NEW YORK CITY, NY.- The World Monuments Fund Gallery presents ’Masterworks in Stained Glass Rediscovering the Renaissance Windows of Saint David’s School,’ on view through May 15, 2002. This exhibition features a suite of 16th-century French stained glass windows currently being restored by the Stained Glass Conservation Studio of the St. Ann Center for Restoration and the Arts in Brooklyn. The windows were given by the family of William Randolph Hearst to Saint David’s School, in New York City in 1958. Although long beloved by the school, the windows’ significance as rare and excellent examples of intact Renaissance stained glass was ’rediscovered’ during their restoration. Students from local schools, including the preservation arts program of the Brooklyn High School of the Arts, an initiative of the World Monuments Fund, are participating in the restoration.



The exhibition includes four of the restored windows (back-lit to simulate sunlight) and one undergoing restoration exhibited on a worktable with the conservator’s tools. In addition to the windows, photographs and text will explain the provenance and iconography of the windows and the painstaking process involved in their restoration. Below is the text from the explanatory wall panels for the exhibition.



In 1958, the family of William Randolph Hearst gave a suite of 16th-century French stained glass windows to Saint David’s School in New York City. The windows tell the story of Mary Magdalene and the conversion of the kings of France to Christianity according to the Golden Legend, a 13th-century book on the lives of the saints. The windows’ early provenance is a mystery so it is not known whether they were originally commissioned to display power and wealth, assert the strength of a chivalric order, show support for the church, or perform an act of devotion. Today the windows are the centerpiece of a unique 21st-century program training high school students in stained glass conservation.



Although beloved by Saint David’s for decades, the windows were little known to the outside world. In 2001, they were ’rediscovered’ as rare and excellent examples of Renaissance stained glass after being removed for cleaning and restoration by the Brooklyn-based Stained Glass Conservation Studio at the St. Ann Center for Restoration and the Arts. The non-profit studio does museum-quality conservation and also serves as a workshop to train a new generation of artisans in the art of conserving historic stained glass.



The World Monuments Fund supported this project as part of its longstanding commitment to promoting excellence in preservation training and education. In co-sponsoring this project, World Monuments Fund is helping to preserve one of New York City’s finest works in stained glass while at the same time providing young artisans—from high school interns to advanced apprentices—with an unparalleled opportunity to learn a much-needed craft.



MAKING STAINED GLASS

Colored glassmaking dates back to the ancient Egyptians who discovered that adding metallic salts and oxides to glass created different colors—gold for ruby, cobalt for blue, and copper for green and red. The human eye perceives color in glass when white light is ’filtered’ through these metallic oxides. Since glass does not contain pigment (which can fade), once cleaned, the brilliant hues of historic stained glass are as vivid today as they were hundreds of years ago.



By the 10th century, stained glass windows in churches throughout Europe were being used to inspire awe and communicate religious dogma to a largely illiterate populace. Although churches built during the Carolingian and early Romanesque periods had relatively small windows, by the Gothic period, architectural innovations such as flying buttresses and Gothic arches allowed for much larger windows and the art of stained glass flourished.



Much of what we know about medieval stained glass comes from On Diverse Arts, a manual written by a 12th-century German monk. He describes how the medieval master glazier—as part of a complex guild and workshop system—would cut (or rather, carefully crack) pieces from flattened sheets of blown glass and use a grozing iron to refine the edges. The pieces were then assembled using cames (H-shaped strips of lead). The joints were soldered, and, as lead is quite soft, the panels were framed with iron armatures. To add detail like facial features, an artist would use vitreous paint (made of metallic oxides and finely ground borax) to draw lines and grisaille (tonal variations).