Between Secular and Sacred: The Trade Windows\u27 Depictions of Food in Chartres Cathedral

Medieval artists often blended sacred and secular imagery in their works, though especially stained glass windows. The stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral, for example, use images of commoners at work and depictions of food to convey religious messages. This paper discusses three such examples and their significance to both the lay community of Chartres and the teachings of the Church

What’s On the Surface Does Matter: The Conservation of Applied Surface Decoration of Historic Stained Glass Windows

A stained glass window is both an architectural building element and an individual work of art. Like architecture, a stained glass window is composed of a variety of materials, mainly glass, lead, and surface decoration, each of which has its own conservation issues. Surface decoration, which includes vitreous glass paint, silver stain, and enamels, is the component of a stained glass window that is sometimes underappreciated. While it may not pose a major threat to the physical stability of the window or the safety of the window’s environment, it is the decoration that defines the windows as works of art, with imagery that holds the window’s history, including a direct view into the traditions, ideals, and beliefs of the people of their time. The conservation of the surface decoration of stained glass windows has never been fully analyzed, and both glazing and conservation professionals are constantly seeking information regarding the history of the materials and techniques used in order to create or restore a stained glass window. With conservation, the methods and techniques used to maintain and conserve the decoration will vary depending on a number of circumstances, including the location of the window, the history and traditions of the people involved, and the tools available to the conservators. As with all conservation fields, there are also ethical considerations to address in order to be sure that the authenticity of each work is maintained. For this history, it is also important to note the past restoration techniques used on these types of decoration, as well as what is being used today. This includes successes and failures, both of which bring essential information to the conservator. Each window brings with it an entirely new history and set of decoration conservation problems so there are no universal solutions for this field. Stained glass is a fascinating field because it combines the worlds of art and architecture with a single object and the surface decoration plays an important role in this. By analyzing the history and techniques of these three surface decorations, it is possible to not only preserve an underappreciated element inherent to these historic stained glass windows, but also the overall aesthetic of true works of art that serve to enhance the buildings in which they reside

English shepherds' carols and the medieval arts

The English Shepherds' Carols are herein viewed through illumination by the other arts of the medieval age. Links exist between the visual arts, the performing arts, and the literature of the Middle Ages through a common nourishing soil: the Catholic Church and the rich medieval courts. Subjects, themes, techniques, and aims of each art overlap one another, with artists and poets borrowing from and giving to, influencing and spurring on their fellow craftsmen. Emphasis upon the medieval perspective on religion, shepherds, and carols, and a delving into the background of the craftsmen and the history of their arts creates a firm foundation upon which can be built a theory of the interlacing of the medieval arts. Textual analysis of the carols further strengthens the base so that the actual links to the visual arts and to the performing arts are properly viewed. The group of figures interspersed in Chapter V, drawn from the illuminated manuscripts, stained glass windows, frescoes, and sculpted panels of the age, are illustrative of the carols1 links to the visual arts. An Appendix containing copies of the Shepherds' Carols also proves helpful in the study of the songs and their relationship with the other arts, especially drama

The Development of Stained Glass in Gothic Cathedrals

Stained glass is arguably one of the most important aspects of Gothic cathedrals. As its popularity rose, mainly during the mid-12th century, the increased presence of stained glass presented major changes to the way the general populace was learning about religion. The windows became illuminated visual sermons of biblical stories, which may have had an even greater impact than the spoken word of the priest. This paper focused primarily on the stained glass windows and architectural styles employed in five gothic buildings in France, each having their own unique and notable attributes pertaining to the development of stained glass windows. By looking at the architectural advancements shown in these structures built during the gothic time frame, we are able to see the impact of the widespread desire for increased height and light within these types of buildings on the gothic cathedral

The Impact of Modern Aesthetics: Stained Glass in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, Assumption College

This analysis will look into the design and function of the fifteen abstract alcove windows in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit on the campus of Assumption College. An image and visual analysis of each will be provided followed by an explanation of how the modern aesthetic of art has impacted the above-mentioned windows

Remediation, Medievalism and Empire in T. W. Camm’s ‘Jubilee of Nations’ Window at Great Malvern Priory

This essay will focus on T. W. Camm’s window in the south aisle of Great Malvern Priory, which celebrates Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887. This window exemplifies the complex ways in which stained glass interacted with a number of different influences in the 1880s and shows that our capacity to understand it necessitates exploring how it interacted with other media. This essay is an attempt to broaden the debate about Victorian art and empire to ‘reinsert empire as a fundamental category for the analysis of British art’, it also underlines that site-specific artworks are not available for inclusion in revisionist exhibitions and so are liable to be excluded from that debate. The stained glass window at the centre of this essay is a fascinating example of an artwork that absorbed a range of influences from late Victorian Britain: it concentrates on a very specific moment (Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee) but embeds this event within established historical narratives and stylistic tropes, generating a strong sense of continuity through allusions to religious imagery and medievalism. The window is simultaneously ancient and modern: a medium associated with the middle ages sited within a great medieval church, but an image mediated through a recent technology (photography) and saturated with the imagery of the British Empire. An industrial mentality is implicit in the window’s hierarchy of production while both industrial superiority and imperial power are depicted as evidence of divine providence, a position implied through the selection of biblical quotations. If industrial and imperial power were both examples of God’s plan, a providential perspective might provide the logic for this visual celebration of just such an alliance

