Dr. Phyllis G Jestice, chair and professor of history at the
University of Southern Mississippi, will lead a discussion on
medieval stained glass and the Nova Science video “Building the
Great Cathedrals” Monday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. in the art gallery
at Cook Library as part of the spring Science Café series.
Admission is free. Dee Tatum, a local stained glass artist and
owner of Seraphim Studios, a custom stained glass classes and
supplies studio, will also be on hand to facilitate any
questions about working with stained glass. Gothic engineers
built thin, super-tall walls, made not of stone but mostly of
glass. Somehow, these walls of windows support towering ceilings
of stone. How did medieval builders pull off such a dramatic
transformation? In medieval architecture, stained glass had a
unique structural and symbolic importance. As the Romanesque
massiveness of the wall was eliminated, the use of glass was
expanded. Symbolically, it was regarded as a manifestation of
divine light. Held in the art gallery n