Windows

The earliest of stained gla in Italy were painted by order of Pope Leo III., at Rome, in 795. The windows of some churches were closed with valves or shutters of stone, like those of the Duomo of Torcello, erected in 1008. Others were filled with slabs of transparent talc or alabaster. The earliest painted gla in York Cathedral is of A. D. 1200. The use of gla windows in private houses was not general until the 14th century. During the Middle Ages gla windows were in movable wooden frames, and were taken away by families when they travelled. (Consult Hallam’s Middle Ages, vol. iii.) Substitutes for gla were thin parchment or linen, painted and varnished, or even paper. ( Le Vieil, de la Peinture sur Verre.) These paper windows may still be seen in villages in the north of Italy.