French Gothic stained glass windows were an important feature of French Gothic architecture, particularly cathedrals and churches built between the 12th century and 16th century. While stained glass had been used in French churches in the Romanesque period, the Gothic windows were much larger, eventually filling entire walls. They were particularly important in the High Gothic cathedrals, most famously in Chartres Cathedral. Their function was to fill the interior with a mystical colored light, representing the Holy Spirit, and also to illustrate the stories of the Bible for the large majority of the congregation who could not read.
The rose window was a particularly important feature of the major French cathedrals, beginning with Notre Dame de Paris. It was usually found over the portals on the west front, and frequently also on the transepts.
Over the years of the Gothic period, the windows became larger and larger, allowing in more light through grisaille glass, and the details on the painted glass became much finer, gradually resembling paintings. A large part of the original glass was destroyed in the centuries after the Middle Ages; much of the glass today is restored or a more modern replacement. Nonetheless, France still holds the largest surface of medieval stained glass to be found anywhere in Europe.
Early Gothic (12th – early 13th centuries)
Basilica of Saint Denis
Only a very small amount of original 12th-century French stained glass remains. Much of it was destroyed, and replaced in the 19th century. The early windows were assemblages of very small pieces of glass, often of different thicknesses, often painted, which could only be seen from a distance. Their principal effect was their characteristic of constantly changing, depending upon the exterior light of the moment.
The first important Gothic structure in France was the royal Basilica of Saint Denis (now the Cathedral of Saint Denis), the traditional sepulchre of the French Kings located just outside Paris. The Abbot Suger, a close advisor of the French King, who directed the government during the King's absence during the Crusades, rebuilt the ambulatory with Gothic rib vaults primarily to create greater space for stained glass windows.
The medieval French church, Following the doctrine of Saint Augustine, associated light with the power of God, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Suger was an admirer of the doctrines of the early Christian philosopher John Scotus Eriugena (c. 810–87) and Dionysus, or the Pseudo-Areopagite, who taught that light was a divine manifestation, and that all things were "material lights", reflecting the infinite light of God himself. For Suger, stained glass became a way to create a glowing, unworldly light ideal for religious reflection. Suger described the finished work at Saint-Denis as "a circular string of chapels, by virtue of which the whole church would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty". This continued to be the guiding reason for stained glass windows throughout the Gothic period. Pierre de Roissy, a dignitary of the Chapter of Chartres Cathedral, wrote in about 1200 that the stained glass windows being installed in the nave "would transmit the clarity of the sunlight, signifying the Holy Scriptures, which push evil away from us, as they illuminate us."
One window at Saint-Denis illustrated the patron himself, Abbot Suger, at the feet of the Virgin Mary. The Abbey also had a Tree of Jessé window, depicting the genealogy of Christ, which became a common feature at Gothic cathedrals for the next century.
The early Gothic windows each had a theme or subject, such as "The Passion of Christ", illustrated by dozens of individual medallions. In tall lancet windows, there were one or two medallions on each level, three at the most. each no larger than a square meter. The circular medallions were separated by wide borders with geometric or floral decoration. The story of the window could be read from medallion to medallion, usually from the bottom to the top. The subject matter was not chosen by the artist, but by the ecclesiastical authorities of the cathedral. They illustrated the lives of the Saints and Christian martyrs, and the episodes of the New and Old Testament, for the large part of the congregation which could not read. Many windows included panels illustrating the work of the guild, such as the masons or bakers, which had financed them.
Chartres Cathedral early period (12th c.)
A few important examples of 12th-century windows are found at Chartres Cathedral on the inside of the western facade, in three lancet windows under the rose window. These windows survived a devastating fire in the Cathedral in 1194, and are considered some of the best examples of 12th-century work in France. They introduced the famous Chartres blue, glass colored with Cobalt(II) oxide, which cooled and balanced the vivid reds and yellows of the windows. Each of the windows also contains a medallion which illustrates its donors; the butchers for the Miracle of the Virgin Window, the water-carriers for the Story of Mary Magdalene window. The cathedral also has an early Tree of Jessé window, illustrating the genealogy of Christ in the shape of a family tree imagined in a dream by the prophet Jesse.
High Gothic and Rayonnant (13th century) The development of the rib vault and the flying buttress resulted in cathedrals that were higher and higher, with less need for thick walls and greater space for windows. The intermediate levels of the walls, occupied by galleries during the Romanesque period, were merged and given windows. As a result, the upper walls between the buttresses were gradually filled with larger and larger windows.
