Stained glass as an open-air collection or incorporated into the internal spaces of museums

Abstract

The article presents reflections on stained glass exposed as objects in museums, displaced from its original application in architecture. During visits to churches and civil buildings, observations recorded in field notes and photos, we noticed curatorial differences generated by transference of stained glass windows into museums. There they were exhibited as private collections, technical demonstrations of creation and restoration or thought of as painting with light, installed as backlit panels created especially for interior spaces. Whether in huge European cathedrals or in main city square churches of many cities in the State of São Paulo, stained glass windows present thematic coherence represented in traditional symbology, such as allegories narrating the lives of saints or miracles. In public spaces such as markets, theaters and schools, stained glass reaffirms the function of the building; the public is able to perceive the stained glass in relation to architecture. Recently created stained glass museums expand creative possibilities and recover and value this precious artform in danger of extinction.