding +from him, is almost entirely hidden by a string of figures, one above +the other, occupying the centre part of the window, and represented, for +the most part, as Kings; above them is the Virgin, also crowned; and in +the arch of the window sits our Lord in Majesty, surrounded by seven +doves, to signify the gifts of the Spirit. It is not perhaps quite +clear upon what these figures sit. They hold on with both hands to +branches of highly conventional Romanesque foliage, springing from the +main stem, and occupying the space about the figures in very ornamental +fashion. A series of half medallions on each side of this central design +contain little figures of attendant prophets--in a sense, the spiritual +ancestors of the Saviour. All this is in the deepest and richest mosaic +colour, as in the beautiful bluish Jesse window at the West end of the +cathedral at Chartres, which belongs to about the middle of the twelfth +century. Very much the same kind of thing occurs at Le Mans and +elsewhere. + +Later the tree more often branched out into loops, forming oval or +vesical-shaped spaces, in which the figures sat, as may be seen on page +362. The ground of the window is in that case blue, the background of +the figure ruby. Had it been red the figures would probably have been +upon blue. This particular instance, by the way, is said to be of the +twelfth century, although the ornament has more the character of +thirteenth century work. You see also the doves referred to encircling +the figure sitting in Majesty, and the figures attendant upon the +Virgin. Sometimes these are prophets, sometimes angels; sometimes they +stand in little canopy niches, sometimes they are in the midst of the +foliage. The fragment from Salisbury on page 117 formed most probably +part of a Jesse window. The symbolic doves have often each a nimbus. A +single dove represents, of course, the Holy Ghost. + +A rather suggestive variation upon the orthodox Early scheme occurs in a +window at Carcassonne. Each of the three lights is bordered with a +rather geometric pattern. Within the border the central light is +designed much on the usual lines: Jesse recumbent below, and above the +figures of Kings, sitting each in his own little vesical-shaped space +formed by the growth of the tree. In the sidelights, however, the +Prophets are provided with the very simplest canopies, one above the +other. + +An interesting arrangement is to be found in the clerestory of the +cathedral at Tours, where the central light of a window has a Tree of +Jesse, with the usual oval compartments, corresponding with +hexagon-shaped medallions in the two sidelights, in which are depicted +scenes presumably appropriate to the subject; it is difficult to make +them out with any certainty. + +[Illustration: 243. PART OF EARLY JESSE WINDOW, MUSÉE DES ARTS +DÉCORATIFS, PARIS.] + +Occasionally what seems at first sight a medallion window resolves +itself, as at S. Kunibert, Cologne, into a kind of genealogical tree, +enclosing subjects illustrative of the descent of Christ. The rather +unusual combination of medallion and vine shown below, also German, is +of rather later date. + +[Illustration: 244. FREIBURG.] + +In the fourteenth century the tree naturally becomes a vine, usually in +colour upon a blue or ruby ground, extending beyond the limits of a +single light, and crossing not only the mullions, but the borders +(which, by the way, often confuse the effect of a Decorated Jesse +window). The vine extends also very often into the tracery, where sits +the Virgin with the Infant Christ. The figure of our Lord is always, of +course, the topmost feature of the tree--in the arms of the Virgin, in +the lap of the Father, or sitting in Majesty. A variation upon ordinary +practice occurs where the Father supports a crucifix. The figure of +Jesse naturally, as at Shrewsbury (page 241), extends across several +lights. + +Occasionally a figure and canopy window proves to be also a Jesse +window--a vine, that is to say, winds about the figures, and connects +them with the figure of Jesse; but this combination of canopy work with +tree work (as at Wells, some of the detail of which is given overleaf) +is confused and confusing. A much happier combination of figures under +canopies with tree work occurs in a sixteenth century window at S. +Godard, Rouen, which has at the base a series of five figures, above +whom spreads the tree, its roots appearing above the head of the central +one, who proves to be Jesse. + +By the fifteenth century the vine is rather more conventionally treated. +It is usually in white and stain upon a coloured ground, or, if the +leaves are green, the stems are white and stain. The figures also have +more white in their drapery. In the earlier part of the century the main +stem branches very often in an angular manner so as to form six-sided +bowers for the figures, framing them, perhaps, in a different colour +from the general groundwork of the window. Or the various lights of the +window may have alternately a blue and a ruby ground. It is rarely that +two figures are shown in the width of a single light, either in separate +compartments or grouped in one. + +[Illustration: 245. PART OF A JESSE WINDOW, WELLS.] + +Later the tree, oftenest in white and stain, branches more freely, not +twisting itself any longer into set shapes or obvious compartments. The +figures are, as it were, perched amongst its branches. In French and +German work the tree, towards the sixteenth century, is not so +necessarily a vine. It may take the form more of scrollwork, white or +yellow, and the personages in its midst may be only demi-figures, +issuing possibly from vase-like flowers or flower-like ornament. + +That is so in a remarkably fine window in the clerestory of the +cathedral at Troyes (three lights of which are shown on page 366), where +the figures no longer occupy the centre of the lights, but are scattered +about from side to side, balanced in a very satisfactory way by their +names writ large upon the background. This characteristic lettering +gives not only interesting masses of white or yellow on the ruby ground, +but horizontal lines of great value to the composition. In the lower +part of the window a separate screen of richest yellow marks off the +figure of Jesse, and at the same time distinguishes the Donors, together +with their family and their armorial bearings, from the merely +scriptural part of the design. In earlier windows, it should have been +stated, prominence is sometimes given to the really more important +personages by drawing them to a much larger scale, or by showing them +full-length when the others are only half-length, or by draping them all +in white and stain, whilst the rest are in colours not so strongly +relieved against the ground. + +There are two other rather unusual Jesse windows at Troyes, both of Late +Gothic period. The one is at S. Nizier: there the foliage is so rare as +to give the effect almost of a leafless scroll. The other is at S. +Nicholas: there the tree grows through into the tracery, where it +appears no longer, as in the lights below, upon a deep blue ground, but +upon yellow, the radiance, as it proves, from the group of the Trinity, +into which the tree eventually blossoms. + +[Illustration: 246. PART OF A JESSE WINDOW, CATHEDRAL, TROYES, 1499.] + +Quite one of the most beautiful Jesse trees that exist is in a Late +Gothic window at Alençon. It is unusual, probably unique in design. The +figures, with the exception of Jesse, are confined to the upper lights +and tracery, forming a double row towards the top of the window. This +leaves a large amount of space for the tree, a fine, fat, Gothic scroll, +foliated more after the manner of oak than acanthus leaves, all in rich +greens (yellowish, apple, emerald-like) on a greyish-blue ground. It +forms a splendid patch of cool colour, contrasting in the most beautiful +way with the figures, draped mostly in purple, red, and yellow. The +figures issue from great flower-like features as big as the width of the +light allows, mostly of red, or purple, or white, with a calyx in green. +The Virgin issues from a white flower suggestive of the lily. In the +window shown on page 368 the tree blossoms also into a topmost lily +supporting the Madonna. A characteristic feature about the Alençon +window is, the absence of symmetry in its scheme. Of the eight lights +which go to make up its width, only three are devoted, below the +springing of the great arch over it, to the Jesse tree. Three others +contain a representation of the death of the Virgin, under a separate +canopy, and in the two outermost lights are separate subjects on a +smaller scale. This kind of eccentricity of composition is by no means +unusual. A Jesse window very often occupies only one half or one quarter +of a large Late Gothic window. And the strange thing is that the effect +is invariably satisfactory, often delightful. You do not miss the +symmetry, but enjoy the accidental variety of colour. + +In sixteenth century work, and even before that, you meet with windows +in which figures are in colours upon a white ground. In that case the +tree is usually painted upon the white and stained. So it was in the +beautiful Flemish window, parts of which are now dispersed over the East +windows of S. George's, Hanover Square, calculated, there, rather to +mystify the student of design. In it the grapes, it will be seen (page +216), are glazed in purple pot-metal colour. In the present condition of +the window, now that the enamel-brown has partly peeled off, the grape +bunches scarcely seem to belong to the rather ghostly vine behind them. +That is a misfortune which not uncommonly happens where reliance has +been placed upon delicate painting; but for all that this is noble +glass, and the figures, as was also not uncommon at the period, are +designed with great dignity. + +[Illustration: 247. JESSE WINDOW, BEAUVAIS.] + +There is distinction, again, in the drawing of the figures in the Jesse +at S. Etienne, Beauvais, shown on page 368. That is a splendid specimen +of characteristically Renaissance work. Jesse is honoured by a rich +canopy of white and stain, which allows of a deep purple background +separating him from his descendants. These appear as demi-figures, very +richly robed, in strong relief against a pale purplish-blue ground of +the atmospheric quality peculiar to the period. The vase-shaped flowers +whence they issue are also in rich colour, dark against the ground, as +are the variegated fruits and green leaves of the tree, but its branches +are of silvery-white, suggesting of birch-bark. This tree-trunk is +altogether too realistically treated for the ornamental leafage and +still more arbitrary flowers growing from it; but it is a marvellously +fine window, masterly in drawing and perfectly painted. And it owes +positively nothing to age or accident. Indeed, the effect is somewhat +diluted by restoration. Even on the reduced scale of the illustration +given, you can detect in the head of the hatless figure to the right a +touch of modern French character; and the fine colour of it all is fine +in spite of the flatness of tint in the background, for which the +nineteenth century must be held responsible. + +Except for the confusion caused by the occasional introduction of +canopies and borders, a Jesse window may be usually recognised at a +glance. In the cathedral at Troyes, however, is what might be mistaken, +at first sight, for a Jesse tree. But the recumbent figure is not that +of Jesse, but of Christ. He lies, in fact, in the wine press, whence +grows a vine bearing half effigies of the Twelve Apostles, and the +patron saints of the Donor and his wife, who themselves had places in +the lower portion of the sidelights, but the figure of the wife is now +missing. The general design and effect of this window, and especially +the seriousness of the ornamental portion of it, are such as almost to +belie the period of its execution. It is an exceptionally fine window +for the year 1625. + +This same subject is anticipated in a sixteenth century window (1552) at +Conches. There the Saviour treads the blue grapes, and a stream of +blood-red wine issues from them. The frame of the press immediately +behind him is designed to suggest the cross. + +The Jesse window referred to in the north transept at Carcassonne is +balanced by a window on the south, which is of peculiarly interesting +design, not, to my knowledge, elsewhere to be found in glass, although +it occurs in Early Italian painting. It represents the Tree of Life, of +Knowledge of Good and Evil--which knowledge appears to be inscribed all +over it and the window. It might almost be described as a tree of +lettering, for it bears upon its branches (which are labels) and upon +its fruit (which are heart-shaped tablets) voluminous inscriptions, not, +in the present state of the glass, always easy to decipher, but most +effectively decorative. On either side the window, by way of border to +the outer lights, is a series of little figures, prophets, or whoever +they may be, bearing other inscribed scrolls, mingling with the boughs +of the tree, the leaves of which form, as it were, a kind of green and +yellow fringe to the inscribed white branches. At the foot of the tree +stand Adam and Eve, in the act of yielding to the temptation of the +woman-headed serpent coiled round its trunk, and beyond are shown the +Ark of Noah and the Ark of the Covenant. Amidst the upper branches is a +crucifix, the narrow red cross so inconspicuous that the Christ seems +almost to hang upon the tree, and at its summit is the emblem of the +pelican, _Qui sanguine pascit alumnos_. This is altogether not only a +striking, and, at the same time, most satisfactory window, but an +admirable instance of the use of lettering in ornament. Lettering is +very often introduced into Jesse windows, and forms sometimes a +conspicuous feature in them: how much more use might be made of it is +suggested by this Tree of Life. