Restoration and copies

Restore but not change

Each kind of stained glass window may be restored. Original pieces in old stained-glass windows should as often as possible be preserved and not replaced, even thought they are broken ; in this case, I will resort to discreet copper tapes to paste broken remaining fragments.

Painting technicals for restoration

In case of missing fragments, painting has to be very sharp and rigorous. We have first to examinate the stained glass to determine what technicals were used to make it : glass colors, painting colors and number of coats... Then, documentation will help us to understand how it was drawn, because the drawing is different according to the century when it was painted or else the country of its origin, in order to get as close as possible to the original. Painting used is a metal oxide called "grisaille" ; it is applied in several coats, and then it is hot up to 630 degrees C, which makes very resistant.
This technical and these materials are almost ten centuries old, and came across ages to reach us.

Application

Naturally, it means I use the same materials (antique glass, "grisaille") and technicals used by our ancestors. Finally, with these same technicals, it is possible to make copies of old stained-glass windows.