Visual Symbols as Aids to Worship

The ministry problem addressed in this dissertation is how can visual symbols become aids to worship, particularly in small churches with limited budgets and traditional architecture? Chapter One defines Christian Worship as the Body of Christ encountering and responding to God as revealed in Jesus Christ, and asks how visual symbols aid or hinder that encounter. A survey of leading authors on worship gives a basis from which to examine the place of visual symbols within the postmodern church. Chapter Two looks at the roles of the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, and the Temple as visual symbols which were important in Hebrew Worship. The Second Commandment\u27s cautions call for consideration of the nature of worship and of God. Chapter Three examines the roles played by icons, the altar, and stained glass within Christian History. Chapter Four looks at a variety of ways in which visual symbols are aids to contemporary worship. These chapters demonstrate how such symbols have been important throughout the history of Christian worship. Concerns about idolatry and symbols as entertainment or decoration are also addressed. Chapter Five develops an incarnational theology after having looked at the biblical roots of such a theology, revealing the essential connection between the material and the spiritual. It concludes that the ultimate place of the material is to articulate God\u27s praise. Chapter Six turns to the fields of education and learning theory to show that the use of the visual speaks especially powerfully to some people and so the use of visual symbols may be particularly useful to such people in their encounter of God. Chapter Seven applies the conclusion that visual symbols can serve as aids to worship with two sermons using visual symbols, both of which do so in small churches with traditional architecture. A series of worship committee study sessions demonstrates the ways in which a deeper understanding of worship, idolatry, and incarnation can assist churches in deepening their appreciation of the roles of visual symbols in worship as means by which to encounter God

Monumentality of the Artist Chapel: Dissecting Light, Color, Spirituality, and Permanence

The concept and creation of the artist chapel is an opportunity presented to only a select few artists. Artist chapels are monumental, permanent works of art that expose a sweeping summary of the artists oeuvre and act as a window into the mind of the artist. The chapels of Ellsworth Kelly, Dan Flavin, and Mark Rothko present a variety of similarities through the mediums of light and color. These characteristics take the artist chapel from a piece of art, to a transcendent environment that cocoons the viewer in a space of both the seen and unseen. Each of these artists takes the mediums of light and color and utilizes them in a way specific to their practice, cultivated throughout their life. The chapel becomes the pinnacle of their career – a total work of art that plays within the bounds of architecture, space, and nature. The works present a unique take on the ideas surrounding religion and spirituality, for the historical equivalent of today’s chapels would have been seen only in the context of the Roman Catholic Church, or similar organized religious spaces, of the 14th and 15th centuries. Kelly, Flavin, and Rothko depart from religion, and instead focus on the pure feeling of the space. This distillation takes the chapel from a once religious place to a spiritual place. With this departure, the chapel takes on elements of alternate thoughtforms, such as the fourth dimension. Research for this topic included liberal amounts of reading and analyzation of key literature on the selected artists, esoteric thoughtforms, alternate and parallel chapels, and the current and historical importance of the Dia Foundation. Additionally, research included conversations with the founder of the Dia Foundation, Heiner Friedrich, and visits to the Dan Flavin Art Institute

Eclectic Architecture in a “Model Colony”: The Sacred Heart Cathedral in Lomé

In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, while under the colonial rule of the German Empire, Togo was coined the “model colony.” This status was due largely to economic success and what has been referred to as a more peaceful colonial encounter. Some have argued the German administration’s ability to recognize cultural differences between themselves and the local people was successful in lieu of more rigid assimilation polices. German administrators did not overtly force their beliefs and social structure upon the local people of Togo, but instead, as I explore in this paper, creatively intertwined their own perspectives with those of the indigenous people. The Sacred Heart Cathedral is analyzed in this paper to demonstrate the ways in which religion and architecture became the catalyst for the interweaving of multiple lifestyles and communities in colonial Lomé. This paper examines the Sacred Heart Cathedral and compares its architectural elements to Germany’s greatest Gothic cathedral, the Cologne Cathedral, and to West African domestic structures. This paper argues all elements of the Sacred Heart Cathedral are not merely Gothic reinterpretations, but are inspired by local indigenous architecture. The ability for the Germans to integrate local architectural ideas into their own and create one cohesive whole, directly correlates with their colonial success in Lomé. By engaging local communities and attempting to understand their spiritual beliefs, the German administration was able to connect to the indigenous people and create a more passive coercion strategy expressed through art and architecture