The light of the Holy Spirit

GLASS WINDOWS AND CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN MOSAICS

"The stained glass windows were never so iridescent as on the days when the sun barely showed up, so that if there was a grey weather outside, one could be sure it would be beautiful in church" - M.Proust

The incredible experiences of March Chagall in the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Toute-Grâce and Henry Matisse in the chapel of the Rosary in the Dominican convent of Vence, in the hinterland of Nice, have opened new expressive possibilities to the stained glass window, that for centuries had been relegated to the minor arts, giving way to the use of a contemporary language tout court, like what was happening in painting and sculpture.

It is from that moment that the stained glass window reveals itself as an art in tune with the feeling of contemporary man and with its own value within the architectural and liturgical space.

The stained glass windows for churches, in fact, are both material and immaterial elements: an instrument of illumination and decoration of the celebratory space, they favor turning to the spiritual and theological paths of light entering into dialogue with architecture and liturgical action. Similar to complex paintings, when they adopt a figurative style, they also fully enter the iconographic program of the church in which they are placed.

The exhibition exhibits a panorama of contemporary artistic glass and mosaics, innovative experiences and relevant cases of works for churches by important European artists and ateliers. The criterion of selection of the works that guided the Scientific Committee in the admission of the works was the overcoming of the depiction in the form of a dove of the Holy Spirit.

The works on display will allow visitors to discover the original results achieved by some Ateliers who, also in collaboration with well-known artistic personalities, conduct a fruitful formal research, using new and unusual techniques for the world of stained glass, such as thermoforming, airbrush, etching and several other iconographic and productive strategies that make each work a unique and unrepeatable piece.

Artists and Atelier: