Stepping inside a rural church in the Sarthe department can turn out to be a surprising encounter with contemporary art.

An ambitious contemporary stained glass creation program was set up in 2008, led by the Sarthe Departmental Council and supported by the Pays de la Loire Region, to replace the deteriorated 19ᵗʰ century stained-glass windows. It has led to the most diverse and astonishing creations.

For all these rural church projects, artists are asked to include in their glass creations references to the specific local heritage. Thus, Canadian artist Michel Madore subtly weaves references to the cultivation of flax and hemp into the stained-glass windows of Pizieux; Stéphane Arrondeau chooses to depict the faces of several generations of workers in the windows of the foundry in Sainte-Jamme-sur-Sarthe; Éric Boucher evokes at Malicorne the work of clay and pottery, and Emmanuel Putanier in Challes the use of horsehair… These references to local history blend with civil or religious scenes.

Religious iconographic themes evolve toward less literal and more metaphysical interpretations. Some artists experiment with changes in scale. Take Marie-Laure Mallet-Melchior, who enlarges the dragon of saint George until it fills the entire window, or Alexis Pandellé, who, in the church of Saint-Georges-des-Monts, depicts the apostles by juxtaposing the silhouettes of large, colorful faces.

Often, themes disappear entirely in favor of abstract representations. The abstract expressionist painter Thibaut de Reimpré, accompanied by master glassmaker Éric Boucher, created three spectacular stained glass windows in Crannes-en-Champagne, where he says he captured “sparks and stars.” These contemporary works of light are no less conducive to meditation and spirituality.

The 21ˢᵗ century revolutionizes manufacturing techniques, blurring the lines between trades. Artist and master glassmaker work hand in hand, with ideas emerging from the very encounter between art and technique. Thanks to innovations such as fusing (multiple layers of glass are fused into a single flat sheet) and thermoforming (deforming glass by kiln heating at very high temperatures), stained glass is freed from its traditional constraints. For the windows of a chapel in Flée, Sylviane Monthulé worked with Éric Boucher to create stunning thermoformed stained glass of varying thicknesses, fired in specially designed molds. For the stained-glass windows of the church in Sarcé, sculptor Stéphane Vigny teamed up with Emmanuel Putanier (Vitrail France) to create a very original projet on the theme of the cosmos using innovative materials such as slate and alabaster.

What draws a painter or sculptor to stained glass? The desire to be part of something greater than oneself: a sacred place, a historic monument, at the crossroad between art, architecture, and craftsmanship; the pleasure of working with light...