1
‘Sainte Chapelle’, in Paris, is a miracle
of light and colour!
Epitome of radiant gothic, these windows
have remained perfect since 1248.
They have even endured fire and flood
and survived the French Revolution, the
Franco-Prussian war and two world wars.
‘Notre Dame’ Cathedral in Paris 2
These stained glass windows illuminated the birth of medieval polyphony through the
'school of Notre Dame', which showed new paths to music just in the way of its
architecture illuminated the new planimetric and spatial concept of the Gothic.
The light is now taken into account as an aesthetic factor of the first order with an
architectural value unknown until then.
3
Gothic is
essentially a new
architectural
language that
would stretch along
the thirteenth,
fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries
throughout Europe.
The great Gothic's
contribution has
not been the
pointer arch neither
buttresses nor
even another type
of structural
solutions but the
incorporation and
processing of light.
1
‘Pulchra Leonina’ Hispanic Gothic 5
‘To this cathedral which
is more crystal than
stones, more light than
crystal and more spirit
than light’…
Karol Wojtyla.
The Leon Cathedral's
construction began in 1254
but much of the original
stained glass were lost
during the Napoleonic
invasion.
The Gothic was the epitome of urban renaissance
6
The Gothic architect
organizes a structure that allows them to use light as an aesthetic factor
with architectural
values.
The Gothic stained glass
dematerialises all architectural elements to get
a feeling of unprecedented weightlessness
Reims Cathedral
7
A physical and
diffused light, a
transfigured and
coloured light
through colour
contrast of the
opaline glass that
changes the space
into something
unreal, mystical and
symbolic.
Amiens
Cathedral
The Duomo in Siena, Italy
9
The gothic and its
stained glass did not
have an excessive
predicament of an Italy
attached to the Roman
tradition.
As an example of the
most pure Italian
Gothic we can mention
the cathedrals in
Orvieto, Sienna and
Milano.
York
Minster
Chapter
House
England
The Chapter House is one of northern Europe's largest
Gothic cathedrals and it contains a shocking collection of
stained glass from medieval era.11
12
Palma de Mallorca Cathedral
Exponent of Mediterranean Gothic, it was built
with massive walls and powerful buttresses that
left little room for openings, closed with Gothic
windows that project coloured light over the
solid walls. Some windows of the cathedral of
Palma and the canopy were designed by
Antonio Gaudi.
13Cologne Cathedral
During WW II lighting systems warned the
pilots of the allied bombers of its
presence: all of them had express orders
to avoid any damage to the cathedral.
14
Just one bomb hit the cathedral in one of its towers. It suffered a
huge damage and lost most of its stained glass windows.
18
University city of Madrid,Faculty of philosophy
The tradition of stained glass started while modernist stage and survived across Europe in later years throughout the 20s where it had its boom in Art Deco.
20'Casa Lleó i Morera' in Barcelona
The stained glass windows are compositions with pictorial values
made from opaline colourful glass that are assembled by lead rods.
The glass mass acts over the light breaking into a thousand multi-
coloured flashes defining flat surfaces with unmatched richness of
colour.
22'Sagrada Familia' in Barcelona
Following a few indications from Gaudí,
Jovan Vila-Grau is in charge of the stained
glasses of the 'Sagrada Familia‘.
1
23
Antonio Gaudí could not see his work on the 'Sagrada Familia' concluded,
it is still being built up. Most of the stained glass windows were made by
Josep Mª Bonet.
The most beautiful
stained glass in the world
Thanks for your attention
Innovation and legacy since 1923
www.vitrallsbonet.com/en
25
SAINT CHAPELLE
http://www.parismatch.com/
NOTRE DAME
http://www.fotocommunity.es/pc/pc/display/25563822
http://viajar.especiales.elperiodico.com/95-lugares-
basicos-de-espana/files/2014/06/catedral-de-leon.jpg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/46759457@N06/6137929
331
CATEDRAL LEON
http://rincondelartedejudit.blogspot.com.es/2012_02_0
1_archive.html
CATEDRAL DE SAN VITO EN PRAGA
Saint chapelle http://www.parismatch.com/
http://objetivomalaga.diariosur.es/fotos-david-merino-
muunoz/vito-314199.html
The most beautiful
stained glass in the world
CATEDRAL DE AMIENS
https://mateturismo.wordpress.com/category/vidriera/
CATEDRAL DE REHIMS
http://www.castellsmonestirsicatedrals.com/2012/10/ca
tedral-de-notre-dame-de-reims.html
SAGRADA FAMILIA
https://viajerapordiversion.wordpress.com
CASA BATLLÓ
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Casa_Lleo_i_
Morera_Primer_Pis.JPG
CASA AMATLLER
http://www.imagala.com/tag/vitrall
DAMAS DE CERDANYOLA
http://cerdanyola-tessabarlo.blogspot.com.es