Glass Fragment

Art Historical Context

This delicate *Glass Fragment* from 15th-century France offers a glimpse into the luminous world of medieval stained glass, hallmark of Gothic architecture. Housed in The Cloisters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this piece—measuring just 2½ x 2⅛ inches—was a gift from Shirley Prager Branner in 5. Likely salvaged from a larger church window, it exemplifies the era's devotion to creating ethereal light effects in cathedrals, where vibrant colors transformed sunlight into storytelling jewels depicting saints, biblical scenes, or heraldic motifs. Crafted from pot metal glass, the fragment's b...