In Western Europe they constitute the major form of pictorial art to have survived. Many large windows have withstood the test of time and remained substantially intact since the late Middle Ages. Stained glass, as an art and a craft, requires the artistic skill to conceive an appropriate workable design, and the engineering skills necessary to assemble the decorative piece, traditionally a window, so that it will fit snugly into the window frame for which it is made and also, especially in the larger windows, is capable of supporting its own weight and surviving the elements. The term 'stained glass' is also applied to windows in which all the colours have been painted onto the glass and then annealed in a furnace. Painted details and yellow stain are often used to enhance the design.

The coloured glass is crafted into 'stained glass windows' in which small pieces of glass are arranged to form patterns or pictures, held together (traditionally) by strips of lead and supported by a rigid frame. Modern vernacular usage has often extended the term 'stained glass' to include domestic leadlight and objets d'art created from lead came and copper foil glasswork such as exemplified in the famous lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany.Īs a material the term 'stained glass' generally refers to glass that has been coloured by adding metallic salts during its manufacture. Although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture. Throughout its thousand-year history the term 'stained glass' was applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches, cathedrals and other significant buildings.

The term stained glass refers either to the material of coloured glass or to the art and craft of working with it. 'For the Blackford Oakes novel, see Stained Glass (novel)'

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