Stained Glass, Taipei
This project was commissioned by father François and the parish of Mary Mother of God in Taipei.
The initial studies of the stained glass began in 2020. The project halted for various reasons and resumed in 2022 with the finalization of the 1/1 scale drawing.
The stained glass shape is inspired by some biblical texts (please refer below) and plays on both the themes of fire and water. The red of the columns present in the church building is echoed on each side of the main panels of the stained glass.
The stained glass is located on the entrance door of the Mary Mother of God church in Taipei. As is often the case in this city, the church is on the 1st floor, accessed by a staircase. It is the glass door between the church and the stair landing that was replaced to accommodate the stained glass.
After several unsuccessful attempts at execution, Tang&Mei and Father François met with glass artist Paul Challan Belval, and the stained glass was finally realized in Chartres (France) between January and February 2024. The installation in Taipei is set for May 20th 2024.
1139 "antique" glasses color this 2.80 meters wide by 2.30 meters high portal. Each piece of glass was mouth blown by Glass masters in Saint Just glassware (France) and Lamberts glassware (Glashütte) in the German city of Waldsassen.
For more information about antique glasses please refer to the link below:
Layers of "vision lite" glazing (from Saint Gobain) ensures the protection of the Stained Glass on each sides. Vision lite glass are used in museum display cases (1% residual reflexion instead of ≈8% for normal glass)
The door handles were custom-made to accommodate 20 red glass panels. Each of the panels contains the traditional Mandarin characters of the biblical texts that served as inspiration for the stained glass.
The characters were first calligraphed by a parishioner, Mrs. Wang, scanned, vectorized, and then acid-etched by Paul.
On the staircase landing side, the texts are as follows:
Luc 3, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire”.
Luc 12,4 “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!”
On the Church side, the texts are as follows:
Acts of the Apostles 2, 3-4 “Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.”
The main individuals who worked on the creation of the stained glass window at the Chartres workshop are:
Hedwige de Livron, glass decorator apprentice. Maëva Pichard, stained glass artist. Malynda, Antoine, Elisabeth, Justine, Véronique, Clémence (intern) Svenja, Blandine, Maxellende, Clotilde, Tanguy, Christophe (friends), Rémy Roquet, François de la Boussignière (woodworker).
People who supported the project at the parish:
Peter, Gloria
Contacts :
Parish:
Tang&Mei:
Paul Challan Belval:
