VITRAUX DE LA CATHÉDRALE SAINT-ÉTIENNE

Nicknamed the lantern of God with its 6,500 m2 of glass roofing, Metz's Saint-Etienne Cathedral offers an ideal synthesis of the three golden ages of stained glass in Lorraine. The first group of which we know the author, that of Herman de Munster on the west façade, dates from the end of the 14th century. But two thirds of the old stained glass windows preserved date back to the Renaissance and mark the first golden age with the beginning of stained-glass painting, a brilliant technique assimilated to easel painting, with works by Thibaut de Lixheim and especially by Valentin Bousch. Of Alsatian origin, he created with his renowned workshop a large part of the stained glass windows of the Cathedral. A radiance, a creativity that will only be found in the XIXth century, second golden age, with the development of the largest glass painting workshop in France, that of Laurent-Charles Maréchal. The entry of the Prussians in Metz and the German annexation will cause the decline of his workshop which had restored, from 1842 to 1872, the main glass windows of Metz Cathedral and created new stained glass windows for the choir and the bishops' chapel. Remarkable contemporary creations can also be admired: Pierre Gaudin's high windows made in 1954. The stained glass windows by Jacques Villon (1957), with their bright colours, decorate the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and are clearly visible from outside at nightfall. Those by Bissière (1959) above the side entrances are like mosaics in cold tones, bluish on the north side and warm tones, orange on the south side. Marc Chagall contributed to the cathedral's fame with stained glass windows inspired by the Old Testament (1962-69), located in the north transept and the ambulatory.

DATAtourisme France