Life of Christ. Eglise Saint-Sulpice de Fougères (detail) 1919

This stained glass piece, a detail from Ludovic Alleaume's “Life of Christ” made somewhere around the turn of the century, uses flat color and thick black lines to divide the composition. You can really see the construction; each piece is like a brushstroke, a shard of light carefully placed. The blues and reds really pop, but it's the milky, opalescent quality of the whites that gets me. Notice how the white feels different in each section: the wispy, flowing veil, and the chunky slabs that make up the architectural background are quite distinct. The lines aren't just borders; they seem to vibrate, adding a tactile dimension. It reminds me how painting, like stained glass, is about building up layers and letting the structure show. It's like a conversation across time, a nod to the past that keeps evolving. So much can be said with such simplicity, it’s about suggestion, not telling.