Glossary
| band windows | a horizontal band of colored panels in a wall of lancets which are bordered top and bottom by panels of grisaille |
| bar tracery vs plate tracery | masonry known as bar tracery forms intricate patterns at the tops of lancets and in rose windows by means of segmented stone bars, grooved to support stained glass |
| masonry | known as plate tracery employs solid stone masonry which has been cut and grooved to accommodate stained glass |
| blank glazing | an unpainted decorative design, usually uncolored, formed by lead lines alone |
| cames | an alloy of lead and copper molded to form H-shaped strips, which when wrapped around the edges of individual pieces of glass, can join pieces to form a composition. When soldered together, they form a panel. |
| chapeau de triomphe | a border of garlands around a heraldic shield |
| chef-d’0euvre | a small piece of glass inserted into a hole abraded through a piece of glass of a different color |
| diaphanum | something that, although invisible and formless in itself, provides the means for the visible to materialize |
| épures | artistic drafts, that may include scale models, often located close to the site of construction |
| flashed glass | colorless glass with a colored layer(s) of glass fused on to the outside. This technique was often used to color glass red, which would be too opaque otherwise |
| flux | materials such as soda or potash added to the pot of silicate mixture to hasten the melting of the sand |
| “glassmakers soap” | a decolorizing agent, such as manganese dioxide, added to the glass to improve the clarity of colorless glass |
| grisaille glass | a window or panel of ornamental (geometric or floral) designs, composed almost exclusively of uncolored glass, in which the designs are created by the leads alone or with the addition of paint and silver stain |
| grisaille paint | a vitreous paint composed of finely ground glass mixed with iron or copper shavings and a flux, which was applied to individual pieces of glass and fired |
| grozing iron | a stained-glass tool with notches used to shape individual pieces of glass by nibbling at the edges of the glass |
| imago mundi | an artistic composition depicting images of the cosmos, which may include the zodiac, labors of the months, seasons, rivers of Paradise, etc. |
| jubé | the French term for the choir screen that serves to divide the nave from the choir in medieval churches |
| lmrh | a French research laboratory dedicated to the study of historical monuments, with a division devoted to stained glass |
| metallic feramenta | the supporting iron and lead framework for a stained-glass window |
| muldenfaltenstil | in medieval art, a classicizing style of rendering drapery folds, c.1200 |
| pot-metal glass | glass which has been made by combining sand and metallic oxides together in the melting pot so that the color is distributed throughout. See flashed glass |
| rota | the Latin name for a circular diagram in the Middle Ages |
| vidimus | meaning “we have seen”, a preparatory drawing which could be shown to a customer in order to approve a stained-glass project |
| weathering | crust a corrosion layer which forms on the outside of glass due to the detrimental effects of pollutants in the environment |