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +STORY WINDOWS. + + +There is something very interesting in the simple heartedness with which +the mediæval artist would attack a subject quite impossible of artistic +realisation, apart from his modest powers of draughtsmanship, or the +limitations of glass. + +The daring of the man may be taken as evidence of his sincerity. If he +had not believed absolutely in the things he tried to pourtray, he could +not have set them forth so simply as he did, not only in the quite +archaic medallions of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, but even in +pictures conceived at the end of what we call the Middle Ages. It would +be impossible nowadays to picture Paradise, as in the scene of the +Temptation at Fairford (overleaf), with its bald architecture and little +Gothic fountain, to say nothing of the serpent. But down to the +sixteenth century no subject was impossible to the designer. Even the +Creation did not deter him; on the contrary, it was a favourite subject +in old glass, throughout the mediæval period (page 252): there is no +shirking the difficulty of rendering the division of light from the +darkness, or the separation of the waters from the dry land. Indeed, +problems such as these are sometimes solved with very remarkable +ingenuity, if not quite in a way to satisfy us: the Creator in the +likeness of a Pope, triple crown and all, as at Châlons-sur-Marne, was +pictured no doubt in all good faith and reverence. + +Perhaps one of the most daring notions ever put into stained glass +occurs in a window in All Saints' Church, North Street, York. The design +illustrates an old Northumbrian legend called "The Pryck of Conscience," +and boldly sets out to show--the fishes roaring, the sea a-fire, a +bloody dew, and, as a climax, the general conflagration of the world. +"Of heaven and hell I have no power to tell," wrote the "idle singer" +(as he most wilfully miscalled himself) of this perhaps "empty day." It +was left to the modern artist to discover that. + +The subject most frequently affected by the designer of the West window +of a Gothic church was "The Last Judgment," in which appeared our Lord +in Majesty, St. Michael weighing human souls, angels welcoming the +righteous into heaven, and fiends carrying off the doomed to hell. These +"Doom" windows, as they are also called, are not, to the modern mind, +impressive--not, that is to say, as the pictures of reward and +punishment hereafter they were meant to be. The scene strikes us +invariably as grotesque rather than terrible, actual as it may have been +to the simple artist, who meant to be a sober chronicler, and to the yet +simpler worshippers to whom he addressed himself. + +[Illustration: 248. THE TEMPTATION, FAIRFORD.] + +Apart from that, "Last Judgment" windows are among the most interesting +in the church. The portion of the window, in particular, which is +devoted to perdition is most attractive. Hell flames offered to the +artist a splendid opportunity for colour, upon which he seized with +delight. And the fiends he imagined! Doubtless those crude conceptions +of his were very real to him, convincing and terror-striking. The grim +humour which we see in them may be of our own imagining; but that the +draughtsman enjoyed his creations no artist will doubt. + +[Illustration: 249. PART OF LAST JUDGMENT, FAIRFORD.] + +That is easy to understand. His subject allowed him freedom of +imagination, gave him scope for fancy, humour, colour; and all his +faculties found outlet. No wonder his would-be fiends live beautiful in +our recollection! In the midst of ruby flames dance devils, purple, +black, and brown, gnashing carnivorous teeth or yellow fangs, their +beady, white eyes gleaming with cruelty. Devils there are apparently +red-hot; others green and grey, with a beautiful but unholy kind of +iridescence about them. As for the blue devils, they are beautiful +enough to scare away from the beholder blue devils less tangible, which +may have had possession of him. There is a great white devil in a window +at Strassburg, who has escaped, it seems, from the Doom window near by, +but not from the flames about him, a background of magnificent ruby. The +drawing of a part of the Last Judgment from Fairford (page 373) gives +only the grotesqueness of the scene, the quaintly conceived tortures of +the damned; but that division of the glass is in reality a glory of +gorgeous colour, to which one is irresistibly attracted. For that, as +ever, the designer has reserved his richest and most glowing colour. + +Some slight touch of human perversity perhaps inspires him also. At +Fairford, at all events, he has put some of his best work, and +especially some of his finest colour, into the figures of the +Persecutors of the Church. Unfortunately, they are high up in the +clerestory, and so do not get their share of attention; certainly they +do not get the praise they deserve. Why, one is inclined to ask, this +honour to the enemies of the Church on the part of the churchman? Was he +at heart a heathen giving secret vent in art to feelings he dared not +openly express? Not a bit of it! He was just a trifle tired of Angels, +and Saints, and subjects according to convention; he was delighted at +the chance of doing something not quite tame and same, and revelled in +the opportunity when it occurred. In the tracery openings above the +persecutors, where in the ordinary way would be angels, are lodged much +more appropriate little fiends. They haunt the memory long after you +have seen them, not as anything very terrific, but as bits of beautiful +colour. The Devil overleaf, hovering in wait for the soul of the +impenitent thief upon the cross, is not by any means a favourable +specimen of the Fairford fiends. + +Occasionally there is a grimness about the mediæval Devil which we feel +to this day. In a window at S. Etienne, Beauvais, there is a quite +unforgettable picture of a woman struggling in the clutches of the evil +one. She is draped in green, the Devil is of greenish-white, the +architecture is represented in a gloom of purple and dark blue; only a +peep of pale sky is seen through the window. On the one hand, this is a +delightful composition of decorative colour. On the other it is +intensely dramatic. It sets one wondering who this may be, and what will +be the outcome of it. The struggle is fearful, the fiend is quite +frantic in action. One is so taken with the scene that one does not +notice that his head is wanting, and has been replaced by one which does +not even fit his shoulders. That the effect, for all that, is +impressive, speaks volumes for the story-teller. + +[Illustration: 250. FAIRFORD.] + +Alas, alas, the Devil is dead! His modern counterfeit is a fraud. You +may see this at the church of S. Vincent, at Rouen, in one of the +subjects representing the life of that saint, where he puts the devils +to flight. The nearest of them is an evil-looking thing, ruby coloured, +uncannily spotted, like some bright poisonous-looking fungus. The +restorer has supplemented these retreating devils by a farther one +painted on the grey-blue sky. The imp is grotesque enough, and very +cleverly put in, but it plainly belongs no longer to the early sixteenth +century. It suggests a theatrical "property," not the hobgoblin of old +belief. That is just what the devilry in old glass never does. + +It must be owned that mediæval Angels charm us less. They are by +comparison tame. Their colour is delicate and silvery, belike, but not +seductive; their wings sit awkwardly upon them; they fulfil more or less +trivial functions, bearing scrolls or emblems, shields of arms even. +They are not in the least ethereal. They are too much on the model of +man or woman. What possible business, for example, have they with legs +and feet? Yet it is by the rarest chance that the body is, as it were, +lost in a swirl of drapery, which, by disguising the lower limbs, makes +the image by so much, if not the more angelic, at least the less +obviously of the earth. + +The glass hunter cannot but be amused every now and again by odd +anachronisms in mediæval and even later illustrations in glass. But +wonder at them ceases when we remember how simple-minded was the +craftsman of those days before archæology. If he wished to picture +scenes of the long past--and he did--there was nothing for it but to +show them as they occurred to his imagination--as happening, that is to +say, in his own day; and that is practically what he did. He had perhaps +a vague notion that a Roman soldier should wear a kilt; but in the main +he was content that the onlookers at the Crucifixion should be costumed +according to the period of William the Conqueror, or Maximilian, in +which he himself happened to live. The practice had, at least, one +advantage over our modern displays of probably very inaccurate +learnedness, in that it brought the scene close home to the unlearned +observer, and, as it were, linked the event with his own life. In short, +there is more vitality in that rude story-telling than in the more +elaborate histories, much less inaccurate in detail doubtless, to which +to-day and henceforth artists are pledged. + +There is no occasion to dwell upon the oddities of glass painting; they +are those of mediæval art all through. If we take a certain incongruity +for granted, the guilelessness of it only charms us. That same +guilelessness enables the artist to make absolutely ornamental use of +themes which to-day we might think it profane to make subservient to +decorative effect. We never question his sincerity, though in the scene +of the Creation, as at Erfurth, he made a pattern of the birds, pair and +pair, each on its own tree. He can safely show the staff of S. +Christopher, as at Freiburg, blossoming so freely as conveniently to +fill the head of the window and balance the Child upon his shoulder. +According as it occurs to him, or as it suits his purpose, kings and +bishops take part in the Crucifixion; S. Michael tramples upon a dragon +big enough to swallow him at a mouthful; Abraham goes out, gorgeously +arrayed in red and purple, to slaughter Isaac on a richly decorated +altar, and a white ram, prancing among the green, calls his attention to +itself as the more appropriate sacrifice; Adam and Eve are driven forth +from Eden by a scarlet angel, draped in white, with wings as well as +sword of flaming red. In this last case the peculiar colour has a +significance. Elsewhere it implies the poverty of the glazier's palette, +or indicates the sacrifice of natural to artistic effect. So it was +that, till quite the end of the thirteenth century, we meet with +positively blue beards, ruby cows, and trees of all the colours of the +rainbow; and even at a much later date than that, primary-coloured +cattle look over the manger at the Nativity, and Christ is shown +entering Jerusalem on a bright blue donkey. + +To the last the glass painter indulged in very interesting compound +subjects--the Nativity, for example, with in the distance the Magi on +their way; the Last Supper, and in the foreground, relieved against the +tablecloth, Christ washing Peter's feet, the apostles grouped round so +as to form part of each or either subject. Sometimes a series of events +form a single picture, as where you have the Temptation, the Expulsion, +Eve with her distaff, Adam with his spade, the childhood of Cain and +Abel, and the first fratricide, all grouped in one comprehensive +landscape. + +Consecutive pictures, by the way, generally follow in horizontal not +vertical series, beginning on your left as you face the window. There is +no invariable rule; but in most cases the order of the subjects is from +left to right, row after row, terminating at the top of the window. + +From the beginning difficult doctrinal subjects are attempted, as well +as histories and legends. In the sixteenth century the design is often +an allegory, full of meaning, though the meaning of it all may