Stained Glass - Table of Contents
Munich Pictorial Style Stained
Glass Windows in Buffalo
Buffalo, NY and area
In General
Mayer of Munich
F. X. Zettler
Tyrol Art Glass
Josef Scherer
Other firms
In GeneralThe Munich Pictorial Style style developed out of the Royal Bavarian Stained Glass Establishment in 1827 under Ludwig I of Bavaria (1786-1868) who sought to turn his capital into an unrivaled center of German art and culture. Ludwig I sent German art and German artists to the United States.
"Although Munich windows were made of traditional hand-blown antique glass, both Munich windows and American opalescent windows typically eschew the flatness and emphatic leading of medieval windows in favor of an idealized naturalism and spatial realism. - Leo Thomas ...
Broadly speaking, the artistic style is Romantic. The artistic language of Munich glass owed much to the revival of religious painting - especially fresco painting in the tradition of the Italian Renaissance masters, especially Masaccio, Raphael, and Michelangelo - in Germany early in the 19th-century.
Munich style windows are recognizable and respected for their elaborate, finely executed painting. The style was composed of painting on relatively large glass panels (as opposed to the medieval technique of smaller pieces of colored glass) held in a leaded framework. Each window was made up of small colored glass pieces that were coated with overlay color and tracing lines before being fired and leaded.
"Christ, saints, heavenly hosts, and ordinary people are attired in jeweled tone and richly embroidered fabrics. Backgrounds contain intricately woven tapestries and finely laced cloths. Throughout the narrative scenes are lush plantings and a multitude of flowers each so well rendered that botanical identity is possible. The abundant landscaping is reflective of the Romanticist's belief that nature can be the source for the spiritual experience." - Gail Tiemey, Franz Mayer and Company and Zettler Studios
"Stylistically, Mayer's windows tend to contain richly colored scenes bordered by architectural frames consisting of pilasters, columns, architrave and elaborate canopies. The frame treatments within the windows vary according to the structure and tastes of each church. Commonly, the lower portions of the windows have richly bordered panels. These architectural frames and panels are derived from directly from medieval stained glass models. Within the frames are narrative scenes based on the life of Christ or Old Testament stories. Frequently, many parishes ordered individual windows portraying Saints, Apostles, and Old Testament figures. - Gail Tiemey, Franz Mayer and Company and Zettler Studios
"We should note that the Munich pictorial style is not to everyone's taste, and it certainly has had its detractors over the years. Frueh remarks that some find the subject matter overly sentimental, while James Sturm notes that critics of the style find it overly embellished and sometimes poorly executed on a technical level. ... we can see the hand of different painters at work and, consequently, the variation in skill between them. Whatever our individual tastes may be, or the technical merits or flaws of particular windows, the fact remains that this work is found in many fine churches and cathedrals around the world for a reason. It represents an aesthetic that was evidently prized in its time for its craftsmanship and opulence as well as for its ability to engage the viewer emotionally and spiritually." - Michigan Stained Glass Census"Although often derided by English glass artists as too pictorial, and viewed as an economic threat by American glass firms, the broad aesthetic appeal, economic advantage, and papal approval made Munich glass windows the overwhelming choice among Roman Catholics in the United States." - Leo Thomas ...
"Wealthy Protestants might prefer opalescent windows, which were complicated and expensive to make, but Munich glass windows could be imported as art, i.e., glass 'paintings' and - exempt from a high tariff on imported 'raw' glass - cost less than opalescent windows and windows made in America using imported glass. Although often derided by English glass artists as too pictorial, and viewed as an economic threat by American glass firms, the broad aesthetic appeal, economic advantage, and papal approval made Munich glass windows the overwhelming choice among Roman Catholics in the United States." - Leo Thomas ...
Excerpts from
German and Austrian Stained Glass Windows in Chicago
SpurensucheChicago has been a great center of German and Austrian made stained glass.
Since the Great Fire of 1871 the studios of Franz Mayer and F.X. Zettler, both of Munich, Germany, and the studios of the Tyroler Glasmalerei Anstalt (TGA) in Innsbruck, Austria began to send representatives to sell their new decorative patterns for churches. These three studios often worked together and their style is interchangeable.
From the 1870s to the 1920s, Chicago became the most influential center of Catholic culture in the United States. Unlike that of any other period of history, its state of- the-art church design included brightly colored windows, often displaying action packed scenes from biblical events or episodes from the life of a patron saint.
