Between Art and Literature: The Fortunes of Glass and Stained Glass in the Symbolist Period

Glass plays a special role and interest among the Symbolists of the late Nineteenth century. From vases to stained glass and lamps, glass is a significant part of the furniture and eloquent of shady environments and imbued with special lights filtered through the colors. That were sometimes subject or background of painting representations. It is not difficult to trace also the literary sources parallel to the luck of the glass Symbolist. Both could be sources of interpretation. Even the forms and subjects whose windows are dressed can have hidden meanings in their pictorial representation that can be an instrument of interpretation. So we try to find some examples of Italian and international Symbolist luck, iconographic and literary, of the glass.