not be +very obvious. The Virtues, for example, no longer content to stand under +canopies, systematically spearing each its contrasting Vice, harness +themselves, as at S. Patrice, Rouen, to a processional car, in which are +the Virgin, Christ upon the Cross, and sundry vases, preceded by the +Patriarchs and other holy personages. Another interesting "morality," at +S. Vincent, Rouen, is pictured in a medley of little figures each with +descriptive label--"Richesse," for example, a lady in gorgeous golden +array; "Pitie," a matron of sober aspect; "Les Riches Ingrass," a group +of gay young men; "Le Riche" and "Le Poure," alike pursued by death. +Another decorative device of the sixteenth century is the Virgin, +lifesize, surrounded by her emblems and little white scrolls describing +them--"Fons ortorum," "Sivit as Dei," and so on, in oddly spelt Latin. +This occurs at Conches. + +In Later Gothic, and of course in Renaissance glass, the situation is, +if not realised, at all events dramatically treated. One scarcely knows +to which period to attribute the window at S. Patrice, Rouen, with +scenes from the life of S. Louis, an admirably sober and serious piece +of work. Conspicuous in it is the recurring mantle of the King, deep +indigo coloured, embroidered with golden _fleurs-de-lys_, on an +inky-blue ground. The whole effect is rich but strikingly low in tone. +An exceptionally fine scene is that in which the King, in a golden boat +with white sails, ermine diapered, a crown upon his head, kneels in +prayer before a little crucifix, whilst his one companion lifts up his +hands in terror: the man is clad in green; for the rest the colour is +sombre, only the pale blue armour of the Saint, his dark blue cloak, for +once undiapered--as if the artist felt that here the golden lilies would +be out of place--and the leaden sea around: that extends to the very top +of the picture, distant ships painted upon it to indicate that it is +water. An inscription explains how:-- + + "En revenant du pays de Syrie + En mer fut tourmente ... gde furie + Mais en priant Jesu Christ il en fut delivré." + +It must be allowed that the storm does not rage very terrifically; but +the effect is not merely beautiful as colour but really descriptive, and +something more. + +It is only occasionally that this much of dramatic effect is produced; +but touches of well-studied realism are common, as where, in the same +church, at the martyrdom of a saint, the executioners who feed the fire +shrink from the yellow flames and guard their eyes. + +Decorative treatment goes almost without saying in the early sixteenth +century. At S. Patrice, again, is a singularly fine instance of that. In +the centre of the window, against a background of forest, with the +distant hunt in full cry, S. Eustache stands entranced, his richly clad +figure a focus of bright colour; facing him, in the one light, the +legendary stag, enclosing between its antlers the vision of the +crucifix, balanced, in the other, by the white horse of the convert: the +note of white is repeated in the lithe hounds running through the three +lights, and, with the silvery trunks of the trees, holds the composition +together. This subject of the Conversion of S. Hubert was rather a +favourite one in glass, and was usually well treated. The stag is +invaluable. At Erfurth he stands against the green, a mass of yellow, +with purple antlers, which form a vesica-shaped frame for the fabled +vision. + +The use of white, by the way, as a means of holding the window together +is remarkable throughout Later glass, even apart from white canopy work. +In the cathedral at Perugia there is a window in which a stream of white +pavement flows, as it were, down through the groups of richly coloured +figures, emphasising them, and at the same time connecting them with the +canopy. + +There is no end to the interest of subject in glass; but the subject +would lead us too far astray from the purpose of this book. Enough has +been said to indicate the kind of interest which each of us best finds +for himself in glass hunting. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +HOW TO SEE WINDOWS. + + +The just appreciation of stained glass is more than difficult, and +judgment with regard to it more than ordinarily fallible. It is too much +to expect of a window that it should stand the test of a light for which +it was not designed. The most conscientious artist can do no more than +design it for the light by which he imagines it is most likely to be +seen. There must inevitably be times of day, when the sun is in a +position not favourable to it, and many days when the intensity of the +light, even though it come from the right quarter, is not what he relied +upon. It happens, of course, that glass is often seen under such +conditions that the brilliancy of the windows on one side of the church +is literally put out by a flood of light poured in upon them through the +windows (brilliantly illuminated by it) on the opposite side. The best +of critics could not appreciate the best of glass under circumstances +like that. + +Suppose the windows north and south of a church to be of equal merit, +one's appreciation of them, at first sight, would depend upon the time +of day; and the light which did most justice to the northern windows +would do least to the southern, and _vice versâ_. Experience teaches a +man to make allowances, but he can only judge what he has seen; and it +is only with the light shining through a window that he can see its +colour or judge of its effect. + +The wonderful difference which the strength of the light makes in the +appearance of a window, is nowhere quite so obvious as in the case of +windows, not of glass, but of translucent alabaster--as, for example, at +Orvieto, in the lower lights on either side of the nave, or, framed in +black marble mullions, at the West end of the cathedral. The more or +less square-shaped slabs of which they are formed are, in very many +cases, made up of a number of pieces cemented together in lines which +take very much the place of lead lines, and suggest, with the bars +holding them in place, the practice of the glazier; but the effect is +much less that of glass than of deepest amber in the unbroken panels, of +gorgeous tortoise-shell in those that are patched and pieced together. +These last are, if not the more beautiful, certainly the more +interesting. The brown and gold and horny-white grow murkier when the +light does not shine full upon the windows; but there is a mystery about +the colour still, which makes up for the loss of brilliancy. If your +mood is that way, you may find in the curious marbling of the stone +strange pictures of cloudland and fantastic landscape. It is partly the +shape, no doubt, of a circular slab high above the western door, which +calls to mind the image of the moon with its mysterious mountains. + +A more delicate, if not always so rich an effect, is to be seen in the +great monolithic slabs which fill the five square-headed windows in the +apse of the upper church at S. Miniato. Effect, did I say? Nay, rather +effects, for they change with every gradation in the light. You may see +at first little more than flat surfaces of pleasantly mottled white and +purple-grey, translucent, but comparatively dull and dead. Then, as the +sun creeps round the corner, a strange life comes into them. The white +and palest greys begin to glow, and turn by slow degrees to pearly-pink, +which kindles into gold, and deepens in the duskier parts to copper-red. +The stronger markings of the stone now show out in unsuspected strength, +and the lighter veins take on by contrast a greenish tint, so that the +warm colour is subtly shot with its cool counterpart. If, when you first +see the windows, the sun illumines them, the effect is less magical; you +get your strongest impression first; but in the course of an hour or so +a great change may take place--when, for example, towards noon the light +passes away; but for a long while the stone remains luminous. Your eyes +are open now, and in the delicate ashen-grey you see--or is it that you +feel it to be there?--a tint of rose. + +In proportion as it is less opaque than alabaster, glass is less +perceptibly affected by changes of light; but, whether we perceive it or +not, it owes all its effect to the light shining through it. The most +fair-minded of us misjudge windows because we cannot see them often +enough to be quite sure we have seen them at their best--that is to say, +on the right day, and at the right time of day. + +In comparing one window with another we are more than ever likely to do +injustice. Even if they happen to be both in the same church, the light +most favourable to the one may, as just said, be quite the least +favourable to the other. Each must in fairness be judged at its best; +and it is no easy matter to compare to-day's impression with +yesterday's, or it may be last week's--more especially when a newer +impression of the same thing, staring you in the face, will stamp itself +upon the vision. When years, instead of days, intervene, the justice of +even the most retentive memory is open to gravest doubt. + +Go to the church of S. Alpin, at Châlons, and in the morning you will +find the East windows brilliantly rich: in the early afternoon, even of +a bright day, they will be lacking in transparency, dull, ineffective. +So at S. Sebald's, Nuremberg, the splendid fourteenth century glass on +the north side of the choir proves absolutely obscure in the late +afternoon. Grisaille, which was delicate under a moderately subdued +light, will appear thin and flimsy with a strong sun behind it. It has +happened to me to describe the same glass on one occasion as too +heavily, on another as too thinly painted; and, again, to describe a +window as warm in tone which memory (and my notes) had painted cool. On +another occasion, well-remembered windows were not to be identified +again. It seemed that in the course of a few intervening years they must +have been restored out of all knowledge; a few hours later in the day +there was no mistaking them, though they had, indeed, lost something by +restoration. + +When the most careful and deliberate notes tell such different, and +indeed quite opposite, stories, notes made at times not far enough apart +to allow for anything like a complete change of opinion on the part of +the critic, it is clear that conditions of light go so far towards the +effect of glass, that it is quite impossible to appraise it fairly the +first time one sees it. The more momentary the impression on which one +has to found an opinion, the more essential it is that we should choose +the moment. The strongest light is by no means the most favourable to +glass. In a glare of sunlight it is quite probable that some unhappy +windows will have more light shining upon than comes through the glass. +Happiest are the windows seen by "the subdued light of a rainy day." +Occasionally a window, so deep that under ordinary conditions of light +it is obscure, may need the strongest possible illumination; but even +in the case of very deep-toned windows--such, for example, as those in +the transepts of the Duomo at Florence--the glass, as a whole, is best +seen by a sober light. You get the maximum of colour effect with the +minimum of hurt to any individual window, if there be any hurt at all. A +really garish window may be beautiful as the light wanes. The great +North Rose at Notre Dame (Paris) is impressive at dusk. + +Other conditions upon which the effect of glass largely depends are +quite beyond our control. As a matter of fact, we rarely see it at its +best. For one thing, we do not see it in sufficient quantity. We find it +in here and there a window only, white light shining unmitigated from +windows all round. Perhaps in the window itself there is a breakage, and +a stream of light pours through it, spoiling, if not its beauty, all +enjoyment of it. It is not generally understood how completely the +effect of glass depends upon the absence of light other than that which +comes through it. Every ray of light which penetrates into a building +excepting through the stained glass does injury to the coloured window; +more often than not, therefore, we see it under most adverse +circumstances. It is worse than hearing a symphony only in snatches; it +is rather as if a more powerful orchestra were all the while drowning +the sound. It takes an expert to appreciate glass when light is +reflected upon it from all sides. The effect of some of the finest glass +in Germany, as at Munich and Nuremberg, is seriously marred by a wicked +German practice of filling only the lower half of the window with +coloured glass and glazing the upper part in white rounds. That enables +folk to read their Bibles, no doubt; but the volume of crude white light +above goes far to kill the colour of the glass. In such case it is not +until you have shut off the offending light that it is possible to +enjoy, or even to appreciate, the windows. + +A comparatively dark church is essential to the perfect enjoyment of +rich glass. The deep red light-absorbing sandstone of which Strassburg +and Shrewsbury Cathedrals are built, adds immensely to the brilliancy of +their beautiful glass. + +White light is the most cruel, but not the only, offender. Old glass +sometimes quarrels with old glass. An Early window is made to look heavy +by a quantity of Late work about it, and a Late window pales in the +presence of deep rich Early glass. As for modern work, it is that which +suffers most by comparison with old; but it arouses often a feeling of +irritation in us which puts us out of the mood to enjoy. + +Worst offence of all is that done in the name of restoration, where, +inextricably mixed up with old work, is modern forgery; not clever +enough to pass for old, but sufficiently like it to cast a doubt upon +the genuine work, at the same time that it quite destroys its beauty. + +Something of our appreciation depends upon the frame of mind in which we +come to the windows. They may be one of the sights of the place; but the +sight-seeing mood is not the one in which to appreciate. How often can +the tourist sit down in a church with the feeling that he has all the +day before him, and can give himself up to the enjoyment of the glass, +wait till it has something to say to him? A man has not seen glass when +he has walked round the church, with one eye upon it and the other on +his watch, not even though he may have made a note or two concerning it. +You must give yourself up to it, or it will never give up to you the +secret of its charm. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +WINDOWS WORTH SEEING. + + +The course of the glass hunter seems never yet to have been clearly +mapped out for him. Nor can he depend upon those who pretend to direct +his steps. The enthusiastic description of the monograph proves in the +event to have very likely no warrant of art; the paragraph in the +guide-book is so cold as to excite no spark of curiosity about what may +be worth every effort to see. Between the two a beginner stands +uncertain which way to turn, and as often as not goes astray. + +The question which perplexes him on the very outskirts of the subject +is: Which are the windows to see? That depends. Some there are which +every one who cares at all about glass should certainly see, some which +the student who really wants to know should study, some which the artist +should see, if merely for the satisfaction of his colour sense. To +enumerate only a single class of these would be to write a catalogue; +but catalogues are hard reading; the more interesting and more helpful +course will be, to tell shortly of some of the windows best worth +seeing, and why they should be seen. And if choice be made of instances +typical enough to illustrate the history of glass, the list may serve as +an itinerary to such as may think it worth while to study it, as it +should be studied, not in books, but in churches. + +[Illustration: 251. GRISAILLE PATTERNS, SALISBURY.] + +Churches favourable to the study of Early glass in England are not very +many. A series of thirteenth century windows is rare; and good examples, +such as the fragments from the S. Chapelle, at South Kensington, are few +and far between. The one fine series of medallion windows is at +Canterbury Cathedral, in the round-headed lights of the choir. In the +clerestory also is some figure work, on a larger scale, but less +admirable of its kind. For good thirteenth century grisaille in any +considerable quantity one must go to Salisbury, where, fortunately, the +aisle windows are near enough to the eye to show the very characteristic +patterns of the glass. To sit there in the nave and wait until +service is over, is no hardship even to the most ardent glass hunter. +The silvery light from the windows facing him at the East end of the +aisles is solace and delight enough. Yet more enchanting is the pale +beauty of the Five slim Sisters, in the North transept of York Minster; +that, however, is gained, to some extent, by the confusion of the +pattern, which is not quite typically Early, but begins to show symptoms +of a transition stage in design. + +To appreciate at its full value the stronger colour of the Early mosaic +glass one must cross the Channel. We have nothing in this country to +compare in quantity, and therefore for effect, with the gorgeous glass +illuminating the great French churches. Reims, for example, Bourges, Le +Mans, are perfect treasure houses of jewelled light. But richer than all +is Chartres. The windows there are less conveniently placed for study +than at Le Mans, but they are grander, and more in number. At Reims the +art is coarser, though the magnificence of certain red windows there +lives in the memory. Emphatically Chartres is the place to know and +appreciate thirteenth century glass. No other great church of the period +retains so much of its original glazing; and since it is one of the +largest, and the glass is very much of one period, it follows that no +church contains so much Early glass. The impression it produces is the +more pronounced that there is little else. Except for a modern window or +two, one Late Gothic window, and some four or five lights of grisaille, +which belong to the second period, the glass throughout this vast +building is typically Early. It is well worth a pilgrimage to Chartres +only to see it. You may wander about the church for hours at a time, +unravelling the patterns of the windows, and puzzling out the subjects +of the medallion pictures. To sit there in more restful mood upon some +summer afternoon, when the light is softened by a gentle fall of rain, +is to be thrilled by the beauty of it all. It is as though, in a dream, +you found yourself in some huge cavern, lit only by the light of jewels, +myriads of them gleaming darkly through the gloom. It is difficult to +imagine anything more mysterious, solemn, or impressive. Yes, Chartres +is the place in which to be penetrated by the spirit of Early mediæval +glass. There is a story told of a child sitting for the first time in +his life in some French church, awed by the great Rose window facing +him, when all at once the organ burst into music; and it seemed to him, +he said, as if the window spoke. Words could not better express than +that the powerful impression of Early mosaic glass, the solemnity of its +beauty, the way it belongs to the grandeur of the great church, the +something deep in us vibrating in answer to it. + +Exceptionally interesting Early glass is to be found in the cathedral of +Poitiers; but it is hurt by the white light from other windows. In the +case of Early coloured windows it is more than ever true that their +intensity can only be appreciated when all the light in the building +comes through them. That intensity, as was said, is deepened where, as +at Strassburg, the colour of the walls absorbs instead of reflecting +light. There the red sandstone of which the church is built gives back +so little light that, as you enter the door, you step from sunshine into +twilight, in which the glass shines doubly glorious. Some of these +(certain of the Kings, for example, on the north side of the nave, each +with its huge nimbus eddying, as it were, ring by ring of colour, out to +the margin of the niche) are of the thirteenth if not of the twelfth +century; but they are typical of no period. The borders framing them are +perhaps a century later than the figures. Indeed, the period of this +glass is most perplexing to the student of style, until he realises +that, after the great fire at the very end of the thirteenth century, +remains of earlier glass, spared from the wreck, were incorporated with +the newer work. And, not only this, but, what was rare in mediæval days, +the fourteenth century designer, in his endeavour to harmonise, as he +most successfully did, the old work with the new, gave to his own work a +character which was not of his period,--much to the mystification of the +student, who too readily imagines that he cannot go far wrong in +attributing to the glass in a church a date posterior to its +construction. + +The cathedral at Strassburg is rich also in distinctly Decorated glass, +to all of which the tourist pays no heed. He goes there to see the +clock. If he should have a quarter of an hour to spare before noon--at +which hour the cock crows and the church is shut--he allows himself to +be driven by the verger, with the rest of the crowd, into the transept, +and penned up there until the silly performance begins. To hear folk +talk of the thing afterwards at the _table d'hôte_ you might fancy that +Erwin Von Steinbach had built his masterpiece just to house this rickety +piece of mock old mechanism. + +Some of the most interesting glass of the Middle Gothic period is to be +found in Germany, for tradition died hard there; and, whilst thirteenth +century glass was more often Romanesque than Gothic in character, that +of the fourteenth often followed closely the traditions of earlier +Gothic workmanship. The Germans excelled especially in foliage design, +which they treated in a manner of their own. It was neither very deep in +colour nor grisaille, but midway between the two. The glass at +Regensburg is an exceedingly good instance of this treatment; but +instances of it are to be found also in the Museum at Munich, very +conveniently placed for the purposes of study. The windows at Freiburg +in the Black Forest should also be seen. But some of the very richest +figure work of the period is to be found in the choir windows of S. +Sebald's Church, at Nuremberg. Except for the simplicity of their lines +these are not striking in design; but the colour is perhaps deeper in +tone than in the very richest of thirteenth century glass. The first +impression is that the composition is entirely devoid of white glass; +but there proves to be a very small amount of horny-tinted material +which may be supposed to answer to that description. As the light fades +towards evening these windows become dull and heavy; but on a bright day +the intensity of their richness is unsurpassed. They have a quality +which one associates rather with velvet than with glass. + +[Illustration: 252. 14TH CENTURY GERMAN GLASS.] + +Excellent Decorated glass, and a great quantity of it, is to be found at +Evreux, and again at Troyes. The clerestory of the choir at Tours is +most completely furnished with rich Early Decorated glass of +transitional character--interesting on that account, and, at the same +time, most beautiful to see. There is other Decorated work there with +which it is convenient to compare it, together with earlier and later +work more or less worth seeing. Again most interesting work, but not +much of it, and that rather fragmentary, is to be found at the church of +S. Radegonde, at Poitiers; but there was in France at about that time +rather a lull in glass painting. In England, on the contrary, there is +an abundance of it. There is good work in the choir of Wells Cathedral. +Part of it is in a rather fragmentary condition, but it is all very much +of a period; and there is enough of it to give a fair idea of what +English Decorated glass is like. York Minster is rich in it. It is quite +an object lesson in style to go straight from the contemplation of the +Five Sisters, which belong to the latter part of the Early period of +glass painting, into the neighbouring vestibule of the Chapter House, +where the windows are of the early years of the Second Period, and +thence to the Chapter House itself, where they are typically Decorated. +The study of Decorated glass can be continued in the nave again, which +is filled with it. Entering, then, the choir, you find mainly +Perpendicular glass, much of it typical of English work of the Late +Gothic period. + +Other very beautiful Late Gothic work is to be found in some of the +smaller churches of York, such as All Saints'. There is a window there +made up of fragments of old glass, among which are some very delicately +painted and really beautiful heads. This work is all characteristically +English. English also is the glass in the Priory Church at Great +Malvern. There is a vast quantity of it, too, which adds to its effect; +but unfortunately, a great part of it now fills windows for which it was +obviously not designed. This is the more unfortunate because, where it +has not been disturbed, it shows unmistakable evidence of having been +very carefully designed for its place. The tracery of the great East +window is, for example, an admirable instance of the just balance +between white and colour so characteristic of later Gothic glass. Again, +the Creation window, amongst others, is a lesson in delicate glass +painting. + +[Illustration: 253. FAIRFORD.] + +Distinctly English in the delicacy of their painting are, again, the +windows in the church of S. Mary, Ross. The far-famed windows of +Fairford are, of course, not English. They were