Realization of the stained glass

The first stained glass window of the chapel is finished! It was the fruit of a long work. During a 15-day stay in Ethiopia with the Brothers of Saint John, Paul Challan Belval observed the country, the tradition, the iconography, the people, and he began the drawing of ethiopian version of the Madonna with Child. Back in Chartres, he proceeded to the realization of the stained glass in his own workshops.

Reflection on colors

At first glance, we might be surprised by the colors when we look at them with western eyes.

These reactions on colors bear the mark of two different cultures: in the orthodox culture, at least slavonic, the Virgin is in red to signify blood, the incarnation (thus Vladimir’s Virgin who appears black to us was initially red before the painting became black).

Blue, is in this iconographic culture, reserved for the divinity. But in Western culture blue has become the attribute of Mary, so much so that it is called the Marian color. It is in fact with the XII° century that blue becomes such in the West. The King of France chose it in the XIII°. In the stained glass windows, it is because cobalt blue was the most expensive color that it was chosen to honor Mary: the example of Notre Dame de la belle verrière in Chartres is a remarkable example.

For our stained glass window, the innovation lies in the green mantle. But it’s because the blue having been chosen as the background for all our stained glass windows, it would have been a loss to give it back for the mantle. Symbolically, green recalls the peace and life that springs up, culturally, the colors of Ethiopia, and naturally, green joins red, gold and brown to evoke the rich foliage of autumn, all on a background of source blue. If Creation uses these same colors in its harmony, then we are not mistaken in imitating it.

Paul Challan Belleval