Stained glass art began as early as around 300 AD, when many churches were being constructed. The idea of stained glass at that time revolved mostly on architectural design and current wise tales of the times. It wasn’t until around the 13th and 14th century that stained glass really took off due to the development of many large window displays in Cathedrals. Then as art continued to progress, throughout he 15-17th centuries stained glass was used as a way to show that you were of the wealthy population, through this many artists became well recognized for each of their unique contributions to this form of art. Unfortunately this fad was short lived because as the 16th century rolled around there were many uproars regarding religion which lead to the destruction of a wide majority of glass pieces found in catholic churches, especially in England. After this upset the Art of stained glass seemed to be flat-lined, this continued throughout the early 18th century, however here began the restoration period of stained glass history which lead to the development of many new techniques. However, yet again in the 1800’s during the industrial revolution the desire for well made, good quality, hand crafted products increased as Stained glass windows were again used as a sign of wealth. The evolution of stained glass continued in the 1900’s as the “Cameo Process” was invented, this gave artists the eye opening idea to cut and etch heads and hands rather than paint them. Yet in America stained glass to a back seat during the Great Depression and WWII however, once we overcame those obstacles craftsman and artists were able to restore this art form.

It seems that no matter what goes on through history, the art form of stained glass cannot die as many new development and designs continue to be developed even to this day.