captured, the story +goes, at sea, and brought to Gloucestershire, where a Perpendicular +church was built to accommodate them. English antiquaries make claim +that they are English, but internal evidence shows them to be Flemish or +German. Considerable notoriety attaches to the Fairford windows owing to +a theory which was at one time propounded to the effect that they were +designed by Albert Dürer. The theory is now as dead as a back number, +but the notoriety remains--and not undeservedly; for although this glass +stands by no means alone, and is distinctly second to some contemporary +work (such, for example, as that on the north side of the nave of +Cologne Cathedral, which Dürer might conceivably have designed), it is +remarkably fine; and it enjoys the comparatively rare distinction of +practically filling the windows of the church. You not only, therefore, +see the colour (which, rather than the painting, is its charm) at its +best, but you have a complete scheme of decoration--Type answering to +Anti-type, the Twelve Apostles corresponding to the Prophets, the +Evangelists to the Four Fathers, and again the Saints opposed to the +Persecutors of the Church. Most old glass owes something to the +disintegration of its surface, and the consequent refraction of the +light transmitted through it. In the Fairford glass the colours are more +than usually mellow. The white, in particular, is stained to every +variety of green and grey--the colour, as it proves, of the minute +growth of lichen with which it is overgrown. It is said that, when the +fury of iconoclasm was abroad, this glass was buried out of harm's way; +which may possibly have hastened the decay of the glass, and so have +given root-hold for the growth which now glorifies it. + +It would not be easy to find finer instances of Late Gothic German work +than the five great windows on the North side of Cologne Cathedral. +There, too, one has only to turn right-about-face to compare early +sixteenth century with nineteenth century German practice, and on +precisely the same scale, too. Any one who could hesitate for an instant +to choose between them, has everything yet to learn in regard both to +glass and to colour. The garish modern transparencies show, by their +obvious shortcomings, the consummate accomplishment of the later Gothic +glass painters. + +There is a very remarkable late Gothic Jesse window in the Lorenz Kirche +at Nuremberg, and another almost equal to it in the cathedral at Ulm. +The Tree of Jesse is very differently, but certainly not less +beautifully, rendered in the fine West window at Alençon. + +In most of the great French churches, and in many of the smaller ones, +you find good fifteenth century work. At Bourges you have seven +four-light windows and one larger one, all fairly typical. The best of +them is in the chapel of Jacques Coeur, the Jack that built at Bourges +quite one of the most remarkable of mediæval houses extant. But there is +no one church which recurs before all others to the memory when one +thinks of Late Gothic glass in France. One remembers more readily +certain superlative instances, such as the flamboyant Rose window at the +West end of S. Maclou, at Rouen, a wonder of rich colour, or the Western +Rose in the cathedral there. The fact is, that the spirit of the +Renaissance begins early in the sixteenth century to creep into French +work; and, as glass painting arrives at its perfection, it betrays very +often signs of going over to the new manner. This is peculiarly the case +in that part of France which lies just this side of the Alps; so much +so, that a markedly mixed style is commonly accepted as "Burgundian." +This is most apparent in the beautiful church of Brou, a marvel of +fanciful Gothic, florid, of course, after the manner of the Early +sixteenth century, extreme in its ornamentation, but, for all but the +purist, extremely beautiful. The church itself is as rich as a jewel by +Cellini, and infinitely more interesting; and the glass is worthy of its +unique setting. + +There is a very remarkable series of windows to see in the cathedral at +Auch, all of a period, all by one man, filling all the eighteen windows +of the choir ambulatory. Transition is everywhere apparent in them, +though perhaps one would not have placed them quite so early as 1513, +the date ascribed to them. A notable thing about the work is its scale, +which is much larger than is usual in French glass of that period. +Nowhere will you find windows more simply and largely designed or more +broadly treated. Nowhere will you find big Renaissance canopies richer +in colour or more interesting in design. The fifty or more rather +fantastically associated Prophets, Patriarchs, Sibyls, and Apostles +depicted, form, with the architecture about them and the tracery above, +quite remarkable compositions of colour. And it is very evident that the +colour of each window has been thought out as a whole. There is not one +of these windows which is not worth seeing. They form collectively a +most important link in the chain of style, without, however, belonging +to any marked period. Indeed, they stand rather by themselves as +examples of very Early Renaissance work, aiming at broad effects of +strong colour (quite opposite from what one rather expects of sixteenth +century French work), and reaching it. And though the artist works +almost entirely in mosaic--using coloured glass, that is to say, instead +of pigment--and depends less than usual upon painting, he yet lays his +colour about the window in a remarkably painter-like way. + +There are noteworthy windows at Châlons-sur-Marne, in the churches of +SS. Madelaine and Joseph, which can be claimed neither as Gothic nor +Renaissance, details of each period occurring side by side in the same +window. At the church of S. Alpin at Châlons is a series of picture +windows in grisaille, not often met with, and very well worth seeing. + +Early sixteenth century glass is so abundant that it is hopeless to +specify churches. Nowhere is the transition period better represented +than at Rouen, and, for that matter, the Early Renaissance too. The +church of S. Vincent contains no less than thirteen windows, with +subjects biblical or allegorical, but always strikingly rich in colour. +The choir is, you may say, an architectural frame to a series of glass +pictures second to few of their period, and so nearly all of a period as +to give one an excellent impression of it: the brilliancy of the colour, +the silveriness of the white glass, and the delicacy of the landscape +backgrounds is typical. Scarcely less interesting is the abundant glass +in the church of S. Patrice, which carries us well into the middle of +the sixteenth century and beyond; so that Rouen is an excellent place in +which to study all but Early glass: there is not much of that to speak +of there. Two exceptionally fine Renaissance windows are to be found in +the church of S. Godard; and there are others well worth seeing whilst +you are in Rouen, if not in every case worth going there to see, in the +churches of S. Romain, S. Nicaise, S. Vivien, in addition to S. Ouen, S. +Maclou, and the cathedral. + +Yet finer Renaissance work is to be found at Beauvais--finer, that is to +say, in design. One is reminded there sometimes of Raffaelle, who +furnished designs for the tapestries for which the town was famous; +these may very well have inspired the glass painters; but there is not +at Beauvais the quantity of work which one finds at Rouen. The very +perfection of workmanship is to be seen also in the windows at +Montmorency and Ecouen (both within a very short distance of Paris); +but, on the whole, this most interesting glass hardly comes up to what +one might imagine it to be from the reproductions in M. Magne's most +sumptuous monograph. + +In a certain sense also the windows at Conches, in Normandy, are a +disappointment. In a series of windows designed by Aldegrever one +expects to find abundant ornament; and there is practically none. What +little there is, is like enough to his work to be possibly by him; but +one feels that Heinrich Aldegrever, if he had had his way, would have +lavished upon them a wealth of ornamental detail, which would have made +them much more certainly his than, as it is, internal evidence proves +them to be. It would hardly have occurred to any one, apart from the +name in one of the windows, to attribute them to this greatest +ornamentist among the Little Masters. It is only the ornamentist who is +disappointed, however, not the glass hunter. It is an experience to have +visited a church like Conches, simple, well proportioned, dignified; +where, as you enter from the West (and the few modern windows are +hidden), you see one expanse of good glass, of a good period, not much +hurt by restoration. The effect is singularly one. You come away not +remembering so much the glass, or any particular window, as the +satisfactory impression of it all--an impression which inclines you to +put down the date of a pilgrimage to Conches as a red-letter day in your +glass-hunting experiences. + +There is magnificent Renaissance glass in Flanders, and especially at +Liège, in which, for the most part, Gothic tradition lingers. Most +beautiful is the great window in the South transept of the cathedral. +The radiance of the scene in which the Coronation of the Virgin is laid, +reminds one of nothing less than a gorgeous golden sunset, which grows +more mellow towards evening when the light is low. In the choir of S. +Jacques there are no less than five tall three-light windows, by no +means so impressive as the glass at the cathedral, but probably only +less worthy of study because they have suffered more restoration. The +seven long two-light windows at S. Martin, though less well-known, are +at least as good as these. In most of them may be seen the decorative +use of heraldry as a framework to figure subjects, characteristic of +German and Flemish work. Very much of this character is the glass from +Herkenrode, which now occupies the seven easternmost windows of the Lady +Chapel in Lichfield Cathedral. They are pictorial, but the pictures are +glass pictures, depending upon colour for their effect; and they are +really admirable specimens of the more glass-like manner of the Early +Flemish Renaissance. There is in the three windows at the East end of +Hanover Square Church, London, some equally admirable glass, which must +once have belonged to a fine Jesse window; but it has suffered too much +in its adaptation to its present position to be of great interest to any +but those who know something about glass. + +All this work is in marked contrast to the not much later Flemish glass +at Brussels--the two great transept windows, and those in the Chapel of +the Holy Sacrament at S. Gudule, to which reference is made at length in +Chapter VII. They are windows which must be seen. They are at once the +types, and the best examples, of the glass painter's new departure in +the direction of light and shade. On the other hand, the large East +window at S. Margaret's, Westminster (Dutch, it is said, of about the +same date), has not the charm of the period, and must not be taken to +represent it fairly. + +The brilliant achievements of William of Marseilles at Arezzo, and the +extraordinarily rich windows in the Duomo at Florence, have been +discussed at some length (pages 248, 268). They should be seen by any +one pretending to some acquaintance with what has been done in glass. +Other Florentine windows worthy of mention are, the Western Rose at S. +Maria Novella, and the great round window over the West door at S. +Croce, ascribed to Ghiberti. The transept window in SS. Giovanni e Paolo +at Venice does not come up to its reputation. It is in a miserable +condition, and as to its authorship (whence its reputation), you have +only to compare it with the S. Augustine picture, which hangs close by, +to see that it is not by the same hand. One of the multitudinous +Vivarini may very likely have had a hand in it, but certainly not +Bartolomeo. His manner, even in his pictures, was more restrained than +that. There are a number of fine windows in the nave of Milan Cathedral, +two at least in which the composition of red and blue is a joy to see. +Earlier Italian glass is of less importance; the windows at Assisi, for +example, are interesting rather than remarkable. They show a distinctly +Italian rendering of Gothic, which is of course not quite Gothic; but to +the designer they indicate trials in design, which might possibly with +advantage be carried farther. + +[Illustration: 254. RAISING OF LAZARUS, AREZZO.] + +By far the most comprehensive series of Renaissance windows in this +country is in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. In the matter of dignity +and depth of colour, the small amount of rather earlier glass in the +outer chapel holds its own; but the thing to see, of course, is the +array of windows, twenty-three of them, all of great size, within