PAINTING STAINED GLASS WINDOWS

When I taught at the International School of Prague, I took my students to St. Vitus Cathedral to study the stained glass windows.  

We intended to emulate the same style of design on the front windows of our school.  The designs the students made were based on Czech legends:  King Wenceslas, his grandmother Ludmila, the visionary Libusa, and the seductress Sarka, were all subjects woven into the history of Bohemia.snd we presented their stories in our compositions.

 

 

We used tempera paint and applied the colors with paintbrushes and sponges. 

Below is a documentation of our project.  I did this project several different years and you can note some differences in the way they were done.

But the method of applying the design to the window remained the same.  Large drawings were applied to project paper and attached to the outside of the window so students could trace the design onto the window. 

Here Good King Wenceslas appears with his page on the Feast of Steven, following a poor man to where he lives agains the forest fence, by St. Agnes Fountain.

As you can see from the manner in which the figures are drawn, students could emmulate the style of figure drawing used in the medieval period. There was no perspective, the scheme of the compositions were based on ornamental patterns and medieval motif ideas. 

Stencils were used to create the structure of the composition. The year that the designs to the right were done, a large stencil was used to create designs for the arch and the side panels that were uniform to every window composition. 

This unit requires deep mapping of the area where your school is located.  What peoples  inform the culture around your school?  Collaborate with the history department and explore the art styles and cultural narratives within your local landscape.