La Sainte Chapelle: The Eternal Beauty Of Stained Glass

La Sainte Chapelle: The Eternal Beauty of Stained Glass Stained glass windows have been admired for their utility and beauty since ancient Rome, when pieces of colored glass were assembled into patterned window frames. Later in Europe, the technique of stained glass was used when building cathedrals. Stained glass art reflects religion because they typically present stories from the bible. Stained glass was first used by wealthy Romans in their villas and palaces in the first century A.D. At this time, stained glass was considered domestic luxury rather than an artistic medium. It was first considered art when Constantine, “First permitted Christians to openly worship religion in 313 A.D” (Fitzgerald). Stained glass is argued to be one of
The pictorial stories within the stained glass in La Sainte Chapelle highlights peoples religious beliefs is through the use of incorporating
By incorporating a range of powdered metal oxides directly into the molten glass, in which new pigments were introduced. Cobalt created blues, while different copper oxides resulted in greens and reds (Lewis). Different colors later represented different symbolic meanings, which can be seen in the Sainte Chapelle stained glass. Blue, the color of the sky, symbolizes heaven and a type of heavenly love for godly figures. This is prevalent in medieval stained glass artwork, where Christ and Mary. Red is symbolic of the different spectrums of both love and anger and is typically associated with the martyrdom of the saints. Yellow is an emblem of the sun and divinity which is associated with sacredness, while purple is the color of royalty and is the symbol of God the Father. Finally, white is associated with purity, innocence, and the holy life, while black is the symbol of death, mourning, and the day of Christ’s crucifixion (Rydell). The Sainte Chapelle stained glass is known for having many different bright colors ranging from blues, reds, yellows and greens. The Sainte Chapelle could be described as a, “Palace of gems and a fairy church of glowing and translucent colors” (Middleton 207). These colors were symbolic in stained glass in the medieval era and