Today superb examples of windows made in Munich by F.X. Zettler or Franz Mayer can be seen in churches such as Saint Vincent de Paul ... A set of windows depicting the Mysteries of the Rosary and dedicated to Mary, Mother of God, were made by the Tiroler Glasmalerei Anstalt (signed TGA) of Innsbruck, Austria for St. Stanislaus Kostka.The Munich style lost much of its appeal in the 1920s. Today it is appreciated as a fine expression of German aesthetics and artistic sensitivity in the face of an almost overpowering American competition led by Louis Comfort Tiffany.
| Churches in Buffalo | # of Windows | Year |
| Corpus Christi RC Church | Set | 1926 |
| St. Vincent de Paul RC Church | Set | 1925 |
| St. Stanislaus RC Church | Set | 1937 |
| St. Adalbert RC Church | Set | 1911/1929 |
| St. Casimir RC Church | Set | 1928 |
| St. Matthew Church | 9 | 1926 / 1931 |
| St. Francis de Sales RC Church | Set | 1927 |
| St. Paul Episcopal. Cathedral | 8 | 1892 |
| Our Lady of Sorrows RC Church | 6 | 1931 |
| St. Mary's Seminary | 1 | 1922 |
| Bishop's Chapel / Blessed Sacrament Church | 4 | 1925 |
See also:
Christ Church, Detroit, MI Michigan Stained Glass Census
Cathedral of St. Andrew, Grand Rapids, MI Michigan Stained Glass Census in Dec. 2002
Cathedral of St. Andrew, Grand Rapids, MI Michigan Stained Glass Census in Jan. 2008
Franz Mayer and Company and Zettler Studios
In 1848, Franz Mayer and Co. was founded by Joseph Mayer, producing shrines and altars. Mayer of Munich which commenced glass production in 1860, and is still operating as Franz Mayer of Munich, Inc.
"Franz Xaver Zettler graduated from the Munich Art Academy and began working for Mayer as a glass painter around 1863. After Franz Xaver Zettler married Joseph Mayer's daughter, he founded his own company [in 1870] called F. X Zettler and took over Mayer's stained glass production. The sales remained under the Mayer organization until Zettler formed his own sales force, which resulted in a disagreeable split between the two organizations. In 1873, Mayer developed their own window-manufacturing group, which competed with Zettler until 1939, when they joined forces again"Today, Mayer still produces stained glass windows and is headquartered in Munich, Germany with a sales office in Fairfield, New Jersey. The company is now called Franz Mayer and Company [Mayer Official Website]." - Gail Tiemey, Franz Mayer and Company and Zettler Studios
"Thousands of windows were exported to North America. Mayer's figurative windows were enormously popular throughout Canada and the United States. Mayer established a New York office during the "mid-1870's and Zettler followed suit at a later time." - Gail Tiemey, Franz Mayer and Company and Zettler Studios
| Churches in Buffalo | # of Windows | Year |
| St. Michael RC Church | ? | 1860's - 1960's |
| St. Ann RC Church | ? | 1889 -1891 |
| St. Louis RC Church | ? | 1891 -1895 |
| Immaculate Conception RC Church | ? | 1903 -1908 |
See also:
Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Cedar, MI Michigan Stained Glass Census
St. Francis Hospital, Escanaba, MI Michigan Stained Glass Census
Cathedral of St. Andrew, Grand Rapids, MI Michigan Stained Glass Census
| Churches in Buffalo | # of Windows | Year |
| Felician Sisters Convent Chapel, Cheektowaga, NY | 10 | Post 1932 |
| St. Joseph RC Cathedral | 11?, inlcluding 4 1902 sanctuary clearstory windows |
See also:
St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Jackson, MI Michigan Stained Glass Census
Scott Club, South Haven, MI Michigan Stained Glass Census
| Church in Buffalo | # of Windows | Year |
| St. Joseph RC Cathedral | 3 apse windows | 1850? |
A Short Biography of Josef Scherer
By Gregory WitulJosef Scherer was born in 1814 near the town of Zusmarshausen, Germany.
In 1829, Josef entered the Augsburg Art School. After his training, Scherer enrolled at the Munich Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1832 to study painting.
Influenced by Boisserée's Geschichte und Beschreibung des Domes von Köln, Scherer started working in stained glass. Josef began working with Wilhelm Vörtel as a glass preparer and kilned assistant. It wasn’t until Scherer’s art training was brought to Vortel’s attention that he was promoted to painter.
It was during this time that Scherer toured and started an association with the Konigliche Glasmalereianstalt in Munich. After working for Vortel, Josef started to design and execute his own works.
He left Germany for Greece in the fall of 1842, to work on windows for a villa in Athens.
He returned to his fatherland at the behest of the Collegiate Church in Stuttgart, to design and execute windows for their church. (It is unknown whether Scherer worked on the Collegiate Church windows or if it was just the impetus of his return.)
It was during this time that Scherer completed the windows for St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Buffalo, NY.
By the time of his death in 1875, Josef Scherer was considered to be one of the pioneers of the Munich-style of stained glass and the most influential stained glass artist of the nineteenth century, second only to Bernhard von Neher.
Other Munich or Munich-style firms of the time included the following:
- van Treeck (Munich),
- Fred Müller (Quinlinberg),
- Gassen & Blaschke (Düsseldorf)
- George Boos (Munich)
The style's popularity led to its adoption by many non-German studios as well.