the +choir screen. It flatters national vanity, though it may not show great +critical acumen, to ascribe them to English hands. Evidently many hands +were employed, some much more expert than others. It seems there is +documentary evidence to show that the contracts for them (1516-1526) +were undertaken by Englishmen. Very possibly they were executed in +England, and even, as it is said they were, in London. That they were +not painted by the men who drew them, or even by painters in touch with +the draughtsmen, is indicated by such accidents as the yellow-haired, +white-faced negro, of pronounced African type, among the adoring Magi. +It is as clear that the painter had never seen a black man as that the +draughtsman had drawn his Gaspar from the life. Certain of the accessory +scroll-bearing figures, which keep, as it were, ornamental guard between +the pictures, might possibly have been designed by Holbein, who is +reported to have had a hand in the scheme; but they are at least as +likely to be the handiwork of men unknown to fame. But, no matter who +designed the glass, it is on a grand scale, and largely designed. It is +not, however, a model of the fit treatment of glass, though it belongs +to the second quarter of the sixteenth century. For the designers have +been more than half afraid to use leading enough to bind the glass well +together, and have been at quite unnecessary pains to do without lead +lines. The windows vary, too, in merit; and they bear evidence, if only +in the repetition of sundry stock figures, of haste in production. +Still, they have fine qualities of design and colour, and they are, on +the whole, glass-like as well as delightful pictures. We have nothing to +compare with them in their way. + +To see how far pictorial glass painting can be carried, go to Holland. +No degree of familiarity with old glass quite prepares one for the kind +of thing which has made the humdrum market town of Gouda famous. Imagine +a big, bare, empty church with some thirty or more huge windows, mostly +of six lights, seldom less than five-and-twenty feet in height, all +filled with great glass pictures, some of them filling the whole window, +and designed to suggest that you see the scene through the window arch. +They do not, of course, quite give that impression, but it is marvellous +how near they go to doing it. No wonder the painters have won the +applause due to their daring no less than to what they have done. Any +one appreciating the qualities of glass, and realising what can best be +done in it, is disposed at first to resent the popularity of this +scene-painting in glass;--one measures a work naturally by the standard +of its fame;--but a workman's very appreciation of technique must, in +the end, commend to him this masterly glass painting. For the Crabeth +Brothers, their pupils, and coadjutors, were not only artists of +wonderful capacity, daring what only great artists can dare, but they +had the fortune to live at a time when the traditions of their art had +not yet been cast to the winds. Though working during the latter half of +the sixteenth century, they were the direct descendants of the men who +had raised glass painting to the point of perfection, and they inherited +from their forbears much that they could not unlearn. Ambitious as they +might be, and impatient of restraint, they could not quite emancipate +themselves from the prejudices in which they were brought up. More than +a spark of the old fire lay smouldering still in the kiln of the glass +painter, and it flared up at Gouda, brilliantly illuminating the +declining years of the century, and of the art which may be said to have +flickered out after that. + +This last expiring effort in glass painting counts for more, in that it +is the doing not only of strong men but of men who knew their trade. It +is extremely interesting to trace the work of the individual artists +employed; which a little book published at Gouda, and translated into +most amusing English, enables one to do. Dirk Crabeth's work is +pre-eminent for dignity of design, his figures are well composed, and +his colour is rich; although in the rendering of architectural interiors +he falls into the mud, that is to say, into the prevailing Netherlandish +opacity of paint. His brother Walter has not such a heavy hand; he +excels in architectural distance, as Dirk does in landscape; and his +work is generally bright and sparkling, not so strong as his brother's, +but more delicate. Their pupils, too, do them credit, though they lack +taste. Among the other more or less known artists who took part in the +glass, Lambrecht van Ort distinguishes himself in canopy work, as a +painter-architect might be expected to do; Adrian de Vrije and N. +Johnson delight also in architecture, Wilhelmus Tibault and Cornelius +Clok in landscape. Clok and Tibault compete in colour with the Crabeths, +and go beyond them in originality. + +Description of this unrivalled collection of later Dutch glass painting, +except on the spot, is as hopeless as it would be dull. The windows must +be seen. The men were artists and craftsmen, and their work is truly +wonderful. Who shall attempt what these men failed to do? That is the +moral of it. + +[Illustration: 255. THE VIRGIN, S. MARTIN-ÈS-VIGNES, TROYES.] + +The only other place where later glass is of sufficient worth to make it +worth seeing, the only place where Seventeenth century work arouses +much interest, is Troyes. There is a quantity of it in the churches of +S. Nizier, S. Pantaleon, and in the cathedral, attributed, for the most +part, to Linard Gontier, who is certainly responsible for some of the +best of it. But it is in the church of S. Martin-ès-Vignes, in the +outskirts of the town, that it is to be appreciated _en masse_. There +you may see some hundred and ten lights in all, executed during the +first forty years of the seventeenth century. This is the place to study +the decline and fall of glass painting--a melancholy sort of +satisfaction. Here more thoroughly than ever must be realised how +hopeless it is to evade in glass the glazier's part of the business; how +powerless enamel is to produce effect; how weak, poor, lacking in +limpidity and lustre, its colour is--and this even in the hands of an +artist born, one may say, after his time. Gonthier was an incomparable +glass painter. He could produce with a wash of pigment effects which +lesser men could only get by laborious stippling and scratching; he +could float enamel on to glass with a dexterity which enabled him to get +something like colour in it; but he was not a colourist, nor yet, +probably, a designer. The difference in the work attributed to him, and +the style of his design (which is sometimes that of an earlier and +better day) lead one rather to suppose that he adapted or adopted the +designs of his predecessors as suited his convenience. + +To see what glass painting came to in the eighteenth century you cannot +do better than go to Oxford. You have there the design of no less a man +than Sir Joshua Reynolds, painted by one of the best china painters of +his day. None but a china painter, by the way, could be found to do it. +It is not unfair, therefore, to compare this masterpiece of its poor +period with the rude work of the fourteenth century, done by no one +knows whom. And what do we find? Conspicuous before us is the great West +window, which might as well have been painted on linen, so little of the +translucency of glass is there left in it. It in no way lessens the +credit of the great portrait painter that he knew nothing of the +capacities of glass; that was not his _métier_. And there was no one to +advise him wisely in the matter. But the result is disastrous. The +beauty of his drawing--and there is charm at least in the figures of the +Virtues--counts for little, as compared with the dulness of it all. It +has neither the colour of mosaic glass nor the sparkle of grisaille. +The white is obscured by masses of heavy paint, which, when the sun +shines very brightly behind it, kindles at best into a foxy-brown; and +even this is in danger of peeling off, and showing the poverty of the +glass it was meant to enrich. Any pictorial effect it might have had is +ruined by the leads and bars, which assert themselves in the most +uncompromising manner. In short, the qualities of oil painting aimed at +are altogether missed, and the facilities which glass offered are not so +much as sought. + +It is no hardship to turn your back upon such poor stuff. And there, +high up on the other side, are seven great Gothic windows. These are by +no means of the best period. The design consists largely of canopy work, +never profoundly interesting; the figures are, at the best, rudely +drawn; some of them are even grotesquely awkward. Their heads are too +large by half, their hands and feet flattened out in the familiar, +childish, mediæval way. In all the sixty-four figures there is not one +that can be called beautiful. Yet for all that, there is a dignity in +them which the graceful Virtues lack. They are designed, moreover, with +a large sense of decoration. The balance of white and colour is just +perfect, and the way the patches of deep colour are embedded, as it +were, in grisaille, is skilful in the extreme. To compare them with the +futile effort of the eighteenth century, opposite, is to apprehend what +can be done in glass, and what cannot. The whole secret of the success +of the mere craftsman where the great painter failed, is that he knew +what to seek in glass,--colour, brilliancy, decorative breadth. He not +only knew what to do, but how to do it; and he did it in the manliest +and most straightforward way. Rude though the work, it fits its place, +fulfils its function, adorns the architecture, gives grandeur to it. +What more can you ask? + +Domestic glass, such as that in which the Swiss excelled (window panes, +many of them, rather than windows), is best studied in museums, whither +most of it has drifted. There is no national collection without good +examples. Better or more accessible it would be difficult to find than +those in the quiet little museum at Lucerne--so quiet that, if you spend +a morning there, studying them, you become yourself, by reason of your +long stay, an object of interest. So little attention do these +masterpieces in miniature glass painting attract, that the guardians do +not expect any one to give them more than a passing glance; but they +leave you, happily, quite free to pursue your harmless, if inexplicable, +bent. + +The list of windows worth seeing is by no means exhausted. In many a +town, as at York, Tours, Troyes, Evreux, Bourges, Rouen, Nuremberg, +Cologne, and in many a single church, you may find the whole course of +glass painting, from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, more or +less completely illustrated; and, where that is so, of course one period +throws light upon another. But the impression is always stronger when +the century has left its mark upon the church. + +Not until you have a clear idea of the characteristics of style, can you +sort out for yourself the various specimens, which occur in anything but +historic sequence in the churches where they are to be found. Having +arrived at understanding enough to do that, you will need no further +guidance, and may go a-hunting for yourself. To the glass hunter there +are almost everywhere windows worth seeing. