Stained glass of the first half of the 14th century is everywhere distinguished by an insouciant fairy tale quality and a languorous charm sometimes tinged with pathos. Regional differences, however, persisted—the gentle reserve and earthy lyricism of the English; the virtuoso painting and exquisite drolleries of the Norman-French; and the full green-, gold-, and russet-dominated palettes of the German windows. The full flowering of the Gothic style side by side with the beginnings of stylistic developments that were to culminate in the Renaissance characterized the aesthetic nature of the early 14th century. The new movement toward the representation of volume and spatial depth, by means of modelling and perspective, had its origins in Flemish and Italian painting. That the glass painter was quickly influenced by this new style is seen, for example, in the St. Anthony window in the lower church of S. Francesco at Assisi, Italy. North of the Alps the earliest extant manifestation of this new interest in perspective and modelling, based on Italian models, occurs in the chancel windows (1325–30) of the Habsburg expiatory church at Königsfelden, near Brugg, Switzerland. The knowledge of Italian models spread quickly and extensively and can be seen in France in the windows (1325–39) at Saint-Ouen in Rouen and those made about 1330 at Évreux Cathedral. In the Germanic lands proto-Renaissance spatial illusionism influenced the transept windows at Augsburg Cathedral and the east window (c. 1340) of Vienna Cathedral, while the earliest remaining example in English glass painting is probably the nave windows (c. 1330–35) of Stanford-on-Avon in Northamptonshire, England.

In the early 14th century the third dimension in canopies was still highly untheoretical and largely governed by considerations of pure design. The practice of representing a figure beneath an architectural canopy was an established convention of the 13th century, particularly used in clerestory windows. In earlier examples the canopy plays a comparatively unimportant part in the total design, but by the end of the 13th century, although still two-dimensional, it had become more elaborate and is an important ornamental feature of the windows of Merton College, Oxford. In German and Austrian windows the canopy work is often elaborate and complex in its spatial organization; examples are found at Vienna Cathedral (c. 1340) and Erfurt Cathedral (c. 1360–70).

The art of glass painting, however, did not respond equally to these new influences emanating from Italy. It subdivides itself into two groups, of which France and England together make up one, characterized by its resistance to Italian influences. The use of perspective was purposefully restrained, so that the essential overall surface unity of the design was not violently upset, for the use of flat, patterned diaper grounds effectively counterbalanced the suggestion of spatial effect. In the first half of the century the most important work in France is found in the region of Normandy, especially in the choir windows (c. 1330) of Évreux Cathedral and those dating around 1325 to 1339 at Saint-Ouen in Rouen. The English glaziers of this period were extremely prolific, with Oxford, Coventry, and York as important regional centres. The nave windows of York Minster were made between 1300 and 1338 and are the largest single enterprise of this period in England. It appears probable that some of the later glass at York (c. 1350–70), now distributed over the windows of the choir clerestory, was the work of an imported French glazier, probably from Rouen. A flourishing school in western England, whose best work is found at Wells Cathedral and Eaton Bishop in Herefordshire, shows some affinity with German work. The best French and English work, however, has a lightness of colour and graphic refinement that is enhanced by an extensive use of yellow stain. After about 1300 the geometric grisaille glass gave way to simpler diamond-shaped pieces, painted with delicate trails of foliage and leaded together to give the effect of trellis work.

The second group, which might be termed “Germanic”—as it embraces Germany, Bohemia, and Austria—displays a much more three-dimensional style; the colours are deeper and more saturated, the compositions are more complex, both on the surface and in depth, and the canopy designs particularly are often complicated essays in perspective; the figures are shorter in proportion and their volume more accentuated. It is brusque, almost harsh, contrasting strongly with the elegance of French and English work. All of these traits can be seen, for example, in the panels (c. 1350) from Strassengel, near Graz, Austria, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the earlier windows (c. 1350–60) at St. Maria-am-Gestade in Vienna; and at Erfurt Cathedral (c. 1360–70). A particular trait of this Germanic group, of which Erfurt is a good example, is a tendency to extend a single composition across the main lights of a window, ignoring the natural divisions of the stonework. The reason for this is partly architectural: the window lights are comparatively much narrower and taller than those in French or English windows.

