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Oct 16, 2018 · The 167 stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral, built 1190-1220 CE, are the most complete group surviving anywhere from the Middle Ages. Several windows date to the mid-12th century CE while over 150 survive from the early 13th century CE.
The stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral are held to be one of the best-preserved and most complete set of medieval stained glass, notably celebrated for their colours, especially their cobalt blue.
Scroll through the windows of the cathedral: the stained glass windows are progressively put online in our interactive animation. Vivid colors, accurate gestures, rich decorations: when the scenes scroll before our eyes, they still amaze us 800 years later.
Chartres Cathedral is home to the largest collection of preserved medieval stained-glass windows in the world. The windows are in an excellent state of conservation and currently undergoing an active restoration phase to return them to their original splendour.
Jun 11, 2024 · The so-called “Beautiful Window,” stained glass depicting the Virgin Mary on her throne, Chartres Cathedral, France. (more) Chartres Cathedral contains 176 stained-glass windows, the feature for which it may be best known. Like the sculpture, the stained glass was intended to be educational.
One of the most distinctive features of Chartres Cathedral is the stained glass, both for its quantity and quality. There are 167 windows, including rose windows, round oculi, and tall, pointed lancet windows.
The stained glass windows of Chartres, with the exception of those on the Western facade (which date back to the middle of the XII th century) and later works (XIV th, XV th, XIX th, XX th centuries) were all made between 1205 and 1225.
Chartres Cathedral is known for its stained-glass windows throughout the world: a most remarkable and large collection, covering 2,500 m2 and includes more than 3,500 figures. The three stained-glass windows of the West façade and “The Blue Virgin”, which are the oldest, are not to be missed.
Chartres Cathedral’s most famous piece of stained-glass is the Romanesque Virgin that forms part of a window in the south ambulatory. Painted in the mid-12th century, it was placed there after the fire of 1194.
The stained-glass windows can be divided into three categories. The lower windows recount stories of the lives of the saints and narratives taken from Holy Scripture. The upper windows feature figures of the saints presented in monumental fashion.