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +A WORD ON RESTORATION. + + +If old windows have suffered at the hands of time, they have also +gained, apart from sentiment, a tone and quality which the glass had not +when it was new. + +Their arch-enemy is the restorer, at whose hands they have suffered +cruel and irreparable wrong. He is the thief who has robbed so much old +glass of its glory, and a most impenitent one: there are times when any +one who cares for glass could find it in his heart to wish he were +crucified. So greedy is he of work, if not of gain, that restoration +cannot safely be left even to the most learned of men; to him, perhaps, +can it least of all be entrusted. + +The twelfth century windows at S. Denis should be among the most +interesting extant. They are ruined by restoration. The beauty which +they may have had, which they must have had, is wiped out; and, for +purposes of study, they are of use only to those who have opportunity +and leisure to ferret out what is genuine amidst the sham. The S. +Chapelle is cited as a triumph of restoration, an object lesson, in +which we may see a thirteenth century chapel with its glass as it +appeared when first it was built. If that is so, then time has indeed +been kinder even than one had thought. No less an authority than Mr. +Ruskin (in a letter to Mr. E. S. Dallas, published in the _Athenæum_) +praises the new work there, and says he cannot distinguish it from the +old. There is at least a window and a half (part of the East window, and +the one to the left of that) in which, at all events, the old is easily +distinguishable from the new. But if the new is not more obvious +throughout, that is not because the new is so good, but because the old +has been so restored that it is unrecognisable--as good as new, in fact, +and no better. The old glass is so smartened up, so watered down with +modern, that it gives one rather a poor idea of unspoiled thirteenth +century work. A more adequate impression of what it must have been, may +be gained from the few panels of it, comparatively unhurt by +restoration, now in South Kensington Museum. + +The story of destruction repeats itself wherever the restorer has had +his way. Sometimes he has actually inserted new material if only the old +was cracked, obscured, corroded; and has effaced the very qualities +which come of age and accident. Sometimes he has indulged in a brand-new +background. There, at least, it seemed to his ignorance, he might safely +substitute nice, new, even-tinted, well-made glass for streaky, +speckled, rough, mechanically imperfect material. Invariably he has +thinned the effect of colour by diluting the old glass with new. Many +quite poor new-looking windows, spick and span from the restorer (those, +for example, at the East end of Milan Cathedral), turn out to contain a +certain amount of old work, good perhaps, lost in garish modern +manufacture. At Notre Dame, at Paris, the considerable remains of Early +and Early Decorated glass go for very little. One has to pick them out +from among modern work designed to deceive. Certain windows at Mantes +have suffered such thorough restoration that one begins to wonder if +they are not altogether new; and you have precisely the same doubt at +Limoges and at scores of other places. At Lyons an Early Rose has been +made peculiarly hideous by restoration. Much of the harsh purple in +Early French mosaic is surely due to the admixture of crude new glass. +It is needless to multiply examples; they will occur to every one. All +this old work swamped in modern imitation goes inevitably for nought. If +the new is good it puzzles and perplexes one; if bad, one can see +nothing else. What is crude kills what is subdued. It is as if one +listened for a tender word at parting, and it was drowned in the screech +of the steam-engine. + +Early glass was so mechanically imperfect, and age has so roughened and +pitted it, that its colour has, almost of necessity, a quality which new +work has not; and one is disposed, perhaps too hastily, to ascribe all +garish glass in old windows to the restorer. Many a time, however, the +new work convicts itself. At Strassburg it is quite easily detected. You +may check your judgment in this respect by surveying the windows from +the rear. It is a very good plan to preface the study of old work by +examining it from the churchyard, the street, the close, or in the case +of a big church from its outer galleries. The surface exposed to the +weather, with the light upon it, explains often at a glance what would +else be unaccountable. A vile habit of the restorer is to smudge over +his glass with dirty paint, perhaps burnt in, perhaps merely in varnish +colour; this he terms "antiquating." + +The worse the new work added to the old, the more thoroughly it spoils +it; the better the forgery, the more serious the doubt it throws upon +what may be genuine. The modern ideal of restoration is thoroughly +vicious. All that can be done is mending; and it should be an axiom with +the repairer, that, where glass (however broken) can possibly be made +safe by lead joints, no new piece of glass should ever be inserted in +its place. Better any disfigurement by leads than the least adulteration +of old work. + +It is absurd to set good old work in the midst of inferior reproduction +of it, as the common practice is, more especially in the case of Early +work. Every bungler has thought himself equal to the task of restoring +thirteenth century glass. It was rudely drawn and roughly painted. What +could be easier than to repeat details of ornament, or even to make up +bogus old subjects, and so complete the window? To paint figures +anything like those in the picture windows of the sixteenth century was +obviously not so easy, and the difficulty has acted as a deterrent. +Where it has not, the discrepancy between old and new is usually +unmistakable. Men like M. Capronnier, however, have sometimes put +excellent workmanship into their restoration of Renaissance work, to be +detected only by a certain air of modernity, which happily has crept +into it, in spite of the restorer. But was it not he who flattened the +grey-blue background to the transept windows at S. Gudule? The fine +window at S. Gervais, Paris, with the Judgment of Solomon, has lost much +of its charm in restoration. To compare it with the two lights in the +window to the right of it, is to see how much of the quality of old +glass has been restored away. That quality may be due in part to age and +decay. What then? Beauty is beauty; and if it comes of decay (which we +cannot hinder), let us at least enjoy the beauty of decay. + +It has been proved at Strassburg that thirteenth or even twelfth century +work may be quite harmoniously worked into fourteenth century windows. +And even in the sixteenth century there were artists who managed to +adapt quite Early mosaic glass to Renaissance windows, in which +abundant stain, and even enamel, was used. The effect may be perplexing, +but it does not deceive. Why will not a man frankly tell us what is new +in his work? Then we could appreciate what he had done. But it is only +once in a while that he takes you into his confidence. This happens, by +way of exception, in a window at S. Mary's Redcliffe, Bristol, in the +case of some figure work on quarry backgrounds, in which the new work is +all of clear unpainted white or coloured glass, but so judiciously +chosen that you do not at first perceive the patching. The effect is +absolutely harmonious; and when you begin to study the glass, you do so +without any fear that imposition is being practised upon you. Where the +painting has in parts been made good, there is always that fear, as, for +example, at S. Mary's Hall, Coventry: the windows have been restored +with great taste; but one cannot always be quite sure as to what is +modern. + +The merest jumble of old glass, more especially if it be all of one +period or quality, is far better than what is called restoration. Who +does not call to mind window after window in which the glass is so mixed +as to be quite meaningless, and is yet, for all that, beautiful? The +Western Rose at Reims is an unintelligible jumble mainly of blue and +green. It may not be design, but it is magnificent. Again, the Western +lights at Auxerre, in great part patchwork, are simply glorious when the +afternoon sun shines through. + +At the East end of Winchester Cathedral is a seven-light window, +reckoned by Winston to be one of the finest of a fine period. At the +West end is an enormous window, which seems to be a mere medley of odds +and ends. On examination you can trace in perhaps twelve out of +forty-four lights of this last the outline of canopy-work, and in two or +three that of the figure under it; but for the rest, certainly in the +two lower tiers (which are best seen), it is mere patchwork, including +some quite crude blue, and a certain amount of common clear white sheet. +The effect, when you examine it closely, is anything but pleasing. But +as you stand near the choir screen on a not very bright morning, and +look from one window to the other, the effect is just the opposite of +what might have been expected. For the really fine East window has been +restored; and, whether to preserve it or to bring old work and new into +uniformity, it has been screened with sheets of perforated zinc! On the +other hand, the really considerable amount of crude white and colour +with which the West window has been botched is, so to speak, swallowed +up in silvery radiance. Probably it helps even to give it quality; +anyway, the effect is delightful. Indeed, it recalls the impression of +the Five Sisters at York, or suggests some monster cobweb in which the +light is caught. Beauty, forbid that any busybody should restore it! At +Poitiers (S. Radegonde) is a grisaille window of the fourteenth century, +all patched, defaced, undecipherable--mended only with thick bulbous +bits of green-white glass--which is quite all one could desire in the +way of decoration. + +[Illustration: 256. A RESTORATION AT ANGERS.] + +In very many churches there remain fragments of old glass in stray +tracery openings, not enough to produce effect. The question has been +what to do with them. A common practice is to use up such scraps in the +form of bordering to common white quarry glass. That is quite a futile +thing to do. The effect of setting old glass amidst plain white is to +put out its colour; and this, not only in the case of deep-coloured +glass, but equally of Early grisaille; which when framed in clear glass, +looks merely dirty. The most beautiful and sparkling of thirteenth +century glass so framed would be degraded. At Angers are some windows +consisting of a mosaic of scraps worked up into pattern (before the days +of restoration as we know it); and the mere introduction amidst it of a +strapwork of thin white sheet (above) is enough to take from it all +charm of colour, all quality of old glass. Massed all together in one +window, without such adulteration, the most miscellaneous collection of +chips makes usually colour. In the hands of a colourist it would be +certain to do so. What if it be confused? Mystery is, at all events, one +element of charm, and even of beauty. + +[Illustration: 257. S. JEAN-AUX-BOIS.] + +It is not beyond the bounds of possibility to marry old work with new; +but the union is rarely happy. It wants, in the first place, good modern +glass. Further than that, it wants an artist, and one who has more care +for old work than for his own. There is some satisfactory eking out old +glass with new at Evreux, where a number of small subjects, many of them +old, are framed in grisaille, in great part new, in a very ingenious +way. At Munster is a window in which little tracery lights (you can tell +that by their shapes) are used as points of interest in a modern +composition--with a result, only less happy than where, at S. Mary's +Redcliffe, a window is made up almost entirely of old glass, very much +of one period, the more fragmentary remains forming a sort of broken +mosaic background to circular medallions, heads, and other important +pieces, arranged more or less pattern-wise upon it. Old glass must needs +be mended sometimes, patched perhaps; new may have to be added to it; it +has even to be adapted on occasion to a new window, with or without the +admixture of new; but none of this is restoration of the glass in the +modern sense. That implies restoring it to what once it was--which is, +on the face of it, absurd. + +The effect of windows made up (as at S. Jean-aux-Bois, page 409) of +segments of two or three old windows satisfies the artistic sense +perfectly. What the restorer does is to take each pattern he finds in it +for what he calls "authority," and to make two or three windows, all of +which have much more the appearance of modern forgeries (which in great +part they are) than of old work. The "antiquation" of the new glass in +them deceives none but the most ignorant; but it does throw doubt upon +the genuineness of the old work found in such very bad company. + +If there remain enough old glass to make a window, let it be judiciously +repaired; if there be not enough for that, let it be piously preserved, +best of all, in a museum, where those who care for such scraps may see +it: scattered about in stray windows in out-of-the-way churches they are +practically unseen. Better than what is called restoration, the +brutality of the mason who plasters up gaps in the clerestory windows of +great churches with mortar, or the plumber's patch of zinc, which +temporarily at least keeps out the weather and the crude white light, +leaving us in full enjoyment of the colour and effect of old glass. How +grateful we are when it is only cobbled, and not restored. Restoration +is a word to make the artist shudder. + +In a window at Auch, representing the Risen Christ, with, on the one +side, the doubting Thomas, and on the other the Magdalene, the customary +inscription, "Noli me tangere," is followed (in letters of precisely the +same character) by the signature of the artist, Arnaut de Moles. It is +the reverend Abbé responsible for the authorised description of the +church, who suggests that it may have been with intention he signed his +name just there. He has come off, as it happens, very much better at the +hands of the restorer than most men. Had it been possible for him to +foresee what nineteenth century "restoration" meant, well might he have +written over his signature "Leave me alone"! + + + + +INDEX. + +(The