The changes in architecture were accompanied by technical and artistic innovations in the making of the stained glass. The small early Gothic windows with their deep, rich colors were replaced by much larger and thinner windows that allowed in more light. They had simpler, more geometric designs and the figures more expressive faces, that could be visible from far below. The space around the figures was often left white or in grisaille, or decorated with vegetal or floral designs. Pale yellows and ochres, made with Silver stain (which gives the name to "stained glass"), became more common. and colors were more nuanced.
Chartres Cathedral later period (13th century)
Following the destruction of a large portion of the Cathedral in 1194, a major fund-raising campaign began to rebuild it. The King of France contributed, as did his English enemy, Richard the Lion-Hearted. So did the merchants and guilds of Chartres, who sponsored new windows. The new cathedral was almost finished in the remarkably short time of twenty-five years, though it was not re-consecrated until 1260. As a result, the stained glass has a remarkable unity of style, exemplified by the windows of the nave, and particularly by the north and south rose windows, with their delicate balance of reds and blues. In Chartres, thanks to the additional support provided by the new flying buttresses, the walls were made into a series of bays, each with a small rose window above and two lancet windows below. Over the coming years in other cathedrals, such as Amiens in 1220, the space between the windows in each bay was gradually reduced until the windows occupied much of the wall. The rebuilding also included the creation of two large new rose windows in the transepts. After reconstruction, Chartres had one hundred sixty windows and three rose windows, making the windows a dominant feature of the architecture. So many windows were created for new cathedrals in the early 12th century that multiple workshops, in different styles, were sometimes employed on the same Cathedral. Three different workshops were at work at Bourges Cathedral between 1210 and 1215. This marked the beginning of the High Gothic, or "Classique" style of French Gothic architecture and stained glass.
Rayonnant Gothic - Sainte-Chapelle
Between about 1225–1230, a new style began to appear in the Ile-de-France and other regions, which was seen in architecture, sculpture and painting as well as stained glass. It was more graphic, more summary, with simplified forms, presented rigid stylisation of faces while the robes and clothing became more realistic. Historians later gave the period the name Rayonnant. Important early examples include the west rose window of Notre-Dame de Paris, the chapel of the Virgin of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (destroyed in the 18th century, but some of the glass was preserved).
The most important and influential work in this style is the upper royal chapel of Sainte-Chapelle (1234–1244), built for Louis IX to display his recently acquired collection of sacred relics. The single chapel contains 670 square meters of stained glass, not counting the later west rose window, and the walls, 20.4 meters high under the vault, appear entirely to be made of glass. This was made possible by moving the supports of the wall, clusters of nine colonnettes, to the exterior. In addition, the windows were supported by two series of iron bars, at mid-height and at the summit. The iron support bars are concealed by the bars of the tracery. Other metal supports for the windows are hidden under the eaves of the roof.
The iron bars of the window tracery formed trilobes, quadrilles, medallions, and other geometric shapes framing each scene. Because of this complex network, of frames, each panel was very small; the figures at the upper levels are nearly impossible to discern. The important figures and scenes are placed in additional quadrilateral settings of mosaic-like decoration, dominated by red and blue colors. Similar red-blue quadrilateral designs set off the images of heraldic shields, images of the castles of Castille, and especially the royal emblems, the Fleurs-des-Lis.
The upper chapel has fifteen windows, composed of 1,113 panels of glass. Nearly two-thirds of the glass is original.
Unlike the windows of most Gothic cathedrals, where the windows were primarily devoted to the lives of the Saints and Apostles, the windows of Sainte-Chapelle were primarily devoted to the relics preserved in the chapel; fragments believed to be from the True Cross and the Crown of Thorns from the Crucifixion of Christ. The windows depicted the history of the Hebrew people, and finally connected the Biblical Kings with the reign of the window's patron, Louis IX. The King was depicted in the windows carrying the crown of Christ.
The windows of Sainte-Chapelle are believed to have been made by three different workshops, with slightly different styles. Some seem to have been influenced by new developments in illuminated manuscripts. The designs of the glass displayed rich decoration, an elegance of figures and a precision of gestures not seen before in stained glass.
The Sainte-Chapelle window styles found an immediate echo in the windows of other 13th century cathedrals and churches, notably Soissons Cathedral, made shortly after Sainte-Chapelle, likely by the same artists.
Notre Dame de Paris
Other major examples of Rayonnant stained glass are the great north and south rose windows of the transept of Notre-Dame de Paris, whose construction was sponsored by King Louis IX of France.
Saint-Denis