‘In the beginning God created heavens and the earth . The earth was without form and void and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering on the face of the water. Then God said, “let there be light” and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided light form darkness. Genesis 1.1,1.2,1.3.

It was in the service of the church that stained glass attained its most meaningful expression. The transcendental character of medieval religious architecture was given a special form in the Gothic church. Medieval man considered himself but an imperfect “refraction” of the divine light of God, whose temple on earth, according to the text of the dedication ritual, stood for the heavenly City of Jerusalem. The architectural needs of the Church were expressed in both physical and iconographical terms. The intellectual centers of the Middle ages had long been associated with the Church, and the tradition of learning that had been preserved in monastic and cathedral schools gave rise to a primarily religious nature to the arts, as the scholarly clerics were delegated to devise the intricate, theological programs for stained glass that adorned the church. The stained glass windows became the expansive boundaries between an interior, personal world and the exterior.

The Gothic interpretation of this point of view was a monument that seems to dwarf the man who enters it, for space, light; structure and the plastic effects of the masonry were organized to produce a visionary scale. Such a visionary character expressed not only the physical and the spiritual needs of the Church, but also the general attitude of the people and the aspirations of the individual patron and architect.

The effect of stained glass was not for mere decoration as understood. It had a permanence of its own. It conditioned the minds as well as the footsteps of the people who made use of it and it brought about a transcendental effect, bringing light, openness and an aerial engagement, an appearance which had an enduring effect on the attitude and minds of the people.

Stained glass began primarily as a Christian art form. While it is impossible to pin down the origins of stained glass art it is evident that by the European middle ages, early glass artists had been inspired by the developments of the goldsmith, the cloisonné` enameller, and the tradition of tile mosaics. Having developed the ability to produce relatively large pieces of colored glass, the next step was the use of a lead instead of a gold framework to hold together pieces of glass as a window rather than a broach or a wall decoration. The medieval artist also discovered that iron fillings mixed with powdered glass could be formed into a paste that could be painted on glass to depict various images such as faces, hands and drapery. When fired at a temperature close to the melting point of glass the images became a permanent part of the glass.

Techniques of stained glass were described by the Benedictine monk Theophilus a practicing master craftsman, a celebrated metalworker of the 12th century . From his writings it can be deduced a method which little changed over 900 years.

‘If you want to assemble simple windows, first mark out the dimensions of their length and breadth on a wooden board, then draw scroll work or anything else that pleases you, and select colors that are to be put in . Cut the glass and fit the pieces together with the grozing iron. Enclose them with lead cames… and solder on both sides. Surround it with a wooden frame strengthened with nails’.

The Gothic age produced the great cathedrals of Europe and a brought a full flowering of stained glass windows. Gothic architecture was a bold experiment that jettisoned Europe out of the middle ages and allowed medieval glaziers to produce visions of paradise with their glass. Churches became taller and lighter, walls thinned and stained glass was used to fill the increasingly larger openings in them. Stained glass became the sun filled world outside. Abbot Suger of the Abbey of St. Denis rebuilt is church in what is one of the first examples of the Gothic style. He brought in craftsmen to make glass as he truly believed that the presence of beautiful objects would uplift men’s soul closer to God.

Stained glass windows are often viewed as translucent pictures. Gothic stained glass windows are a complex mosaic of bit of colored glass joined with lead into an intricate pattern illustrating biblical stories and saints lives . Illustrating and idea rather than creating natural or realistic images , paint work was matted to the glass surface to delineate features , and not to control the transmission of light. The medieval man experienced a window more than he read it. It made the church that special, sacred dwelling place of an all powerful God.

From early Christian Byzantine art to the present, stained glass has had an unbroken tradition. From France and Germany stained glass traveled through Europe both to the east and the west. After its high point during the Gothic period there was a steady decline of traditional stained glass. What emerged was a new generation of glass artists. The language changed . Paint work took precedence. It became more sophisticated almost like easel painting in the 15 the century. From a craft based repertoire the ‘modern’ practitioner of stained glass was transformed into a glass artist .They came closer to panel painting . Painters also became glass designers .The glass artists attempted to portray minute details which were not part of the Gothic idiom, which was characterized with its bold lead lines and strong figures .The way stained glass was viewed, changed .The beautiful translucency of glass, the essence of Gothic windows once accepted as a necessary and decorative element became structural evils to be camouflaged by ‘new’ designs. Stained glass as it were lost all previous glory , losing in it its initial symbolism and innate beauty . Becoming , in it self a fashionable addition to residences, public buildings and churches . Heraldic glass showing detailed shields and coats of armour on simple , transparent backgrounds became common . Much of what stained glass was became forgotten .

The evolution of glass a contemporary craft medium is bound with practice and theory of other craft manipulated materials ,The 21st century craft brought about a new design intervention, redefining and exploring its role. It would be impossible to imagine the contemporary craft practice without the major contributions to the 19th and 20th century stylistic movements .

