STAINED GLASS — CATHEDRAL LIGHT CONSTRUCTION VISUAL STYLE

VISUAL STYLE: The visual language of medieval and Gothic cathedral stained glass — images constructed from irregular coloured glass tesserae held in lead came lines. Every surface is a mosaic of transmitted light. The image glows from within.

COLOUR PALETTE: Jewel-saturated transmitted colour — ruby red (#8B0000), cobalt blue (#003087), emerald green (#046307), amber gold (#C9943A), and violet (#4B0082). These are the colours of light passing through coloured glass — luminous, not reflective. The lead came lines between them are absolute black (#000000).

LEAD LINES: Thick, irregular black lead came defines every boundary between colour fields. Lines vary in weight — thicker at structural junctions, finer in detail areas. The black grid is as important as the colour it contains.

LIGHT: Transmitted from behind — the glass glows as if sunlight is passing through it from the other side. Colours are brightest at their centres and deepen toward the lead edges. The source of light is always implied to be beyond the image.

COMPOSITION: Figurative or geometric — if figurative, the human form is depicted in the flat, hieratic manner of medieval glass: frontal, stylised, drapery described by lead line rather than shadow. If geometric, rose window radial symmetry expanding from a central point.

SCALE: Individual glass pieces visible at close range — each one slightly irregular, with internal bubbles, streaks, and the imperfections of hand-blown glass.

No photography. No smooth gradient colour. No modern digital glass simulation. Only the lead line, the jewel colour, and the light behind them.