The stained-glass windows, which have shaped the appearance of European church architecture for centuries, have hardly ever been viewed merely as a simple source of light. For the clergy, they were a meaningful part of sacred decor; laypeople could follow the story of salvation through the images depicted in the windows and secure their personal salvation and remembrance by commissioning stained-glass windows. While progressive monastic orders condemned the stained-glass windows as wasteful and vain, in aristocratic and bourgeois circles they became a recognized symbol of rank and social status. 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 Speaker: 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 Corpus Vitrearum Deutschland (external link) (Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz) (external link). Following the publication of the CVMA volume on Lower Saxony, she has been entrusted with cataloging the stained-glass windows in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland for the CVMA.

About the lecture series: This public lecture series has been taking place for 20 years now, featuring scholars from the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities as well as from the seven sister academies. The lectures are aimed at a broad audience to provide insights into the research being conducted. Afterward, attendees have the opportunity to chat with the scholars over pretzels and wine in the Academy’s courtyard garden.

We are grateful that the vhs Heidelberg also promotes this series.