Glass
4 materials · 5 steps
Stained glass
Coloured glass cut to a cartoon, painted with vitreous pigment, and leaded into panels.
Stained glass panel of a saint appearing to a sleeping monk
Materials & tools
- Pot-metal and clear glass
- Vitreous paint
- Lead cames
- Iron armatures
Medieval window glass was coloured in the melt with metal oxides, known as pot-metal glass. Glaziers worked from a full-size drawing, cut each piece of glass to shape, painted details and shading with a dark vitreous pigment that was fired on, and joined the pieces with strips of lead. From the fourteenth century silver stain allowed yellow to be added to clear glass.
The Met: Stained Glass in Medieval EuropeThe process
Step by step
- 1
Draw the cartoon at full size
- 2
Cut the glass to the cartoon
- 3
Paint and fire the details
- 4
Lead the pieces together
- 5
Fix the panel to the armature in the window