Stained Glass Reborn

After centuries of decline, stained glass had a dramatic revival in the twentieth century, when major modern artists discovered its expressive power. Marc Chagall made windows for the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Henri Matisse designed the Chapelle du Rosaire (Rosary Chapel) in Vence, and Gerhard Richter created an abstract window for Cologne Cathedral. These artists used technical advances medieval glaziers never had — flashed glass that layers colors in a single sheet, and steel framing that supports far larger expanses than Gothic builders could.