Visions of Light

For medieval western society, Christianity was the overriding structural force. No area of life was untouched by it, and artists did not seek to be individual, original or subversive, or to give expression to private vision; they were the servants of religious authority, employed to convey the Christian message and thus reinforce society's coherence and stability.

The stained-glass windows in the cathedral at Bourges in France are superb examples of how this art form was used to illustrate the Bible for people who could not read, as well as to light up formerly dim interiors: a stained-glass cinema of the Middle Ages. They tell, in the simplest of human terms, the Gospel stories, beginning with the birth of the world, when God ordered the sun to warm the earth, and brilliantly colored birds and strange animals burst out upon scenes of fantastic vegetation. They also show the works of man - cities and buildings, and houses, and tables and chairs and cups - everyday things, all recreated by the unknown window painters, so that what they intended for the instruction of the people of their own time serves to tell us, now, how they lived.