Late 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries

The arts from about 1380 to about 1430, which are frequently grouped together under the title of the International Gothic Style, belong essentially to an era of court art inspired by the patronage of kings, the nobility, and the higher orders of ecclesiastics. Surviving windows are extensive, and interactions between the various centres of patronage, complicated by family alliances and the exchange of works of art and artists, are particularly complex. The various national and regional styles can still be distinguished in glass painting, but there is a general tendency toward a mannered, extremely sophisticated elegance of style, sometimes verging on the precious, combined with an interest in portrait realism.

If the genius of the 13th-century stained glass lay in its epic sense of monumentality and that of the early 14th century in its warmth of human feeling, that of the late 14th and early 15th centuries is far more difficult to characterize in a phrase. The style of glass painting became at once more corporeal and more introspective. Figures are rendered with far more attention to individual human traits yet are akin in their majesty to the great prophets in the 13th-century windows. The figures painted between 1384 and 1392 by Hermann von Münster, for the west window of Metz Cathedral in France, and those painted about 1400 by Thomas of Oxford for the chapel of William of Wykeham’s College at Winchester, England, seem both newer and older than their immediate predecessors—newer in that they are beginning to bear the signature of a personal style, older in that they recall the grandeur of an earlier, essentially collective expression that now seemed everywhere to be giving way to arid cameo-like refinements on the one side and an earnest rusticity on the other.

The glass painting of this period is of high quality. The most significant examples in France are the “Royal” windows (c. 1395) at Évreux Cathedral. One of the most ambitious works of the period is the great east window of York Minster, made between 1405 and 1408 by John Thornton of Coventry.

In Germany and Austria there was a softening and refining of the “plastic style” of the earlier part of the century. In Austria an important atelier associated with the court produced the window (c. 1386–95) in the church of St. Erhard in der Breitenau and later the series of windows (c. 1400) at Viktring, and for the Freisingerkapella at Klosterneuburg (c. 1410). Germany contains a large amount of work of this period. At Erfurt Cathedral the window given by Johann von Tiefengruben (c. 1400) is lighter in tone and has a more refined pictorial style than the earlier windows there. The series of windows at Rothenburg, which were probably made about 1400, should be noted, together with the cycle of windows (c. 1420–30) for the Bessererkapelle at Ulm Cathedral, which show an admirably refined technique.

The period 1430–1550 saw not only the decline of the Gothic style and the establishment of the new Renaissance style but also the beginning of the transformation of the art of glass painting from a significant means of artistic expression into a hybrid art form: the translucent emulation of fresco and easel painting.

The International Gothic Style continued to influence glass painting during the first half of the 15th century but to a lesser degree. Its mannered elegance and extravagant costumes can still be seen in France in the two rose windows (c. 1440) at Le Mans Cathedral and also the rose windows (1441–42) at Angers Cathedral. In England this aesthetic is continued in the east window (c. 1423–39) of the priory in Great Malvern (Worcestershire), the chapel windows (1441–47) of All Souls College at Oxford, and in the windows made by John Prudde, the king’s glazier, for the Beauchamp Chapel of St. Mary’s in Warwick, which were commissioned in 1447. The work of Germanic glass painters provides outstanding examples, particularly the window (after 1424) from St. Lambrecht, now in the museum at Graz, Austria, and the charming Alsatian window of St. Katherine (c. 1425–50) at Sélestat, France.

There were, however, important new influences affecting the styles of glass painting. In northern Europe during the first half of the 15th century a flourishing school of painting emerged in Flanders. Although the origin of the Flemish style is partly to be found in the International Gothic, a more realistic manner of representation and a detailed awareness of actuality developed that is almost the antithesis of the mannered sophistication and the essentially unrealistic world of that style.

