Glass Art - January/February 1997
Of Clear Glass, Without Color or Cross
Colors. Red, yellow, blue, and all the infinite combinations between. Each sparks a feeling, a memory, a visceral response. When we look at a window, color is often the first thing we see and react to.
The association between stained glass and color is so strong that it comes almost as a shock to see a window that uses only shades of black, white and grey. Yet windows based on these shades have had a long tradition in the history of stained glass. One particularly important example is the grisaille (or "grey glass") windows that were installed across Europe and the British Isles in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Grisaille windows are characterized not only by their lack of strong color, but by an absence of imagery as well. Yet these windows are far from dull. They are fascinating for their history, for their uniqueness and artistry, and for their influence on the architectural glass that followed.
In the eleventh century, the Catholic Church faced a challenge from within, as some of those who were supposed to be upholding the teachings of the Church had become more concerned with worldly pleasures than with spiritual matters. A visitor to a monastery of the time found the monks passing their time "in idle amusement amidst surroundings of luxury and ease". At another monastery, the monks were seen to spend their time hawking and hunting, or gaming with dice. In response to this decay in values, certain leaders within the Church founded the Cistercian Order at the end of the eleventh century. The Cistercians preached a return to an ascetic, more spiritual existence. Leading by example, these men began to convince others of their views, and their influence eventually led to a widespread spiritual revival within the Church.
Although they were not always in positions of power, the Cistercians inspired even those not of the order with their simple, “back-to-basics” philosophy. This ascetic approach extended beyond their spiritual life to their physical environment as well, for in 1134 the general chapter of the Order decreed that the windows in Cistercian abbeys should be "of clear glass, without colour or cross". By the second quarter of the Thirteenth Century, a large number of grisaille windows were being made. While it can be said that the glaziers of the time followed the “letter of the law” laid out in the decree, they may have stretched its interpretation somewhat, for they incorporated some marvellously complex patterns into their simply coloured creations.
Few of these windows have survived to this day. Many were victims of the periodic "updating" of the churches they were in, just as some of them had displaced the previous fashion in church windows.
Fortunately the survivors include an extraordinary set of five windows in the sanctuary of York Minster Cathedral in England. These windows, known as the "Five Sisters", are made up almost entirely of white, grey and near-white glass.
My first reaction on seeing these windows was an almost uncomfortable awe. The scale is monumental; the effect of the grey glass is breathtaking. And for those who take the time to really see them, the windows weave a subtle magic. In their shapes and patterns, they are alive; always shifting. They give the eye little rest - and yet the overall effect brings about a spiritual peace.
There is majesty in the windows - created through the interlaced layers of delicately differentiated tones and near-white colors. Like a sudden silence after sustained noise, the "Five Sisters" windows make one stop and see light and glass in a new way - one that shakes loose our preconceptions about stained glass, imagery, and the importance of color.
As with every important artistic movement, the embrace of the grisaille style was a product of aesthetic and social change. However, this style of window did not just come from nowhere. Its antecedents were the older traditions that used clear glass, white glass, and the black of lead and mullion. This was seen most notably in simpler European windows, and in the Islamic tradition. While the Cisterican spark may have first ignited the use of grisaille, other factors likely explain its widespread use and its longevity. Some scholars cite cost concerns, and a move to use cheaper grey and white glass in increasingly large windows. Others believe the movement was driven by a desire for more light in dim Northern churches. Still others see grisaille as a reaction to the sumptuousness of color - a seeking for a form of visual peace, undistracted by images and bright colors.
Modern stained glass has seen a return to Cistercian principles and quieter windows by some artists. Windows of grisaille, whether structured pattern windows or more expressive painted ones which favour black/white/grey with minimal color, are part of our new vocabulary. What is the source of this continued appeal? Perhaps some of the answer can be found in the busyness of the modern world, and its many visual distractions. Perhaps as well, it can be found in the cerebral nature of this type of work, which emphasizes light and line, rather than more emotionally evocative color and figures.
Whatever the reason, contemporary stained glass has seen much new and interesting work inspired by the grisaille tradition.
In the mid-1970s, I first saw the work of Ludwig Schaffrath during a lecture at Swansea College. He talked at length about modern mankind's need for relief from the "avalanche" of color and manipulation of our emotions by advertising and the media. In his writings, he quotes a German poet:
Only in the mirrorglistening
light, sharply
etched, but
gleaming
become glass and
stone understandable
as ice-cooled
passion
which is reason
and penetrates the heart
Konrad Pfaff
At St. Michael's, Schweinfurt, Schaffrath's vast west wall of glass is made up of varying white tones in which the graphic art of leadlines contributes as much to the work as the glass. The variation in leadlines and small areas of irregular, slightly organic line add a vibrant dimension.
Much of the work of Wilhelm Buschulte is intensely coloured, with interlocking organic forms; almost cell-like in appearance. These vibrant windows are at the opposite end of the spectrum from his formal grisaille series of windows at St. Martimus, Linnich, Germany. Did the site determine his use of the highly structured, black and white pattern windows, or was it his own personal response, and perhaps a reprieve from his usual highly coloured style?
Diether Domes has taken an unusual approach to the black-white-grey palette. Working with a dark background, he brings out the light. Using either dark flashed glass or float glass painted black as a base, he sandblasts or acid etches the base. This pulls the line drawing out of the darkness, elevating it like a negative. In the glass painting, “moon comes and goes...,” a glass rod magnifies areas of the composition. In speaking of his work, Domes describes "the realm of lines: lines as boundary and bridge. Line structures, grades, tightens...line is experience, incentive to continue, infinitely leading on without beginning or end...line stacks, offsets, reshuffles the lowest to highest, shines through and allows spaces, creates them and condemns them."
Joachim Klos treats the subject matter of Paul's journey to Damascus figuratively with great expressive power. The painted image on white opal glass is kept within a manageable emotional context through the use of primarily black and white composition. The red, contained in the tracery is doubly powerful for its isolation from other colors.
All of these artists owe a tremendous debt to Georg Meistermann, who was one of the first modern artists to create black/white/grey windows in a figurative style. Meistermann has influenced a generation of artists, including Schaffrath, Buschulte, Klos and Domes. While his designs hold none of the rigid pattern or ornamentation of traditional grisaille, he was one of the first to return to a restricted palette. In the monumental "angel" window the effect of black/white/grey is exceptionally beautiful. One could not ask for color.
In his work for a private residence, artist Stephen Braithwaite used bevels, lead overlays and white opal glass to create a series of elegant windows which were inspired by the shutters seen on Caribbean houses.
Jurgen Reipka, who studied under Johannes Schreiter, "risks all" with his painted glass panels on full sheets of Lambert's antique. His glass paintings are some of the most expressive and spontaneous work I have seen. In this exhibition panel created through Sattler Studio his multi-layered lines are both painted and scratched through. The paint splashes interrupt, intercept and penetrate the strong geometric forces which move through the core.
In its transition to modern times, "grisaille" has undergone some changes. Not being subject to the strictures of medieval ecclesiastical law, artists are free to incorporate images, and even some accent colors into their works. What has remained however is its purity, serenity and unique beauty.
