Stained Glass

Stained glass is made of pieces of colored glass. The pieces are held together with strips of lead. When the sun shines through, it lights up the colors. Stained glass is often found in church windows.

How It Is Made

First, an artist draws a plan. Then they cut glass into the right shapes. They wrap the edges with metal and solder them together. When the window is done, it glows with bright colors in the sunlight.

A colorful stained glass window showing three wise men in a story.
A colorful stained glass window showing three wise men in a story. (Unknown artistUnknown artist / Wikimedia Commons)

Famous Stained Glass

Many old European churches have huge stained glass windows. Notre Dame in Paris has beautiful round windows called rose windows. Louis Comfort Tiffany made lovely stained glass lamps in America. Stained glass can be found in homes, too.

Fun Facts

  • Stained glass has been made for over 1,000 years.
  • The colors come from adding metals to the hot glass.
  • Some old church windows show stories from the Bible for people who could not read.

Did You Know?

The largest stained glass window in the world is in Justice, Illinois. It is over 22,000 square feet big!