ordinary figures refer to the numbers of the illustrations, and +those in black type to the pages of the book.) + + + ABRASION, =60=, =62= + AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, 14 + ALABASTER windows, =380=, =381= + ALENÇON, =366= + ANGELS, =375= + ANGERS, 61, 62, 63, 256 + " museum, 168 + " (S. Serge), 17, 85, 86 + ANNEALING, =63= + ANTWERP, =80=, =82=, =226=, =227=, =258= + ARAB glass, =19=, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 + ARCHITECTURE (due consideration of), =356= + AREZZO, =248=, 41, 43, 181, 254 + ASSISI, =262=, 53, 177, 187 + AUCH, =233=, =280=, =393=, =410= + AUGSBURG, =118= + AUXERRE, 55, 75, 220 + + BACKGROUND, =251= + " (architectural), =209=, =211= + " (landscape), =209=, =211= + BARS, =101=, =113=, =114=, =122=, =158=, =267=, =275= + " (shaped), 68, 69 + BEAUVAIS, =374=, =394=, 247 + BEVERLEY minster, =74= + BLACK PAINT (used for local colour), =89= + BOLOGNA, =264=, 180 + BONLIEU, =11= + BORDERS (Early), =114=, =327= + " (Decorated), =174-7=, =335= + " (Perpendicular), =190=, =344= + BOURGES, =392=, 70, 72, 234 + " (S. Bonnet), =208=, 157 + BRABOURNE church, 16 + BRISTOL (S. Mary's), =407= + BRITISH Museum, =1= + BROU, =393= + BRUSSELS (S. Gudule), =69=, =79=, =80=, =233=, =395=, 42 + BULL'S-eye windows, =267= + + CAMBRIDGE (King's College), =216=, =257=, =396= + CANOPIES (Early), =135=, =313=, =334= + " (Decorated), =155=, =197=, =313= + " (Italian), 264=, 265= + " (Perpendicular), =184= _et seq._, =340= + " (Renaissance), =205=, =221=, =224=, =225=, =347= + CANOPY (the beginning of the), =135= + CANTERBURY, =385=, 23, 73, 79, 81, 214 + CARCASSONNE, =362=, =369= + CARTOUCHES, =229= + CHÂLONS, =393=, 12, 13, 98, 121, 122, 227 + CHANTILLY, =303=, 160 + CHARTRES, =144=, =387=, 27, 71, 76, 103, 117, 216, 219 + " (S. Pierre), 96, 115 + CHETWODE church, 201 + CHOICE of glass, =60=, =101= + CLERESTORY windows, =283= + CLOK (Cornelius) =399= + COATED glass, =49= + COLOGNE, =392=, 147 + " (S. Kunibert), 25, 28, 77, 222, 223 + " (S. Peter), 240 + COLOUR (Early), =122=, =328=, =330= + " (Decorated), =338= + " in quarry windows, =287= + " (Italian), =268=, =270= + " (Perpendicular), =346= + CONCHES, =394= + CONFUSED effect, =42=, =134=, =217= + COSTA (Lorenzo), =264= + COUTANCES, 101 + CRABETHS (the), =247=, =399= + CUTTING, =8= + " (economy of), =25= + + DA UDINE (Giovanni), =300= + DECAY, =219= + DECLINE of glass painting, =86= + DECORATED borders, =176=, =335= + " canopies, =155=, =313=, =334= + " colour, =338= + " composition, =334= + " figure design, =157=, =337= + " grisaille, =163=, =337= + " Jesse windows, =363= + " medallion windows, =152= + " quarries, =290= + " style, =333-338= + " tracery, =278= + DESIGN (banded), =160= + " (Early), =36=, =111=, =112= + " (effect of window-shape upon), =113= + " (essential conditions of), =96= + " (Perpendicular), =187=, =340= + DETAIL (ornamental), =328= + DEVILS, =374= + DIAPER (geometric), =133= + " (German), =171= + " (painted or picked out), =35=, 32, 33, 36, 49, 56 + DONORS, =221= + "DOOM" windows, =372= + DRAMATIC effect, =378= + DRAWING, =346= + + EARLY canopies, =313= + " colour, =328=, =330= + " design, =36=, =111=, =112= + " English, =327= + " figures, their crudity, =41= + " glass (confusion in effect of), =42= + " glazing, =330= + " grisaille, =137= _et seq._, =408= + " Jesse windows, =362= + " mosaic windows, =32= _et seq._ + " ornament, =40=, =115=, =130= + " rose windows, =273= + " tracery, =274= + ECOUEN, =394= + ENAMEL, =12= _et seq._, =77= _et seq._, =99=, =232= + " (influence of Byzantine), =17= + " (objections to), =84= + " (use of in ornament), =78= + ENAMEL _plus_ POT-METAL, =79= + ENGLISH (Early), =327= + " (Perpendicular), =190= + EVREUX, =176=, =177=, 113, 118, 190, 191 + + FAIRFORD, =374=, =391=, 34, 143, 144, 150, 173, 236, 237, 248, 249, + 250, 253 + FIFTEENTH century glass, =322=, =340= + FIGURE-AND-CANOPY windows, =326= + FIGURE design, =157=, =337= + FIGURES (Early), =41=, =42= + FIGURES and ornament, =126=, =319= + FIVE Sisters (the), =146=, =147= + FLASHED glass, =49=, =50= + FLESH tints, =77=, =106= + FLORENCE, =264=, =270=, =300=, 179, 182, 183 + " (Certosa in Val d'Ema), 202, 203, 204, 242 + " (S. Maria Novella), 178, 199 + FOURTEENTH century glass, =322=, =333= + " " painting, =47= + FREIBURG, 105, 126, 127, 244 + FRENCH glass painting, =75= + " medallion windows, =125= + + GEOMETRIC diaper (German), =171= + " " (mosaic), =133= + GERMAN foliated pattern windows, =174= + " geometric diaper, =171= + GLAZING, =6=, =15= _et seq._, =80=, =82=, =101=, =229=, =282=, 168 + " (Early), =330= + " (economy in), =144= + " (ingenuity in), =56= + GLAZING _plus_ PAINTING, =43=, =44=, =53=, =54= + " in rectangular panes, =80=, =225= + " shadows in pot-metal, =72=, =224= + GONTIER (Linard), =80=, =81=, =229=, =230= + GOTHIC influence, =203= + " (Italian), =263= + " landscape, =253= + " pattern windows, =291= + " tracery, =280= + GOUDA, =223=, =256=, =258=, =398=, =401=, 46, 161, 162, 165, 172, 176 + GRISAILLE (Early), =137= _et seq._, =331=, =408= + GRISAILLE (Decorated), =163=, =337= + " (Perpendicular), =192=, =343= + " and colour, =106=, =120=, =157= + + HERALDRY, =198= + HITCHIN church, 21 + + INTERLACING, =167= + ITALIAN canopies, =265= + " Gothic, =263= + " glass, =248=, =260= _et seq._, =299= + + JESSE windows, =360= _et seq._ + " (Early), =362= + " (Decorated), =363= + " (Renaissance), =367= + JEWELLERY (glass related to), =21= + JOHNSON (N.), =399= + + KALEIDOSCOPIC effect, =42= + KING'S College, Cambridge, =216=, =257=, =396= + + LANDSCAPE, =209=, =251=, =256= + LAST Judgment windows, =372= + LATE GOTHIC pattern windows, =291= + " " style, =343= + " " technique, =346= + " " tracery, =280= + " " windows, =178= _et seq._ + LATE RENAISSANCE canopies, =225= + LEAD lines, =38= + " outlines, =23= + LEADING (its influence on colour), =39= + LEADS (contrivances for avoiding), =61=, =62=, =63=, =97= + " (scheming of), =27=, =28= + LE MANS, 20, 218 + LICHFIELD, =214=, =395= + LIÈGE, =214=, =395= + LINCOLN, 67, 93, 95, 185, 189, 192 + LISIEUX, 167 + LOCAL schools, =261= + LONDON (S. George's, Hanover Square), =214=, 159 + LUCERNE, =403= + LYONS, 26, 83, 84, 153, 188, 239 + + MALVERN, =55=, 37 + MANY lights (windows of), =151= _et seq._ + MAP of a window, =8= + MARSEILLES (William of), =248= + MATERIAL and design, =107= + MEDALLION windows, =123= _et seq._, =324=, =325= + " " (Decorated), =152= + " " (French), =125= + " " of many lights, =153= + MEDIÆVAL artlessness, =376= + MENDING (judicious), =407= + MIDDLE GOTHIC glass, =162= _et seq._ + MILAN, =263= + MISUSE of shading, =68= + MONTMORENCY, =394=, 40, 158 + MOSAIC, =5=, =6= + " (marble and glass), =29= + " diaper, =133= + MULLIONS, =151=, =195=, =197=, =198=, =240=, =272= + MUNICH museum, 124, 128, 129, 131 + + NATURALISM, =337= + NEEDLE-POINT work, =87= _et seq._ + NETHERLANDISH glass, =73=, =302= + NEW departures, =109= + NIMBUS (the), =208= + NORBURY, 114 + NUREMBERG, =224=, 125 + " (S. Lorenz), 164 + " (S. Sebald), 163 + + OBSCURATION, =68=, =79=, =82= + OLD work (the spirit of), =358= + ORNAMENT (a plea for), =317= _et seq._ + " (Early), =40=, =115=, =130= + " (Decorated), =160= + " (Perpendicular), =343= + " (possibilities in), =321= + " (Renaissance), =349= + ORVIETO, =380=, 19 + OXFORD (All Souls' College), 35, 141 + " (New College), =179=, =401=, 48, 109, 137 + + PAINT (brushing out), =64= + " (early use of), =33= + " (first use of), =11= + PAINT as local colour, =57= + PAINTED mosaic glass, =43= _et seq._ + PAINTER as glass designer (the), =69= + PAINTING, =6=, =44=, =45=, =47=, =53=, =59= _et seq._, =64=, =68=, + =85=, =89=, =103=, =105=, =190=, =211=, =247=, =263=, =331=, =338=, + =346= + PAINTING out, =11=, =34=, =35=, =44=, =45=, =278= + PALETTE (the early), =328= + PARIS (Louvre), 208 + " (Musée des Arts Décoratifs), 243 + PARIS (S. Eustache), =223= + " (S. Gervais), 166 + PATTERN windows (German), =174= + " " (Late Gothic), =291= + PECKITT, =233= + PERPENDICULAR, =340= + " (English), =188=, =190= + " (German), =188= + PERPENDICULAR borders, =344= + " canopies, =184=, =340= + " colour, =346= + " design, =187=, =340= + " detail, =343= + " drawing, =346= + " grisaille, =343= + " ornament, =343= + " style, =340= + " tracery, =278=, =279=, =343= + PICKING out, =35=, =103= + PICTORIAL _versus_ DECORATIVE, =238= + PICTURE (achievement in), =250= + " (the ideal glass), =246= + PICTURES (a medley of), =195= + PICTURE-WINDOWS, =236= _et seq._ + PISA, =263= + PLAIN glazing, =226=, 166, 167 + " " and painted grisaille, =139= + POICTIERS, =388=, 24, 58, 59, 60 + POSSIBILITIES in the way of ornament, =321= + POT-METAL, =5= + PRATO, 184 + + QUARRIES, =146=, =168=, =192=, =283= _et seq._ + QUARRY-LIKE patterns, =169= + QUARRY windows (colour in), =287= + + REGENSBURG, =389=, 123, 128, 131, 252 + REIMS, 92, 99 + " (S. Remi), =118=, 22, 65, 66, 213 + RENAISSANCE canopies, =205=, =347= + " " (Late), =225= + RENAISSANCE Jesse windows, =367= + " landscape, =255= + " ornament, =349= + " tracery, =280-282=, =349= + RESOURCES of the glass painter, =95= _et seq._ + RESTORATION, =404= _et seq._ + REYNOLDS (Sir Joshua), =401=, =402= + ROSE windows, =272= _et seq._, =326= + " " (Early), =273= + ROSS (S. Mary), 55, 145, 232 + ROUEN, =392=, =394=, 45, 119, 238 + " (S. Godard), 154 + " (S. Ouen), 29, 229 + " (S. Patrice), =377=, =378=, 155 + " (S. Vincent), =375=, =377=, 44, 156, 175 + ROUNDELS, =293=, 199 + + S. DENIS, =404= + S. JEAN-AUX-BOIS, 87, 88, 100, 224, 257 + S. MINIATO, =381= + SALISBURY, =385=, 15, 30, 64, 97, 102, 221, 225, 251 + SCRAPS, =409= + SENS, 90 + SEVENTEENTH century glass, =233=, =323= + " " style, =352= + SHADING (misuse of), =68=, =70=, =73=, =79=, =80=, =247= + " (the beginning of), =13=, =45= + SHREWSBURY, 38, 39, 57, 139, 142, 152, 171, 174 + SILVER stain, =52= + SINGLE-FIGURE windows, =118=, =197= + SIXTEENTH century glass, =323=, =347= + " " style, =348= + " " technique, =350= + " " windows, =201= _et seq._ + SOISSONS, 89, 91 + SOUTH KENSINGTON Museum, 205 + STAIN, =50=, =52=, =60=, =61=, =62=, =105=, =182=, =336=, =344= + STANTON S. John, 120 + STORIED windows, =195=, =209=, =371= _et seq._ + STRASSBURG, =388=, 134 + STYLE, =111=, =112=, =156=, =177=, =178=, =323= + " (Early), =324= + " (Decorated), =335=, =338= + " (Late Gothic), =343= + " (Perpendicular), =340= + " (16th century), =348= + " (17th century), =352= + " (the characteristics of), =322= _et seq._ + " in modern glass, =354= _et seq._ + SUBJECTS not within mullions, =198= + SUBJECT-WINDOWS, =197= + SWISS glass, =87=, =94=, =308= + + THIRTEENTH century glass, =322= + " " ornament, =130= + TIBALDI (Pellegrino), =264= + TIBAULT (Wilhelmus), =399= + TIME of day to see windows (the), =382= + TOURS, =362=, =389= + TRACERY (Early), =274= + " (Decorated), =278= + " (Gothic), =280= + " (Perpendicular), =343= + " (Renaissance), =280-2=, =349= + TRACERY lights, =272= _et seq._ + TRANSITION, =165=, =178=, =181=, =333= + " from Gothic to Renaissance, =65=, =202=, =204= + " from plain glazing to painted grisaille, =139= + TREE of Life (the), =370= + TRIFORIUM windows, =284= + TROYES, =32=, =366=, =401=, 112, 148, 149, 151, 228, 246 + " (museum), 211 + " (private collection), 207 + " (S. Jean), 241 + " (S. Martin ès Vignes), =230=, 47, 169, 170, 255 + " (S. Urbain), 31, 108, 114, 226 + + VAN LINGE, =233= + VAN ORLEY (Bernard), =69=, =222=, =245= + VAN ORT (Lambrecht), =399= + VAN THULDEN, =233= + VERONA (S. Anastasia), 199 + + WARWICK Castle, 54, 206, 209 + WATER Perry, 94 + WELLS, =390=, 136, 231, 245 + WHITE and colour (combination of), =193= + WHITE as a frame for colour, =192=, =315= + WHITE-LINE work, =91= + WINCHESTER, =407= + WINDOW plane (the), =242= + WINDOW shape (effect of, upon design), =113=, =211=, =212=, =240= + WINDOWS (how to see), =380= _et seq._ + WINE press (the), =368= + WORKMANLIKENESS, =244= + WORKMANSHIP (Early), =330= + + YELLOW stain, =52= + YORK, =147=, =192=, =277=, =387=, 146 + " (All Saints), =371=, 36 + + +NOTE--_The name of a town without mention of a church may be taken to mean +that the glass is in the cathedral or principal church._ + + +THE END. + + +BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO. LD., PRINTERS, LONDON AND TONBRIDGE. + + + * * * * * + + +TRANSCRIBER NOTES: + + + Archaic, alternate and misspellings of words have been retained to + match the original work with the exception of those listed below. + + Missing punctuation has been added and obvious punctuation errors + have been corrected. + + Illustrations have been moved so as not to interrupt the flow of the + text. + + Page 85: the printing of several lines was transposed in the + original. They have been corrected. + + Page 125: "borders-lines" changed to "border-lines" (He frames his + little pictures with sufficient border-lines to keep them distinct). + + Page 226: "(16R5)" changed to "(1615)" (as in the cathedral at + Antwerp (1615)). + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Windows, A Book About Stained & +Painted Glass, by Lewis F. Day + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42098 *** |