Stained to stun

Among all the architectural wonders invented by humankind, nothing could be more poetic or sublime than stained glass windows. The sight of light falling through one can transport you back to the gothic era even on a sweltering afternoon at the Madras hgh court, where you can find a spectacular display right behind the Chief Justice’s chair.
Ironically, the stained-glass panels at the high court are among the most poorly maintained in Chennai, which has some of the best in the country – at the Senate Hall on the Madras University campus at Chepauk, the Connemara Library, the Anthropology Gallery at the Government Museum, the PWD Building near Marina, the State Bank head office, some of the old churches including the Santhome Basilica and St Mary’s Church, and even Higginbotham’s on Mount Road.
Stained-glass architecture, which was most popular in cathedrals in Europe from the 12th to the 16th centuries, was brought to India by the British during the late 1800s and the early 1900s. “The technique was unknown to Indian craftsmen, and so these were probably shipped to India all the way from England or assembled here,” says M N Manikantan, Art and Stained Glass Conservator, whose team has led the official restoration of stained glass in several landmark structures in the city.
History enthusiast Pradeep Chakravarty says that there was a department in the College of Fine Arts, Chennai, where Indian craftsmen were taught the art of staining glass, and who later created the art works in the city. Pradeep also owns a collection of traditional stained-glass panels with motifs from Indian mythology, as well as of peacocks and dogs, which are quite rare. “Only in Tamil Nadu will you find Tanjore and Ravi Varma paintings as stained-glass motifs, besides those featuring animals,” he says.
But what exactly is stainedglass architecture and how is it different from the commercial pieces being made currently?
Traditional stained-glass will always involve designs – mostly floral or figurative – and are created by putting together numerous pieces of coloured glass, which are first cut according to the designs. Multiple pieces were preferred because in the event of breakage, only one piece needed to be replaced.
“The staining technique is quite laborious and involves the painting of intricate designs on various pieces of coloured glass, which are then fired at 625-650 centigrade in the furnace so that the design fuses into the glass. The pieces are then assembled using lead and soldered, the reason for the signature ‘lead lines’ of stained glass. At the end of it all, waterproofing is done using cer tain substances which seal it and give it strength,” says Manikantan.
Once the process is completed, the colour never fades, and the art works can stay as they are for centuries.
Today, even a painting on coloured fibreglass is passed off as stained glass. “Collectors are often duped by those who just draw lead lines over the painting, without firing the design or piecing together glass. These colours will fade as well,” says Manikantan.
The new ones also use all kinds of bright colours whereas traditionally only soft pastel shades were available, says S Srinivasan, who also works in restoring stained glass. For the same reason, stained glass panels need to be replaced only if they are vandalised or broken. “At times, the glass might crack from the lead buckling over the years. We add a protective mesh or a plexiglass shield in some cases,” says Manikantan.
Restoration should be done only by trained professionals and they recently found that some of the panels at the high court had been replaced by coloured glass sans the design, he says. Panels have even been removed to make space for exhaust fans in some of these buildings.
The Connemara Library currently doesn’t allow visitors to the section with the stained-glass panels, where they remain unseen, while the massive panels in the anthropology gallery are in need of dusting. Sadly, even those that have been restored and can be viewed in all their glory are rarely noticed, nor is the public aware of their significance.