We could not talk about church glass without highlighting the work of Marc Chagall. More recognized for his paintings and illustrations, Chagall also delved into the medium of stained glass late in his life. Known as the world's "quintessential Jewish artist", Chagall created works of modernist art glass for both Jewish and Christian institutions, employing his dreamy style and the contents of his own imagination to translate religious themes. If you are already familiar with Chagall's mystical and evocative imagery you will understand how his devotional work could be so triumphant.
"To me, stained glass is the transparent wall between my heart and the world’s. Stained glass is uplifting, it requires gravity and passion. It must come alive through the light it receives. The Bible is light already, and stained glass should make this obvious through grace and simplicity." Marc Chagall
Some of his more famous installations include windows for Reims cathedral, Metz cathedral, and the Hadassah Medical Center. Images for all three are depicted below.
Reims Cathedral Windows | flickr/Craig Nichols
Metz Cathedral Detail (Eve) | flickr/onnola
Hadassah Medical Center Window (Tribe of Levi) | Wikipedia/Mrbrefast
In this vintage film you can see actual footage of a Chagall installation as well as the man himself painting the Tribe of Levi window that is shown above. It's really so stunning!
The technique Chagall uses in the footage is called grisaille in which black enamel paint is applied to the glass to make monochromatic images. Before painting, however, Chagall's long-time collaborator in glass, Charles Marc, employed a technique of acid etching on flashed glass causing the subtle gradiations of hue and translucence in nearly every pane. The level of skill here was so advanced that the glass appears painted with watercolors. From there, Marc assembled the panes with lead cane in asymmetrical and seemingly randomized lines that both delineate and intersect the windows’ imagery. Then the windows were built and Chagall was given reign to paint using brushes and his fingers. Once that step was complete the windows were dismantled and the panes kiln-fired to fuse the paint to the glass. Finally, the windows were reassembled, puttied, and installed.
An interesting if somewhat maddening story can be read here about a break-in at the Metz cathedral that caused damage to a portion of Chagall's Adam & Eve window.
Chagall did not stick solely to religious commissions. His "America Windows" at the Chicago Art Institute are secular and very notable examples. But are they not also devotional? To know the answer requires knowing Chagall the man.
Born in Belarus in the late 1800's, Chagall was raised by an observant Hasidic Jewish family and suffered waves of pogroms in his childhood. By the start of WWII he was an established artist living in France. When the Nazis took power in Germany, as with other modernists, his work was labeled degenerate and confiscated. Once France became occupied territory Chagall and his family were forced to flee to the United States using forged visas.
“America Windows” were completed just in time for the United States’ bicentennial and serve as a love letter to his adopted nation. Using selective imagery of Chicago’s culture and landmarks along with classic American motifs, Chagall expresses his devotion to our nation’s higher ideals of creativity, diversity, inclusion, and religious freedom.
The video below discusses not only the significance of the “America Windows” but also matters of conservation, restoration, and the original processes followed by Chagall and Marc for all their stained glass projects.