Austrian Stained Glass in the Interplay of Research and Conservation: Reflections on How to Preserve an Endangered Art Genre

Abstract

In 2021, two projects for the protection and preservation of Austrian stained glass were performed in close cooperation between the Federal Monuments Authority Austria and active members of the Corpus Vitrearum Austria. Both projects are dedicated to difficult topics that will increasingly challenge how we tackle the preservation of monuments in the coming decades. There are questions regarding the correct conservation and restoration treatment of stained glass from the late 19th and early 20th century (stained glass from the so-called art period of Historicism), which, despite all the Guidelines for the Conservation and Restoration of this endangered genre of art, is still far from being treated with the necessary care throughout the country. The protection and preservation of the original substance—the glass, the leading and the painting—are the primary focus of interest here. Using the example of the restoration campaign currently being conducted on the windows of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Linz, a cultural monument of particular importance for Austria, work is being undertaken to elaborate the feasibility of a concept that can be easily implemented in the future at other construction sites and by all the stakeholders involved. The second monitoring project presented concerns the equally important area of “preventive conservation” of medieval and modern stained glass. The focus of the work that took place here was on checking the condition of stained glass from the Middle Ages to the 20th century (with and without exterior protective glazing) and the general identification of damage and determination of the urgency of measures for conservation (using a “traffic light system” developed for this purpose).