Corpus Vitrearum Switzerland: The stained glass in the Canton of Basel-Stadt and its cultural-historical background

The city of Basel was one of the most important centers of stained glass in the old Confederation. With the founding of the university in 1460, the city became a centre not only for the great scientists and humanists, but also for the closely related arts of printing, graphics and painting. As a precious, technically sophisticated and highly representative object, stained glass occupied a prominent place in the civic life of the time. Despite the importance of this fragile cultural heritage for Basel and Switzerland, the 500 or so stained glass windows from the period between the 14th and 18th centuries have only been recorded and published in isolated cases. The aim of the project is to fill this gap and to research and publish the stained glass windows located in the canton as part of the international Corpus Vitrearum association. The aim is also to make an inventory of the 700 or so stained glass windows from the 19th and 21st centuries. They testify the revival of historicist stained glass, Art Nouveau and modern forms of artistic expression.

Project duration: 2021–2026