From Booklist
Immediate in its lucent, chromatic beauty, stained glass has a 1,000-year history as a public artistic medium, which Raguin, a curator and author thoroughly steeped in vitreous panes, covers in this survey. Equal to its subject, her work compels visual lingering among the hundreds of color images whose explicit meaning is described in the text. Though seemingly static in its recurring depictions of biblical imagery, stained glass, like any art form, has experienced evolutions in taste, which Raguin chronicles from its efflorescence in Gothic cathedrals to its major revivals in the nineteenth-century's romantic and, later, arts-and-crafts movements. Expensive in every era, stained glass, Raguin writes, reveals donors' beliefs about "the value of art to society." Whether inculcating religion, propagandizing the donor's status or virtues, or, in modern times, reaching for purely aesthetic effects, stained glass is revealed as surprisingly versatile despite the fact that its fabricating technique is unchanged since it was first installed at Chartres Cathedral. With its gorgeously shimmering illustrations, Raguin's presentation will enhance any art history collection. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
Stained glass has always been an art of inspiration and devotion, infusing space with a warm, magical glow. This book is a comprehensive and lavish review of the history, styles, designs, artists, tools, and techniques of this much-loved medium. It begins with the art's early development in ancient Egypt and Rome, then traces its evolution through the Byzantine era, the Romanesque and Gothic styles, and to its revival in the hands of Louis Comfort Tiffany and Frank Lloyd Wright. Stained Glass also features the innovative work of 20th-century architects and artists. Stained glass scholar Virginia Chieffo Raguin brings years of study and research to this sweeping survey. With more than 500 color photographs featuring both classic devotional works such as Chartres, Le Mans, and the Abbey at St. Denis and modern creations by Tiffany, Marc Chagall, John La Farge, and the Bauhaus, Stained Glass is the definitive single-volume history of this majestic art.
About the Author
Virginia Chieffo Raguin has published widely on stained glass and architecture; her books include Stained Glass in Thirteenth-Century Burgundy and Artistic Integration in Gothic Buildings. Raguin has also curated several exhibitions, including Glory in Glass: Stained Glass in the United States and Testimony of Light: American Stained Glass and Architecture in the 20th Century.
Stained Glass: From Its Origins to the Present FROM THE PUBLISHER
Stained glass has always been an art of inspiration and devotion, infusing space with a warm, magical glow. This book is a comprehensive and lavish review of the history, styles, designs, artists, tools, and techniques of this much-loved medium. It begins with the art's early development in ancient Egypt and Rome, then traces its evolution through the Byzantine era, the Romanesque and Gothic styles, and to its revival in the hands of Louis Comfort Tiffany and Frank Lloyd Wright. Stained Glass also features the innovative work of 20th-century architects and artists.Stained glass scholar Virginia Chieffo Raguin brings years of study and research to this sweeping survey. With more than 500 color photographs featuring both classic devotional works such as Chartres, Le Mans, and the Abbey at St. Denis and modern creations by Tiffany, Marc Chagall, John La Farge, and the Bauhaus, Stained Glass is the definitive single-volume history of this majestic art.
Author Bio: Virginia Chieffo Raguin has published widely on stained glass and architecture; her books include Stained Glass in Thirteenth-Century Burgundy and Artistic Integration in Gothic Buildings. Raguin has also curated several exhibitions, including Glory in Glass: Stained Glass in the United States and Testimony of Light: American Stained Glass and Architecture in the 20th Century.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Raguin (art history, Coll. of the Holy Cross), who has published books and curated exhibitions about stained glass, is clearly an expert on this fascinating subject, and glass artist and restorer Mary Clerkin Higgins offers her own expertise in an informative chapter on materials and techniques. The thorough history book illustrates the chronological development of stained-glass windows in Europe and America, tracing it from traditional Catholic Romanesque and Gothic styles, through Renaissance and Reformation religious and secular imagery (plus various revivals of all those styles), to the innovative artistic expressions from the late 19th century to the present. In the oldest extant series (the frontal-gazing prophets at Augsburg Cathedral, Germany, from 1110), we can observe the powerful figural imagery, vivid colors, and elaborate patterns that have characterized stained glass windows-and hypnotized viewers-for almost 900 years since. The roles of individual patrons, stained-glass companies, and designers are all acknowledged. Raguin also makes comparisons to related media such as medieval illuminated manuscripts and metalwork; in fact, some of the designers (e.g., Donatello, Albrecht Durer, Edward Burne-Jones, Diego Rivera, Marc Chagall, and Frank Lloyd Wright) are better known as sculptors, painters, or architects. Recommended for public and academic libraries.-Anne Marie Lane, Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Art & Photography
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