Stained-glass windows, which have shaped the appearance of European church architecture for centuries, have rarely been viewed merely as a simple source of light since their inception. For clergy, they were a meaningful part of sacred decor; laypeople could follow the story of salvation through the window depictions and secure their personal salvation and remembrance through window endowments. While progressive monastic orders condemned the stained-glass windows as wasteful and vain, they became a recognized symbol of rank and social status in aristocratic and bourgeois circles. The Reformation regarded figurative stained glass as idols; Romantics identified it with a romanticized past; and in the 20th century, it became an art object and a subject of research. This lecture examines the perception of stained glass from a contemporary perspective, particularly with regard to the appreciation and treatment of these objects, including their reuse in modern times.

About the author: Dr. Elena Kosina (external link) studied art history in St. Petersburg, Kassel, and Hamburg. After several years of teaching and research in St. Petersburg, she has been a research associate at the Corpus Vitrearum Deutschland (external link) (Academy of Sciences and Humanities the University of Mainz) (external link). Following the publication of the CVMA volume on Lower Saxony, she has been entrusted with cataloging the stained glass in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland for the CVMA.

About the lecture series: For 20 years now, this public lecture series has been taking place, featuring presentations by scholars from the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities well Academy of Sciences and Humanities from its seven sister academies. The lectures are aimed at a broad audience and are designed to provide insights into the research being conducted. Afterward, there will be an opportunity to chat with the scholars over pretzels and wine in the Academy’s courtyard garden.

We are grateful that the vhs Heidelberg is also promoting the series.