Friday, 17 June 2016, 6.15pm for 6.45pm start, open to all
The Art Workers Guild, 6 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AT
Frédéric Pivet: ‘Stained-Glass Windows of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris’
This illustrated lecture will explain the recent conservation of the windows of the Sainte-Chapelle and its contribution to the understanding of their original manufacture and aesthetic appearance.
In 1999, the French state started the restoration and conservation of nine of the fifteen windows from the thirteenth century and the fifteenth-century rose. Work began with the thirteenth-century windows, which had been restored in the nineteenth century. Since that work featured some very significant alterations to the paintwork, resulting in fragility and loss of glass-paint, the methodology adopted was closer to that applied in the conservation of painting than those normally used for stained glass X-ray analysis, infra-red camera, and selective cleaning layer by layer. The restoration of the fifteenth-century rose was conducted in 2014 15. This stained glass is technologically and aesthetically different from the thirteenth-century windows. The fouling and patinas were similar to those present on the thirteenth-century windows but the excellent state of conservation of the materials allowed an aesthetic intervention, with gluing and releading.
The restoration was completed by the use of different types of external protection. These aesthetic and technical choices will be described in the lecture. As is common in an important restoration, these works have contributed a great deal to our knowledge of the history of the windows, the technology of the materials used (original lead, glass, painting), the organization of the original works, and a precise view of the glass-painters’ aesthetic. The lecture will demonstrate which technical methods the glass-painters used to realize their work: panel shapes, different glasses, painting techniques, etching, and leading.
Admission to the lecture and optional buffet supper is by ticket only. Visit the British Society of Master Glass-Painters’ website for details, to download a booking form or to book on-line. Late enquiries may be made by telephone (07909 070739).