It was impossible for the glass painter to participate fully in the new realism. Glass is a translucent material; the passage of light through it is alone sufficient to create a feeling of unreality. Furthermore, although the panel or mural painter could use the new discoveries of linear perspective to heighten the sense of reality, the glass painter had to contend with the presence of the leading line, which emphasizes the surface plane. This creates a tension and a sense of ambiguity between the actual surface and the illusion of depth. Attempts were made to resolve the problems, but with little success; one result was that the lead line became increasingly divorced from the design instead of being an integral part of it. The increasing use, from the mid-16th century onward, of vitreous enamel pigments had the effect of accelerating this process.

The full flowering of the Renaissance style in Italy and the intense interest in Classical art that it stimulated resulted, about 1500, in a profusion of ornamental details, borrowed from the formal language of Classical art, in contemporary window designs. In addition the glaziers at this time often drew inspiration from contemporary engravings, particularly those of Albrecht Dürer.

The period 1450–1550 saw no decline in demand for stained glass. One of the most productive and influential areas at this time was Flanders. The six windows (c. 1475–1500) of the church of St. Gommaire at Lier and the Virgin window (c. 1482) at Anderlecht, although restored, have original portions of excellent quality and close affinity with contemporary Flemish painting.

English stained glass in the 15th century becomes more intimate, more anecdotal. It is less a cathedral art than an art of parish churches and is addressed less to an assembled ecclesia than to the individual believer. At its best it achieves a quiet intensity in the woodcut-like figures in East Harling church (Norfolk), a pathos in the Long Melford church (Suffolk) Pieta, and a sheer power of expression in the Clavering church (Essex) Martyrdom of St. Catherine.

The trading and political links between Flanders and England in the second half of the 15th century encouraged the influx of Flemish works of art and artists into England. A number of Flemish glaziers established themselves in Southwark, London, and some even assumed English names. The early 16th century was marked by a series of disputes between the London Guild of Glaziers and the foreigners. The latter were particularly patronized by the court and the more wealthy merchants. The two outstanding monuments of this imported style are the windows (c. 1480) of Fairford church (Gloucestershire) and the windows (1515–31) at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, many of which were probably designed by the Antwerp painter and engraver Dirk Vellert.

The spread of the new realism can be traced in French glass painting. The interactions with Flemish glaziers can be seen, for example, in the realism of the windows (c. 1430–40) from the duke of Burgundy’s chapel at Dijon, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which are the work of Flemish glaziers, and also the Jacques Coeur window at Bourges Cathedral, which is markedly Flemish in style. Native French glaziers were extremely prolific at this time, and Normandy and particularly the city of Rouen contain an incomparable display of windows produced by a large number of distinctive workshops. The leading figures of the first part of the 16th century were Arnoult of Nijmegen (c. 1470–1540) and the Le Prince family at Beauvais. Arnoult of Nijmegen worked in both Flanders and France. His most important works are the windows he executed between 1490 and 1500 in Flanders for Tournai Cathedral and the Jesse window (1506) in Saint-Godard at Rouen, which is one of the most impressive examples of glass painting of the period. The works by the Le Prince family are equally impressive, particularly the Jesse tree window in Saint-Étienne at Beauvais.

In Germany the later 15th century is dominated by the prolific activity of Peter Hemmel von Andlau (active 1430–1500) and his workshop. Examples of his work were done for St. Wilhelm’s Church in Strasbourg.

In Italy a remarkable ensemble of stained-glass windows was created in the first half of the 15th century for the cupola of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence by some of the greatest masters of early Renaissance art: Ghiberti, Donatello, Castagno, and Uccello. Domenico Ghirlandaio created in the second half of the century windows for the Florentine church of Santa Maria Novella. The late 15th and early 16th centuries are mainly associated in Italy with the name of Guglielmo de Marcillat (1467–1529), a Frenchman whose works display a thorough mastery of technique. His finest windows are at Arezzo Cathedral. The building of Milan Cathedral caused an important school of glass painting to develop there, and the work of Conrad Munch, a German from Cologne, and Nicolo da Varallo is noteworthy. The Milan school continued in full activity during the 16th and 17th centuries.

In Spain—especially at Sevilla (Seville), Leon, and Avila—there are some good 16th-century windows. They are in all cases the work of imported Flemish glass painters.