Paris – Notre Dame Rose Windows - 4me

Plate XXX - Notre Dame, the Rose Windows...

Arguably the three most remarkable features of Notre Dame are the organ, the bells and the stained glass rose windows. Look out for the stylized souvenir glass jewellery pendants of the windows sold in shops in the vicinity of the Cathedral. Many are pure tourist tat but others, available at the better jewellery shops, are exquisite in their detail.

This outside view of the south transept windows was taken from the Rive Gauche. An exterior view, although giving a good indication of the size of the lower window, gives little indication of the magnificence of the colour and light when seen from inside the church.

Since childhood I have been a lover of the art of the stained glass artisan; I finally incorporated some lead-light windows in the design of the first house I had built. Although my personal preference is for work in the style of LC Tiffany and the Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts exponents of the work, I have untold admiration for the secular works of the European practitioners, many dating back as far as the Middle Ages. Not only are the designs remarkable, but the hand-painted detail of the faces and the figures of subjects is exceptional. Notre Dame and the nearby Sainte Chapelle offer the aficionado a master class in design and technique.