19th century England brought in a revival of Gothic architecture, with it medieval glass techniques were rediscovered and tested and their color secrets unlocked. The Gothic revival was a movement that enveloped many styles. While designers labored over recreating medieval motifs most glass artists infused their work with a combination of renaissance and contemporary ideals that produced a wholly new art form.

Art Nouveau an international style of decoration and architecture was characterized by writhing plant forms and as an opposition to the historicism which had plagued the 19th century. Its emphasis was on decoration and artistic unity.

The Bolton brothers, English immigrants , established on the first stained glass studios in America. The original brothers included William Morris , Edward Burne- Jones and D.G. Rosetti, members of the pre- raphaelite brotherhood. Morris and the brotherhood believed that machine production had degraded everyday life with the prodigious output of inferior goods. This led to an obsession with craftsmanship and detail which is evident in many of the windows of Burne- Jones, whose use of lavish foliage and ethereal figures became a standard for representation during the Victorian period, as well as an influence in the development of Art Nouveau. These Gothic style windows enhanced churches and simple ornamental windows and these painted figural windows were the norm until the development of a distinctive American style.

John LaFarge and Louis Comfort Tiffany were two American painters who began experimenting with glass. Contemporaries , but working independently, they were trying to develop glass that possessed a wide range of visual effects without painting. The new ‘American’ glass was called opalescent glass. Unlike antique pot-metal glass artists that is relatively translucent , opalescent glass reflects as well as refracts light. The milky and swirling mixture of colors in opalescent glass was a perfect compliment to the marble and stone interiors of most neo classical structures. They relied heavily on statuary forms with figures standing in niches or surrounded by columns.

Lafarge and Tiffany used intricate cuts and richly colored glasses within detailed, flowing designs Plating, or layering glass layers, achieved depth and texture. Both made windows for private homes as well as churches. Unique to their work was the glass itself which could be used to portray the depth of color in bending flower petal or a variation in atmospheric effects in spectacular sky.

The process of using thin strips of copper as a substitute for lead came allowed for intricate sections within windows. Tiffany adapted the technique to construct lampshades and capitalized on the new innovation of electric lighting. Tiffany’s customers were wealthy, turn of the century families including the Vanderbilt’s and Astor’s. The tiffany style prompted many imitators and opalescent windows and shades remained popular through the turn of the century. Stained glass has become a household name thanks to Tiffany’s.

Post World War I saw a great change in taste. The abstract expressionism gained a new momentum an made in roads into the artistic expression of glass artists who straddled the ‘other’ world of stained glass as well.

Stained glass, or more appropriate art glass saw an explosion of interest in the last 30 years .From Rene’ Lalique , who developed techniques of mass- producing high quality glassware ,to Maurice Marinot, who revised methods of hand working glass, the art deco period is characterized by a great variety of treatments and decorative effects in glass design. Glass workers gained a degree of technical mastery over the material that gave them a new freedom in design .The highly versatile an talented Rene’ Lalique abandoned his career as a successful Art Nouveau jeweler to become a brilliant maitre verrier working in high art deco style.

The importance and range of uses of glass increased throughout the 1920’s , and by the end of the decade it enjoyed the status of ‘material of the moment’ , alongside aluminum steel and concrete. Glass became associated with light, cleanliness , purity and hygiene: all the qualities of modern living .The modernists particularly the Bauhaus artists did much to exalt glass and to expand its applications and uses, most notably in the field of architecture. In 1920 , Mies Van der Rohe designed skyscrapers entirely clad in glass. Architects such as Chareau and Mallet Stevens took up the glass theme and made innovative use of it in their own designs. Glass, as well as being practical and hygienic was chic - hard, glossy and smooth- and as such was appealing as furnishing material.

The façade of 1928-31 made entirely of glass bricks and panels of Chareau’s Maison de Verre is an example of the chic and sophisticated use of glass.

The rise of the individual artist, new technologies and the growing interest in stained glass as a hobby craft have all lead to what is being called a golden age in glass. New homes are frequently embellished with spectacular beveled glass entryways, stained glass bathroom windows and Tiffany style lampshades. Decorative panels are purchased just to hang in a sunny window. Marvelous hot-formed glass pieces adorn tables, walls, shelves and fill windows. New artists are combining, creating and developing unique forms and styles everyday.

India too has not remained untouched with the magic of stained glass. The Portuguese and the English brought in the art of stained glass through their churches which were constructed in pre and colonial India .Though not an indigenous art form stained glass is finding its way slowly and surely in the architecture and interiors of modern Indian homes. Meenakshi Salve , is one artist who has derived inspiration from the Tiffany style of stained glass techniques , and having acquired a mastery over the technique in this exhibition Meenakshi has gone beyond the typical style of geometric and landscape patterns. Meenakshi is looking at stained glass through architectural embellishments and interventions . A Trained textile artist ,her present vocabulary is a combination of textures , compositions, color and form which she has culled out from her own personal experiences .The language she has developed is highly personal ,highly individualistic and her work practice spans across mediums and styles.